Is Bruce Lee Fact or Myth?

DLT19y ago

Let's get everyone's real thoughts on here. Do you really believe that Lee was this All Time Great fighter who could beat a guy at any weight or do you think that he was just a great fighter for his size? Im a huge Lee fan and I think he's a beast but you have to wonder about things. How much different is he then a Pac Man? Lee himself was only like what, 5'7 and a 135 pounds? Yet there are a ton of people who would swear by him to destroy huge guys. I remember Max Kellerman use to basically say that its a joke that people thought Lee would beat a Mike Tyson. What could Lee do with a Lennox Lewis or a HW UFC fighter? On the other hand you hear stories about Bruce having this kind of rock hard body and freakish strength that was able to do things that no one could do. Here's one article on him: http://www.mikementzer.com/blee.html So what do you guys think? Pac is a damn freak athelete but even we would say that a Middleweight would murder him, let alone a HW. I do remember people saying that he's super fast in his movies but they had to slow the film down because he was even faster then that. The spinning kicks he does are as quick as a normal punch. On the other hand, could a boxer like Floyd or Zab also look super fast in a figthing movie like that? Could Lee even do anything to a Jean Claude Van damn? What are your thoughts on him? Are the stories of him beating up huge elite fighters fact or are they a myth? I personaly believe that he was a monster and could destroy mostly everyone his own size but I dont know about huge guys. I think he could beat big guys who werent legit but I dont know about real good fighters. However, if it was found to be true, for some reason I wouldnt be completely shocked

Comments (20)

hugh_grant

HE NEVER FOUGHT ANYONE. WHO KNOWS HOW HIS KICKS WOULD WORK. I DO KNOW Manny is a fighter. I've seen him fight. I dont' care what Lee might have done. The fact is he never DID shit against a live trained opponent. Period. An actor would not beat a fighter in a fight. Sorry that you still believe in the myth. Bruce never attended an acting class in his life yet you call him an actor. There are guys who act as a serious craft perfecting their thespian skills at school like Bruce Lee perfected his martial skills in the gym. Lee was around fighters 24/7 and put all his day into the combat arts....stars in 4 films and you call him an actor. If i star in a film does that make me an actor or a guy who was just in a film? I've heard lots of great fighters say Bruce was a great fighter. Ive not heard any actors say he was even an actor. They talk about him as a martial artist, and that is all. Their are guys who have seen Lee do shit so to to them he is the best fighter they had seen. You aint seen Lee so you should zip it perhaps and have a little respect. Your skeptiscm is based from not having seen Lee so i'll put it into context. If you keep going on i am not going call you skeptical, i will call you a hater. If im honest i would say a hater is exactly what you are already. But at this stage i am going to be too gentlemanly and polite to throw the insults around.

19y ago

hugh_grant

Just remember, he never tested those kicks out in practice in a real fight. One punch from manny and he might have fallen apart. That's why you can't rate non-fighters vs. fighters. You cant compare mannys boxing skills to Lees genius martial skills. Bruces genius martial skills doesnt allow Manny to get a look in. One kick from Lee and manny WOULD fall apart. Again he did test those kicks, and punches and everything else he did for real in a fight. There are a lot of world class martial artists, giving him credit. Credit for what? Probably credit for the kicks and punches they were on the receiving end of. Fighters are allowed to rate fighters though.

19y ago

THE_REAL_NINJA

http://www.boxingscene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=83270

19y ago

THE_REAL_NINJA

Oh I think he had a great martial arts mind, don't get me wrong. I just laugh at him beating Mike Tyson in a fight when he never had a fight in his life. That's all. Naw not Tyson but in a street fight i still think he could take a lot of guys his size . Hell one head kick from Bruce Lee has to be like 10 hooks from Manny Pac :nutkick:

19y ago

hugh_grant

Again dont talk about Lee not fighting anyone. He kicked most peoples asses in 10 seconds but you dont want to know about those do you. They dont count do they? Bruce Lee cant help the fact that everyone fought he was a great fighter. If you encountered him you would say he was a great fighter, so whats the problem.? Again its not about naming a fight he has been in! You behind your PC are saying he isnt a fighter. But if Lee was showing you his stuff and you was standing in front of you. You would say he was a great fighter and very likely the best fighter you had ever seen.

19y ago

THE_REAL_NINJA

I have seen it and I have read all of his books and taken classes under guys who have lineage back to Guru Dan. And he WAS a Wing Chun guy for most of his life. It is not the original form of MMA except in CONCEPT. His concept were advanced but guess what? Guys like Judo Gene were doing it before him, nevermind Pro Wrestler Inoki or Brazilian Helio Gracie, or Judoka Kimura. Bruce Lee is responsible for more TMAs and bad martial arts school (not his fault) than anyone else. I have too.. Yeah i agree there were others at the time that had been teaching martial arts in the USA way before he did . I don't know why people say that some mafia would be after him for it guess it's just part of the legend. He was just the most famous and best seen . There could have been better fighters/martial artist at the time but he had the look and right career . But still based on concept i think he had the greatest martial arts mind. Just think of where he would be today if he was that far ahead all the way back then .

19y ago

hugh_grant

Okay but potential does not make a fighter. This is why traditional martial artists and kung fu boys have been ass kicked in the UFC. They look good on film but get wrecked in real life. The better analogy is to say if you take your driving test, yes you can drive but you aren't a NASCAR driver until you COMPETE in a race, no matter how good you look on the streets racing your friends. He was an actor. Not a fighter. But the great fighters who big Bruce up are the examiners assessing Lees skills. Their great skills didnt compete against what Bruce had and did. Bruce Lee put his skills abilities up against these so called great fighters and they didnt compare. And dont talk about traditional martial artists and kung fu boy getting their asses kicked. They aint Lee and Lee wasnt a traditionalist. And you saying he wasnt a fighter doesnt make him not a fighter. To anyone who encounted him they dont think anyone could beat him in a fight. It is self explanatory. It does what is says on the tin.

19y ago

THE_REAL_NINJA

19y ago

THE_REAL_NINJA

Look i've said this before the reason he never fought in tournements is because it was forbidden by his Wing Chun teacher. By not fighting as a pro or in any event he was being respectful to his teacher .

19y ago

hugh_grant

Good post... I think you are a good man.

19y ago

Super_Cartel

Good post...

19y ago

hugh_grant

I'm so tired of all the Bruce Lee BS. He was an actor with some good insight into Martial Arts. NAME ONE fight he was in. He was not fighter. Myth. It dont matter what you and i say! Great fighters respected his fighting abilities and they themselves dont know who he has fought and how many asses he has kicked. They just assess his fighting abilities from what they see of him first hand. They just dont think anyone could kick his. Its not about naming a fight he has been in? If i take my driving test, i would imagine the examiner can assess whether i can drive my car or not. Great fighters who sparred with Lee, in their assessment, he was a great fighter. Is that hard to comprehend?

19y ago

hugh_grant

Nah mate, he didnt get his ass kicked. Dont think so.

19y ago

Haglerwins

Jeet Kune Do is more a philosophy than a style.. if you can even call it a style. Lee's intention was to teach his followers to fight formless, adapt to anything thrown at you, be aggressive when your opponent is defensive, defensive when your opponent is aggresive. It's the reason he dropped "styles". He got his ass kicked once and denounced traditonal MA from there on. He claimed the rehearsed-ness of it was not practical in a fight, as a fight is rather spontaneous.. so he came up with "the way of the intercepting fist" (JKD).

19y ago

Liaison

Lee did learn ground tactics lol along with boxing he was a mixed martial artist just look up "Jeet Kune Do" .Have you seen how ineffective Jeet Kune Do Grappling is? His style was bordering some sort of Hybrid Muay Thai, the guy was primarily a striker. He was however learning Western wrestling before he died.

19y ago

Haglerwins

The last time Lee was checked out by doctors at 32, it was said he was in the health/physical condition of a 16 year old. A 16 year old! The little dude was a man god.

19y ago

pinpointsman

You can’t use a ground game argument as that’s not what Bruce trained for; his work gravitated towards Thai kickboxing. Watch him, his Wing Chun Kicks and punches are not effective and he (as stated by many who trained with him) didn’t use knees or elbows I’d probably pick an elite boxer over him, we know he was a physical specimen but there are to much what ifs with Lee’s fighting ability. Major respect for him though. Lee did learn ground tactics lol along with boxing he was a mixed martial artist just look up "Jeet Kune Do" .

19y ago

Super_Cartel

It goes against anything Lee was taught to be honest to enter tournements ie..MMA Thats not what he was about..

19y ago

hugh_grant

There are succesful MMA using JKd but they dont call it JKD.

19y ago

ophqui

i would say the only way u could know if he was 'the real deal' or not would be for him to compete in mma events, but since they werent invented when he passed there is no way he can be considered 'the greatest martial artist'. i mean, he never competed in any kind of combat sport, be it kickboxing, muay thai, boxing or whatever, so to say he is the greatest would be in line with saying a guy was the greatest boxer p4p when u've only seen him hit the heavy bag, he might have looked the real mcoy when he had complaint actors in front of him, but i would debate the effectiveness of his martial art JKD since NONE of the top mma guys use it. if it was so fantastic why dont the likes of ufc, pride or shooto fighters use it?

19y ago