Is Bruce Lee the Godfather of MMA?

[Chups]

He is the most famous/most influential Martial Artist..............that is all.

[ßringer]

All I know is that he's vastly overrated by forum nerds all across the ****ing planet.

Put Bruce in a poll on any internet forum against prime Mike Tyson and I bet you the guy with no real fighting record wins every single time.

**** Bruce Lee. He was a **** actor with an even ****ter mythology surrounding him. I'd hire him to be a personal trainer, but that's about it.

[Unknown Champ]

I say yes, he brought "use a combination of styles" to the mainstream when it was not popular at the time. I would bank that most mma fighters where heavily influenced by Bruce Lee for all those F Bruce Lee chumps out there.

Bruce Lee = Godfather of MMA, or name someone better, exactly

[MARKBNLV]

All I know is that he's vastly overrated by forum nerds all across the ****ing planet.

Put Bruce in a poll on any internet forum against prime Mike Tyson and I bet you the guy with no real fighting record wins every single time.

**** Bruce Lee. He was a **** actor with an even ****ter mythology surrounding him. I'd hire him to be a personal trainer, but that's about it.

About my thoughts on it.

[Unknown Champ]

All I know is that he's vastly overrated by forum nerds all across the ****ing planet.

Put Bruce in a poll on any internet forum against prime Mike Tyson and I bet you the guy with no real fighting record wins every single time.

**** Bruce Lee. He was a **** actor with an even ****ter mythology surrounding him. I'd hire him to be a personal trainer, but that's about it.

You're missing the point, his influence on MMA is not overrated regardless of his fight record.

[MARKBNLV]

You're missing the point, his influence on MMA is not overrated regardless of his fight record.

What influence?if he has any influence Chuck Norris has far more.

[mmavacations]

He is the most famous/most influential Martial Artist..............that is all.

Yes totally appreciate with you.

[res]

All I know is that he's vastly overrated by forum nerds all across the ****ing planet.

Put Bruce in a poll on any internet forum against prime Mike Tyson and I bet you the guy with no real fighting record wins every single time.

**** Bruce Lee. He was a **** actor with an even ****ter mythology surrounding him. I'd hire him to be a personal trainer, but that's about it.

Hater alert! hater alert!

[res]

Definitely no godfather, but a very important figure and a transitional one. Aside from his movie career, as a martial artist and philosopher he did do a lot to transcend the barriers between the martial arts.

But I think that for the roots of MMA you have to look back to the days of real professional wrestling (e.g. non-staged) in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Modern MMA basically comes from Brazil, but there was a vibrant fight scene in Brazil going way back. It was in this context that a disciple of Jigoro Kano (founder of judo) traveled to Brazil and trained the Gracie family, for instance (who from thereafter continued to cultivate their own style). The Gracies are actually responsible (at least in the immediate sense) for the advent of MMA in the US in the modern era. There were other things, like the Gene LeBell-Milo Savage match, and even the Antonio Inoki-Muhammad Ali match. But still, with the founding of the UFC the Gracies basically transplanted vale tudo from Brazil to the US. It additionally grew up in Japan, originally as a sort of appendage of pro wrestling (hard style).

But Bruce Lee is an important figure as well. Not just for popularizing martial arts, but also for his approach to them (i.e. his philosophy of simply using what works regardless of school affiliations, which is reflected in his own martial arts philosophy of jeet kun do).

The Gracie's weren't really interested in combing Martial arts per se though, they were interested in how they could adapt their Jujitsu into the most efficient style for realistic combat. I think Helio perceived that grappling could be used to neutralize most striking arts, and then set about adapting traditional Jujitsu toward the end of survival in any realistic one on one fighting scenario. Helio to my knowledge didn't actually train in any striking arts.

Bruce Lee and the inventors of Kajukenbo are the names that immediately come to mind when I think about the precursors to modern MMA.

[ßringer]

No, but he is the godfather of overrated ****s who win fantasy fights by landslides.

All this despite the fact that he was a glorified stuntman who never had a legitimate fight and ended up being, quite literally, KTFO'd by an asprin of all things.