Gene LeBell and Bruce Lee

[Monkey]

Here's a funny story I just found about the first time Bruce and Gene LeBell got physical.
http://www.genelebell.com/brucelee.htm

any comments ?

[origenx]

I can buy that.

I'm sure Bruce could have easily got down from Gene's shoulders had it been a street situation or something, anyone could just weasel out of it or even maul the guy's face if you had to. But, that would have been inappropriate since they were just horsing around...

I believe that Bruce was a showman and did a lot of flashy stuff in his movies that he wouldn't do in real life. He made no secret about that, either.

Bruce probably did want to learn grappling from Gene too, since I doubt he had learned much of it anywhere to that point. I don't think they teach any grappling in wing chun, which was Bruce's initial art.

[DragonzRage]

Hmmm...so, um...they were fooling around on the set. Well...that's funny I guess. What's there to comment on? What's the point?

[Monkey]

After he came to the U.S. he was confronted with martial ideas and techniques he had never considered before. This could be one of the reasons he started cross training in other arts.

[LEGEND]

BRUCE and JUDO GENE had a good friendship...some of the MYTHS that GENE and him fought are untrue...I believed they rolled and GENE of course handed BRUCE his ass! Gene had commented in BB magazine that he felt BRUCE was simplest the greatest of his time! I think he meant as an overall fighter...standup and grappling...although Gene said that Bruce learned grappling...Bruce did not specialize in that area...Bruce focus was to KO someone in Street fight in seconds!!! He relied on the finger jab...straight blast and chain punching...if he failed to do this...his ass was grass...being so small!