Hollywood tough guys who were actual fighters

[TBear]

Your gif just reminded me that it was mentioned on the 30th anniversary Rocky DVD that Burt Young did some amateur boxing.

They were planning a movie about Two Ton Tony Galento and Burt Young was supposed to play him several years back. No idea why it never happened.

[Willy Wanker]

What about Billy Blanks?

He was a legit martial artist, not sure if he qualifies as an actor though.

[TBear]

I mentioned this in a lounge thread when Robert Conrad died last week but the star of Wild Wild West loved to box.

He went 29-2-1 as an amateur boxer and 4-0-1 as a professional boxer.
It was rumored that he was to fight an exhibition against Emile Griffith.
He had an exhibition bout with Tony Danza at age 55 in 1989 as well, which many thought he won.

https://boxrec.com/en/proboxer/117915


As well, Bob Conrad is a veteran martial artist. He started training with Bob Heron in 1960. Later he got to know Ed Parker. He ultimately studied with John Leone of Kajukenpo. These arts no doubt fused with his considerable ring and street experience and translated into the fight scenes in Wild, Wild, West.

[Lomasexual]

The entire reason Bruce Lee developed his own fighting style, Jeet Kune Do, is because he got into a real fight and found that most of what he practiced in Wing Chun Kung Fu is worthless.

That's what he claimed.

I've heard alternatives.

[famicommander]

That's what he claimed.

I've heard alternatives.

What alternative explanation is there?

There's no reason to invent a new style of fighting if the one you've been training in your whole life works fine.

[Anthony342]

It has been claimed that Bruce had an amateur boxing match back in Hong Kong but there's no actual record of it.

There are zero recordings of Bruce Lee in a real fight. The closest we have is some demonstration sparring at a 1967 martial arts tournament.

The entire reason Bruce Lee developed his own fighting style, Jeet Kune Do, is because he got into a real fight and found that most of what he practiced in Wing Chun Kung Fu is worthless.

So at the very least he studied other martial arts, because Jeet Kune Do explicitly lifts several techniques from boxing, Judo, kickboxing, and others.

And Bruce instructed some martial artists who later became good fighters.

One of the basic principles of Jeet Kune Do is "take what is useful, discard the rest" and that is one of the principles that helped define mixed martial arts.

So Lee was a legendary and influential martial artist who at the very least studied how to use martial arts in a real fight, but we can't call him a fighter because we don't have any records of him in real fights.

Right and what about those other 2 guys? You heard the same things about them?

[famicommander]

Right and what about those other 2 guys? You heard the same things about them?

I am not very familiar with those other guys. I haven't looked closely into their backgrounds. The Bruce Lee one comes up a lot though, because the man is still seen as somewhat of a demigod in traditional martial arts circles.

[Lomasexual]

What alternative explanation is there?

There's no reason to invent a new style of fighting if the one you've been training in your whole life works fine.

Take this for whatever you care to.

Ip Man had four closed door students. They, in turn, took on many students of their own.

I knew someone who trained with one of these four. This is what he told me.

Ip Man and Bruce Lee never got along. Ip Man was traditional, conservative, and a higher social class. Bruce was a brash, ego-driven and talented punk.

Ip Man refused to teach Bruce Lee the advanced forms and systems (Bil Gee - various spellings are correct).

Bruce going around afterwards trying to tell people that the system was faulty was nothing more that sour grapes. He couldn't say it was faulty because it was denied to him, and he never knew it properly.

But he was a master of self-promotion, and was able to spin the story you have heard. Seeing as he had the ear of the western world all to himself, people believed him.

[Anthony342]

James Cagney studies Tae Kwon Do.

[FinitoxDinamita]

I like Steven Segal not necessarily as an action star but for comedic relief.

Steven segal is unintentionally funny as fuk when you hear him talk. Confident, delusional, highly dismissive of other action stars like Vam Damme lmfao segal is quite a character.