People say Bruce Lee is just an actor, but let's be real

[I AM WE ARE]

Looks at watch

Yep it was about time for this yearly thread on here


Waits for the infinite number of coli posters saying they can beat Bruce. But be the same posters that were scared of rousey and Rogan.

 

[Spiritual Stratocaster]

He'd wash 90% of the dudes on the street today.

Bruce grew up fighting then spends his adulthood training his body to be a fighting machine.

And yes for the grapple fans he trained with gene labell.

 

[Dro_Pesci]

Bruce Lee was more than just an actor and anyone who says so is probably a hater or isn’t a martial artist. Bruce Lee was the first famous martial artist at least that I know that basically called bullshyt on all the mystical Asian martial arts that Americans were enamored with. He ended up making his own form Jeet Kune Do where he emphasized moves that were effective in actual combat and practicing them against resisting opponent. He wasn’t with that fake shyt where you’re practicing a 5 hit combo against a dude standing there or even aiding you in the movements.

It turned Jeet Kune Do into basically the amalgam of Boxing, Wing Chun, Kung Fu, Wrestling etc. Homie laid the groundwork in what we now see is MMA...everything being thrown into the ring with only what’s practical surviving. None of that drunken monkey stance, praying mantis stance, and bullshyt that’ll get your ass whooped in a fight.

Yet why is there no JKD champions in major combat sports?

Bruce Lee’s PHILOSOPHY of fighting is no doubt the essential to what MMA has become but to say he laid the groundwork is just not true

 

[BangBike]

Use to whoop Chuck Norris ass..

 

[MacNCheese]

It turned Jeet Kune Do into basically the amalgam of Boxing, Wing Chun, Kung Fu, Wrestling etc. Homie laid the groundwork in what we now see is MMA...everything being thrown into the ring with only what’s practical surviving. None of that drunken monkey stance, praying mantis stance, and bullshyt that’ll get your ass whooped in a fight.

I know people like saying this, but there really isn't much of a link between JKD and MMA in that way. The roots of Western MMA are Vale Tudo (early style vs style bouts in Brazil that predate Lee) and the Gracie Challenge, which was basically a family of Brazilian jiu jitsu specialists running around beating up other martial artists as a way of promoting their brand of a martial art. The first UFC events were basically a promotional event for BJJ. The roots of MMA in the east are basically japanese pro wrestlers deciding to go for real. There were also predecessors to MMA that involve anything goes fighting, like Pankration, that have been going on since ancient times. Lee might've shared a similar spirit to what MMA turned into, but it's hard to say he inspired it or laid the groundwork for it. You'd have to ignore so much martial arts history to say that.

 

[Complexion]

Bruce was a student of biomechanics therefore he knew what you were doing before you did. Couple that with some of the fastest speed/reactions you've ever seen and you've got someone that is hard to hit but can hit and make you feel it aka Mike Tyson in his prime.

Not saying that Bruce would beat Mike but that both of them are one in million genetic anomalies that were given the tools of the trade by someone who knew the game inside out and they ran with it.

Words from someone who was there:



Plus in 64 Bruce did have a real fight with a martial artist and lost (in the sense he didn't feel he had a clean decisive win). The loss is what made him throw everything out of the window and take it back to basics because there are only so many ways to move your body ergo intercepting fist meaning simultaneous attack and defense was born, stripped of all of the unnecessary flourishes and dancing.



Also the thing no one really talks about is what Bruce trained people in and what he personally used for his own development (Fa Jing and the other esoteric aspects of internal martial arts) were never publicly shared because the concepts of Chi, Dan Tiens and various forms of alchemy are still way out there for the West now, let alone when he was trying to teach them the basics of the outer forms.

His own stuff was uncut raw but it took that level of discipline to martial those energies and what he gave to the masses was cut primarily for their own benefit (otherwise they'd OD) and secondly to keep himself one step ahead of everyone in his master role because he had quite an ego.

 

[KamikazePilot]

Most overrated, Mythical “fighters” to ever exist. Sure he’d beat up an average joe with no training or experience but every mma fighter would. People who say he would be ufc champion today are loony toon fanboys.

 

[Savvir]

Imagine if there was no UFC and Jon Jones did MMA movies and 40 years later people said "he was just an actor"

if jon jones wasn't spending years training for UFC fights he probably wouldn't be anywhere as good a fighter as he is now

 

[Deuterion]

Yet why is there no JKD champions in major combat sports?

Bruce Lee’s PHILOSOPHY of fighting is no doubt the essential to what MMA has become but to say he laid the groundwork is just not true

I don’t know if you’ve heard but Bruce Lee died at 32 and thus wasn’t able to formalize Jeet Kune Do as a system. He spoke about it very philosophically and didn’t document it so when he died his students had to rely on interpretation when it came to instruction. This created splinters in Jeet Kune Do teaching...there was the Inonsanto method and many others. I’m sure if Bruce Lee was alive long enough he would have been able to make it into an actual formal and documented fighting style with consistent techniques and practices.

I know people like saying this, but there really isn't much of a link between JKD and MMA in that way. The roots of Western MMA are Vale Tudo (early style vs style bouts in Brazil that predate Lee) and the Gracie Challenge, which was basically a family of Brazilian jiu jitsu specialists running around beating up other martial artists as a way of promoting their brand of a martial art. The first UFC events were basically a promotional event for BJJ. The roots of MMA in the east are basically japanese pro wrestlers deciding to go for real. There were also predecessors to MMA that involve anything goes fighting, like Pankration, that have been going on since ancient times. Lee might've shared a similar spirit to what MMA turned into, but it's hard to say he inspired it or laid the groundwork for it. You'd have to ignore so much martial arts history to say that.

There is no direct link between Bruce Lee and the UFC but Bruce Lee had a huge impact on shifting the culture of Martial Arts and making way for what we now call Mixed Martial Arts. The Gracie’s have a direct link to UFC but even that didn’t start off as MMA. It started off as Style vs. Style and then morphed into what Bruce Lee’s philosophy was which was blending everything together...using what works and discarding the rest.

Dana White

“The Gracies were the founding fathers of the actual UFC, but I think the sport of Mixed Martial Arts was started by Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee’s movies, Bruce Lee’s philosophies, just Bruce Lee’s image alone is very powerful.”


Randy Couture

1. "Bruce made martial arts cool to a generation. He introduced us not only to his philosophy and training, the precursor to MMA, but also stars like Chuck Norris in the famous coliseum fight scene in Way of the Dragon. His legend is alive and well today."

King Mo Lawal

1. "Bruce Lee was ahead of his time…a trendsetter! He was the first true mixed martial artist. He didn’t believe in just one style. He saw the strengths and weaknesses in everything."

Mauro Ranallo

1. "Bruce Lee is an inimitable soul who has inspired generations of martial artists. The spiritual godfather of MMA."

Roy Nelson

1. "Bruce Lee was the first true martial arts icon for me. Every kid wanted to be Bruce Lee. Bruce was a true visionary recognizing the need for integration of various martial arts into one in order to form a true and realistic martial art. Bruce Lee saw the need for MMA way before its time."

Saying Bruce Lee didn’t start it is like saying that MLK had nothing to do with the Civil Rights Act because Johnson signed it and a bunch of other people wrote it. Meanwhile MLK was proselytizing it all over the world and influencing people to see things his way. Bruce Lee put the philosophies that MMA encompasses on the map...he called it out and made it what it is...give that man his flowers.

 

[Trajan]

I used to think Bruce Lee was an elite level fighter until i came on the Coli

 

[Scustin Bieburr]

Bruce got into real scraps, nobody is saying he wasn't a fighter. BY all accounts he was not afraid to throw hands in his youth.

People just go overboard and try to say he would be a championship UFC fighter because his movies and that's going too far. tupac shot some cops we don't go around thinking he john wick.

I dont see any reason why he couldn't be a championship fighter. His strikes are good, but he'd end up tapping out to an opponent who can eat those punches and counter with a good grapple.

 

[Luke Cage]

I dont see any reason why he couldn't be a championship fighter. His strikes are good, but he'd end up tapping out to an opponent who can eat those punches and counter with a good grapple.

I think he could compete on a pro level. Just saying there guarantee he'd be anything but a journeyman level pro fighter. He'd at least be better than Kimbo Slice is all i would bet with confidence. But both him and Kimbo would give a regular person that work with relative ease.
Elite takes on a different meaning at the highest level. Bryan Scalabrine is an elite bball player and destroy regular people with ease. for example. top 10% in the world. Still far from Lebron

 

[Genos]

Any low level ufc fighter would knock bruce lee out, golden glove boxer would have him sleep

 

[⠀X ⠀]

I bet he couldn’t beat this guy

 

[old boy]

Bruce Lee was more than just an actor and anyone who says so is probably a hater or isn’t a martial artist. Bruce Lee was the first famous martial artist at least that I know that basically called bullshyt on all the mystical Asian martial arts that Americans were enamored with. He ended up making his own form Jeet Kune Do where he emphasized moves that were effective in actual combat and practicing them against resisting opponent. He wasn’t with that fake shyt where you’re practicing a 5 hit combo against a dude standing there or even aiding you in the movements.

It turned Jeet Kune Do into basically the amalgam of Boxing, Wing Chun, Kung Fu, Wrestling etc. Homie laid the groundwork in what we now see is MMA...everything being thrown into the ring with only what’s practical surviving. None of that drunken monkey stance, praying mantis stance, and bullshyt that’ll get your ass whooped in a fight.

damn killed it, big facts

must read biography for every fan is "bruce lee: a life" by matthew polly. excellent read