Why do Bruce Lee's fans insist he is the greatest fighter of all time?

[Marcus Aurelius]

He has never seriously competed in martial arts.

Just because Sylvester Stallone beat Apollo Creed and Ivan Drago in the movies, does not make him a great boxer.

But to Bruce Lee fans, to even point out the lack of any prominent accomplishments in actual fighting competitions is tantamount to heresy.

Bruce Lee definitely had screen presence and charisma. But he was a skilled entertainer.

MMA has been around for 20 years now. Has there been a prominent MMA competitor whose primary discipline was Chinese kung fu? We've seen wrestlers, karate masters, muay thai and judo practitioners do well. But kung fu is nowhere to be seen.

You'd think that the Shaolin temple master would enter the UFC and use his "touch of death" to wipe everybody out. Nope.

[L-Pink]

[pimpmaster9000]

because everybody is an "expert"...

everybody knows jean claude van damm has the biggest nuts of them all!

[Cyber Fucker]

Because they are either childish or they do not know any other decent martial arts masters.

[dyna mo]

maybe on account his arms and legsmoved so fast they made whooshing noises?

[Best-In-BC]

Originally Posted by crucifissio

because everybody is an "expert"...

everybody knows jean claude van damm has the biggest nuts of them all!

TO bad he got his ass wooped when he came to Canada

[Best-In-BC]

Also, I beleave Bruce had some secret Martial arts training he wasnt allowed to show the world like he did.

[slapass]

Maybe because he developed Jeet Kune Do which is very close to MMA that we see today in that he incorporated anything that worked.

[SomeCreep]

Originally Posted by L-Pink

[slapass]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_lee#Fight_history

[RyuLion]

Originally Posted by L-Pink

[Si]

Originally Posted by Marcus Aurelius

He has never seriously competed in martial arts.

Just because Sylvester Stallone beat Apollo Creed and Ivan Drago in the movies, does not make him a great boxer.

But to Bruce Lee fans, to even point out the lack of any prominent accomplishments in actual fighting competitions is tantamount to heresy.

Bruce Lee definitely had screen presence and charisma. But he was a skilled entertainer.

MMA has been around for 20 years now. Has there been a prominent MMA competitor whose primary discipline was Chinese kung fu? We've seen wrestlers, karate masters, muay thai and judo practitioners do well. But kung fu is nowhere to be seen.

You'd think that the Shaolin temple master would enter the UFC and use his "touch of death" to wipe everybody out. Nope.

You state some good points, then go into MMA which still isn't "raw" fighting.

I've never seen a bareknuckle boxer enter an MMA contest either, I can't quite put my finger on it as to why though

This is an impressive Chinese MMA fighter.

[Si]

I hate the term Kung Fu when we use it, most people think it is one way of fighting, but it's a multitude of styles.

Anyway that said, Kung Fu styles and things like Karate, include a lot of self defense skills and techniques.

It's not legal to boot your opponents bollocks into his stomach, strike him in the eye socket etc. in MMA is it?

[Google Expert]

He was a total fraud and hollywood fag.

Gene Lebell (10th dan Judo) wiped the floor with him:

http://shootafairone.wordpress.com/2...-myth-vs-fact/

[Marcus Aurelius]

Originally Posted by Best-In-BC

Also, I beleave Bruce had some secret Martial arts training he wasnt allowed to show the world like he did.

[helterskelter808]

Because they're fans of Bruce Lee.

[- Jesus Christ -]

Thinking that anyone is the "greatest fighter of all time" is silly.

[PR_Glen]

a better question would be why do people think mma no less ufc is the best gauge on finding out who the better fighter is? A lot of those rules don't apply if you ever get into a real fight..

[Lichen]

Bruce Lee beat Chuck Norris in a movie. That was choreographed. Bruce Lee wanted the world karate champion to be beat by him in a movie.

Chuck Norris once quipped in the 1970s that Bruce Lee was pretty good for a non-fighter. After getting much hatred from the legions of BL worshipers, he now sidesteps any questions about BL's actual real life fighting ability.

[DWB]

Originally Posted by M.A+

He was a total fraud and hollywood fag.

Gene Lebell (10th dan Judo) wiped the floor with him:

http://shootafairone.wordpress.com/2...-myth-vs-fact/

Looks legit.

[Marcus Aurelius]

Originally Posted by PR_Glen

a better question would be why do people think mma no less ufc is the best gauge on finding out who the better fighter is? A lot of those rules don't apply if you ever get into a real fight..

Do you really think MMA/UFC fighters don't know these banned skills and would never use them in a real fight? Just because they don't use it in the octagon doesn't mean they don't train it.

[brassmonkey]

he was at the top

[SilentKnight]

Originally Posted by dyna mo

maybe on account his arms and legsmoved so fast they made whooshing noises?

[brassmonkey]

Originally Posted by L-Pink

Jet Li would knock his mullet off

[wizzart]

just one word: ninjutsu

[NaughtyRob]

What he said.... and watch this for 90 minutes.

Originally Posted by slapass

Maybe because he developed Jeet Kune Do which is very close to MMA that we see today in that he incorporated anything that worked.

[Profits of Doom]

Originally Posted by PR_Glen

a better question would be why do people think mma no less ufc is the best gauge on finding out who the better fighter is? A lot of those rules don't apply if you ever get into a real fight..

I'm curious, exactly what "technique" do you think you are going to use in a "real fight" that is going to be superior to MMA? That myth was blown out of the water in the first few UFC's, where there were no rules and BJJ was proven to be the superior fighting style. Biting, eye gouging, and all of that other silly stuff was proven time and time again to not work, and there is no secret technique you are going to pull off in a no rules street fight that is going to help you against a trained MMA fighter, short of pulling out a weapon. You think you're going to kick an MMA fighter in the balls and that is your secret technique?

Things like soccer kicks, knees to a downed opponent's head, and most of all the headbutt are the most devastating fighting techniques that are generally banned from MMA (with the exception of some promotions in Brazil and Japan), and in a street fight an MMA fighter is going to use all 3 of those against you...

[livexxx]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yip_Man was pretty handy too, and a double handed push away is still one of the main postures for sec forces and poli to defuse a situation. One of my sensei always promoted taking up running as a self defense skill for the ladies classes. Scream rape rape rape rape as loud as you can and run like fuck. then if after 10 mins if they are still chasing you, stop and kill them. otherwise you are fucked.

[livexxx]

There is a BIG BIG difference about learning self defence skills or learning survival skills. too many classes think it is about fighting, not surviving. Make some space, and run like fuck. He who runs away, lives to fight another day ;)

Then you can just get in your car and run them down and claim it as a RTA (road traffic accident) and do 4 months probation instead of getting a custodial sentence. Show me a Kata that has a dragon goat stance defence against a 2 tonne chevvy

[eipstudios]

Watching a MMA fight right now on extreme sports. These guys are fucking each other up!!

Dam I need to go to the gym!!

[arock10]

One inch punch. Also Bruce Lee came before mma by at least 1 year

[tonyparra]

He was a street fighter.

Bruce Lee was a genius and that is why the top martial artists of his day sought him out. To argue whether he was the greatest fighter of all-time is irrelevant. What is relevant is that he was a highly skilled martial artist who created his own martial art at the tender age of 26.

[CamTraffic]

Originally Posted by DWB

Looks legit.

I know Right

Best info I got was from the comment section actually:

AL: Hate to break it to you, but your blog on Bruce Lee is a mess. I could write a book on the half-truths, suppositions, and utter b.s. contained in your blog. For the sake of space, I?ll focus on your claims that Lee was unproven. First of all, to state that Lee was unproven because he didn?t compete in point tournaments demonstrates that you have no idea what REAL fighting is nor do you have a clue as to why point fighters in the 1960′s waited until Bruce had passed before talking shit.

Yip Man called Bruce, ?fighting crazy,? and his brother Robert stated that Bruce was such a feared street fighter that his fellow high school classmates called him ?King Gorilla.? With no boxing experience, Bruce then entered the Hong Kong high school boxing championships and he defeated 3 time champion Gary Elms for the lightweight title. A fight with the son of a triad member placed Bruce in the crosshairs of both law enforcement and the triads, so his father shipped him off to America in 1959.

Bruce?s penchant for getting into REAL fights continued during his years in America from 1959-1970. In that same time period, he trained the best point fighters of that era which included Joe Lewis, Mike Stone, Chuck Norris, and Louis Delgado. In a 1970 interview with Black Belt Magazine, Delgado admitted that Lee not only changed his training regiment, but that sparring sessions with the Little Dragon were the most humbling experiences of his martial arts career. In 1974, Delgado told Fighting Stars magazine that Lee was the toughest man he ever faced.

Lee also sparred with Chuck Norris, but despite some of those sessions being witnessed by Dan Inosanto, Norris told his fellow point fighters and several interviewers that he and Lee never sparred. A few years ago, Norris finally fessed up to sparring against Lee, stating ?it was fun.? Could the reason why Norris bullshitted the world about this issue for 35 years was due to Bruce getting the best of him in these sessions?

It?s important to remember that in the 1960′s, NOBODY, and I mean, nobody, was sparring the way that Bruce and his students were sparring at his kwoon in L.A./Chinatown. Lee and his students sparred all out in full gear during a time when sparring in martial arts schools were glorified games of tag. One must then ask, who exactly was proving themselves and who wasn?t?

Let?s talk turkey, Bruce Lee was a genius and that is why the top martial artists of his day sought him out. To argue whether he was the greatest fighter of all-time is irrelevant. What is relevant is that he was a highly skilled martial artist who created his own martial art at the tender age of 26.

[AndrewX]

Originally Posted by livexxx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yip_Man was pretty handy too, and a double handed push away is still one of the main postures for sec forces and poli to defuse a situation. One of my sensei always promoted taking up running as a self defense skill for the ladies classes. Scream rape rape rape rape as loud as you can and run like fuck. then if after 10 mins if they are still chasing you, stop and kill them. otherwise you are fucked.

Bruce Lee was trained by Ip Man (Yip Man?) in Wing Chun. He developed his own martial arts style which was based on Kung Fu and Wing Chun (Jeet Kune Do) and he wrote a lot of books about it. He had his own school as well which makes him an expert and professional. He was light weight so obviously his body wasn't made for MMA fighting.

"At the invitation of Ed Parker, Lee appeared in the 1964 Long Beach International Karate Championships[37] and performed repetitions of two-finger push-ups (using the thumb and the index finger of one hand) with feet at approximately a shoulder-width apart. In the same Long Beach event he also performed the "One inch punch",[38] the description of which is as follows: Lee stood upright, his right foot forward with knees bent slightly, in front of a standing, stationary partner." Without retracting his right arm, Lee then forcibly delivered the punch to his partner while largely maintaining his posture, sending the partner backwards and falling into a chair said to be placed behind the partner to prevent injury, though his partner's momentum soon caused him to fall to the floor.

The one-inch-punch is now used in Systema, a martial arts style which is developed by the Spetsnaz, Russian special forces. He was a great teacher.

[tony286]

Originally Posted by CamTraffic

I know Right

Best info I got was from the comment section actually:

AL: Hate to break it to you, but your blog on Bruce Lee is a mess. I could write a book on the half-truths, suppositions, and utter b.s. contained in your blog. For the sake of space, I?ll focus on your claims that Lee was unproven. First of all, to state that Lee was unproven because he didn?t compete in point tournaments demonstrates that you have no idea what REAL fighting is nor do you have a clue as to why point fighters in the 1960′s waited until Bruce had passed before talking shit.

Yip Man called Bruce, ?fighting crazy,? and his brother Robert stated that Bruce was such a feared street fighter that his fellow high school classmates called him ?King Gorilla.? With no boxing experience, Bruce then entered the Hong Kong high school boxing championships and he defeated 3 time champion Gary Elms for the lightweight title. A fight with the son of a triad member placed Bruce in the crosshairs of both law enforcement and the triads, so his father shipped him off to America in 1959.

Bruce?s penchant for getting into REAL fights continued during his years in America from 1959-1970. In that same time period, he trained the best point fighters of that era which included Joe Lewis, Mike Stone, Chuck Norris, and Louis Delgado. In a 1970 interview with Black Belt Magazine, Delgado admitted that Lee not only changed his training regiment, but that sparring sessions with the Little Dragon were the most humbling experiences of his martial arts career. In 1974, Delgado told Fighting Stars magazine that Lee was the toughest man he ever faced.

Lee also sparred with Chuck Norris, but despite some of those sessions being witnessed by Dan Inosanto, Norris told his fellow point fighters and several interviewers that he and Lee never sparred. A few years ago, Norris finally fessed up to sparring against Lee, stating ?it was fun.? Could the reason why Norris bullshitted the world about this issue for 35 years was due to Bruce getting the best of him in these sessions?

It?s important to remember that in the 1960′s, NOBODY, and I mean, nobody, was sparring the way that Bruce and his students were sparring at his kwoon in L.A./Chinatown. Lee and his students sparred all out in full gear during a time when sparring in martial arts schools were glorified games of tag. One must then ask, who exactly was proving themselves and who wasn?t?

Let?s talk turkey, Bruce Lee was a genius and that is why the top martial artists of his day sought him out. To argue whether he was the greatest fighter of all-time is irrelevant. What is relevant is that he was a highly skilled martial artist who created his own martial art at the tender age of 26.

Well said and he was responsible for the explosion of martial art schools in this country.

[Phoenix]

Fighting is silly I have seen a 160 pound Irish guy send huge ripped guys claiming to be mma or cage fighters run away screaming. You can prep all you want but when you meet someone ready to be ultra violent to you before you were aware you are even in a serious fight... watch out.

[Feng-PD]

Bruce is king. nuff said.

[Supz]

If you arent part of the miagi-go-karate dojo. You are shit.

[ctggls]

Originally Posted by Si

You state some good points, then go into MMA which still isn't "raw" fighting.

I've never seen a bareknuckle boxer enter an MMA contest either, I can't quite put my finger on it as to why though

This is an impressive Chinese MMA fighter.

that's interesting...

[ImLarge]

I seen brude lee knock two10 blookds out and 4 crips out in less than 1min

[ctggls]

I don't know why people give soooo much importance to UFC or MMA, some of that fights are definitely tricked.... I've read a book some time ago written by MMA fighter Bas Rutten and for the most part is silly crap that you can't really apply to a real fight (which in most part is not like MMA where only two guys fight .... you might try to hit one guy and in the same time his friend hits you with a bat in the head and you're got marks for life...).
Don't mess things: Bruce Lee, MMA, UFC because there a really different things... it's like asking which is better cams or babe sites...

[Slappin Fish]

Probably because he invented Jeet Kune Do the philosophy (do whatever it takes to win) that was the most influential in MMA.

[Slappin Fish]

Originally Posted by Profits of Doom

I'm curious, exactly what "technique" do you think you are going to use in a "real fight" that is going to be superior to MMA? That myth was blown out of the water in the first few UFC's, where there were no rules and BJJ was proven to be the superior fighting style. Biting, eye gouging, and all of that other silly stuff was proven time and time again to not work, and there is no secret technique you are going to pull off in a no rules street fight that is going to help you against a trained MMA fighter, short of pulling out a weapon. You think you're going to kick an MMA fighter in the balls and that is your secret technique?

Things like soccer kicks, knees to a downed opponent's head, and most of all the headbutt are the most devastating fighting techniques that are generally banned from MMA (with the exception of some promotions in Brazil and Japan), and in a street fight an MMA fighter is going to use all 3 of those against you...

You forgot the most effective HEADBUTTS anyway most current MMA fighters would kick Bruce Lee's ass but if a basketball player single handedly invented the dunk and the alley oop regardless of Lebron james ability to out dunk him today he would still be seen as the greatest for having been able to transcend the limitations of his time.

[MasterBlow]

Trust me, Bruce Lee is the greatest fighter of all time! Chuck Norris knows that!

[blackmonsters]

Originally Posted by Marcus Aurelius

He has never seriously competed in martial arts.

Just because Sylvester Stallone beat Apollo Creed and Ivan Drago in the movies, does not make him a great boxer.

But to Bruce Lee fans, to even point out the lack of any prominent accomplishments in actual fighting competitions is tantamount to heresy.

Bruce Lee definitely had screen presence and charisma. But he was a skilled entertainer.

MMA has been around for 20 years now. Has there been a prominent MMA competitor whose primary discipline was Chinese kung fu? We've seen wrestlers, karate masters, muay thai and judo practitioners do well. But kung fu is nowhere to be seen.

You'd think that the Shaolin temple master would enter the UFC and use his "touch of death" to wipe everybody out. Nope.

Think of it like the Rocky Marciano fans, he was from a different era than Ali/Tyson/etc so the comparison is not really valid.

Another example :
No matter how much faster Usain Bolt is over Jesse Owens, Bolt will never be as "Big" as Owens was.

[madm1k3]

Great question, if Bruce Lee was such a great fighter why was he never UFC champion like Chuck Lidell?

Fuck all his books defining Jeet Kune Do, fuck all his demonstrations, fuck all the so called "experts" who give him any kind of credit. Everyone with half a brain knows that real fighting began at UFC 1 and settled the arguement on who's the best fighter.

Now I'm going to throw on my Affliction shirt and go train at my MMA gym above the taco bell (we used to call the gym a dojo but none of us knew what it meant). I am six months in and I already have two black belts so I'm pretty much a ninja. Hopefully I can get a fight at the local strip club in the next couple months, because everyone knows MMA records are the only thing that defines a fighter

[Robbie]

Never really thought about it before...but from what I have read about Bruce Lee, if he had lived long enough he probably would have studied Brazilan Jiu Jitsu as well and added it to his regimen.

And he probably would have been really good at it.

One thing is for sure, he became a famous "actor" because of his physical skills which were pretty remarkable. He was definitely a world class athlete and with his speed could have been one hell of a shoot wrestle guy too.

[blackmonsters]

Originally Posted by madm1k3

Now I'm going to throw on my Affliction shirt and go train at my MMA gym above the taco bell (we used to call the gym a dojo but none of us knew what it meant). I am six months in and I already have two black belts so I'm pretty much a ninja. Hopefully I can get a fight at the local strip club in the next couple months, because everyone knows MMA records are the only thing that defines a fighter

In just six months?

Wow, anybody who was just six months into football wouldn't be worth a shit.
This martial arts thing really is magic.

[Robbie]

blackmonsters...I'm pretty sure that madm1k3 was joking around with his post.

[Zarathustra]

actually he was the "mixed" in mixed martial arts!

its like saying why is Einstein so dumb, he didnt even know HTML! And everyone knows HTML today!