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The Greatest Martial Artist of All Time
By Arnold Chao
Mon, November 27, 2006, 12:01 am PST
"Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water." - Bruce Lee (1940-1973)
Today marks the birth of legendary Chinese-American icon Bruce Lee. Known as a lean, mean fighting machine who single-handedly popularized the martial arts movie genre, Lee also revolutionized fight choreography in film with his lightning-fast kicks and mastery of the nunchucks. But he was more than a movie star. Lee was also a philosophical and innovative martial artist with an original approach to traditional martial art styles. He fought against Chinese tradition by teaching Kung Fu to Westerners, and trained with champions from a variety of fighting systems. This cultural mix led to the invention of his own martial art, Jeet Kune Do, in which Lee embraced the philosophical idea of "being like water." By mimicking the flexibility of water, he avoided set forms and fluidly adapted the most effective elements of as many fighting techniques as possible -- an inspiration to modern mixed martial arts. This, in combination with his extraordinary physical feats and killer physique, inspired many fans to label Bruce Lee as "the greatest martial artist of all time."
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