Vic Moore & Bruce Lee

[Blacktiger]

Just found this - had not heard this story..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nik8VQAcuGE

[SifuYui]

Nice clip Blacktiger, thanks.

Just goes to show, Bruce Lee was just human and we all know that he had a huge ego. It's too bad that they always showed that one clip and not the others (as Master Vic Moore said). That, to me, is an injustice to this man who has devoted his life to the martial arts and his craft. Give the man his due!

[mickey]

Greetings,

I saw this clip before. There was something I understood that made his statement about Bruce Lee being unable to block his punch truthful. Bruce Lee was nearsighted and that would have impaired his reaction time. Since this clip no one has come forward with the full demo of that event. And Bruce's nearsightedness may be the reason why he never competed and why he developed a fighting method that emphasized offense. So with regard to the WJM fight, it is clear that Bruce Lee was working with disadvantages that he took to task after the fight.

I believe Bruce Lee was definitely impressed by this guy. Vic Moore had a very serious match against a guy who practically dwarfed him. Moore won that match. The match may have been Bruce's inspiration in creating his fight scene with Kareem Abdul Jabbar in the "Game of Death"


mickey

[Jimbo]

Greetings,

I saw this clip before. There was something I understood that made his statement about Bruce Lee being unable to block his punch truthful. Bruce Lee was nearsighted and that would have impaired his reaction time. Since this clip no one has come forward with the full demo of that event. And Bruce's nearsightedness may be the reason why he never competed and why he developed a fighting method that emphasized offense. So with regard to the WJM fight, it is clear that Bruce Lee was working with disadvantages that he took to task after the fight.

It's also possible that BL was simply unable to block his punch, regardless of his eyesight. BL wore contact lenses, but exactly when he began wearing them instead of glasses I'm not sure. I myself am nearsighted, and when I train with others and when I used to compete, I never wore corrective lenses. It's never affected my reaction time one way or another. I could even catch a moderately-thrown baseball or frisbee without lenses. So unless BL was blind as a bat without his contacts or glasses (and he most likely was wearing his contacts), it was likely a matter of BL lacking the ability to block his punches. He was human, after all, and there were and are some people out there with superior quickness, timing and distancing than BL. That's not a potshot at BL, it's simply a fact.

[mickey]

Greetings Jimbo,

I guess it would come to the degree of nearsightedness that Bruce Lee had. The glasses he had did not look thin.

It is interesting that you mentioned "blind as a bat". I thought something similar about the BL vs WJM fight. When it was described how Bruce was chasing WJM around, I thought, "like a bat with a sore throat , trying to hit something in the dark." It adds a very humorous aspect to the confrontation. And I did have a good laugh about it. But still, given whatever shortcomings, it was learning experience for both.

As for Vic Moore, he was a victim of the times. Will he have to wait for him to die for the truth to be finally shown?

I also agree with you about the quickness and that it was not unique to Bruce at the time. There will always be faster.


mickey

[Subitai]

Ok, just from watching the YT video...the impression I got was that he FOUGHT (beat 'em) them all. (~ 5:26 )

I have no desire to defend BL in any way...If he got whipped then that's what he got for showing off.

It's just that from the description master Moore gave of the speed test...I conclude it was NOT a fight, but just a simple test of reflexes. Which BL LOST..haha. Also, i'm just going to presume that he did fight and beat all the other champions though, I have no reason not to believe it unless someone else feels the need to post the contrary. Awesome for master Moore!

As for his recount of the story...I think it's totally plausible that it happened just that way. Only again, that's not a fight.


The reason I bring this up is because fighting is more than just simple tests of speed or reflexes (it's the whole package), that is obvious. I could just as easily point out growing up that I knew a guy that could be me in the classic hand slap game, but I could whip his arse in a fight. (having actually done it)