Why do so many ppl think Bruce Lee was a real fighter?

[Cheek busting]

So what do you fight in fella?

Absolutely nothing. Although I have fought in a few smoker bouts for fun about 3 years ago..

But im not claiming to be one of the greatest fighters of sll time.

Lol one of the greatest yet never threw an actual strike in competition

[Cheek busting]

Why do you keep mentioning Norris as being a higher standard? Chuck Norris did compete for sure and won some karate competitions, but they were point fighting competitions, like in The Karate Kid. Norris never â2222 in any full contact fights either. With Lee, there's the famous story of him winning a fight in front of some old Chinese masters for the right to continue to teach his art to non Chinese and anyone else he wanted. And the stories of him fighting an amateur boxer. So his experience is limited, yes.

The reason why Lee is respected is because he invented a whole new martial art. But the Gracies are more respected because they not only invented a new martial art, but went out and fought a bunch of guys with limited rules to prove how effective it was. But you still gotta give a guy credit for using what came before and coming up with a whole new system, being able to teach it to a whole lot of people and gaining the respect of a whole bunch of highly respected guys in the martial arts community.

So to answer your original question, it's because of the mythology, the legend built up from his movies but also from the people who knew him and worked with him and sparred with him. The truth is, his experience is too limited to know how good he truly was. But that's where the term legend comes from. When there's limited information, people love to fill in the blanks and build someone up a lot bigger in their mind until they're larger than life, like the old time boxers there's only a few filmed fights of to go on. Other than that, there's only writings or journalists, authors and historians that saw them to go on, so with each generation the legend grows and the stories get wilder.

If we had youtube and smart phones centuries ago, I doubt you'd have as many people believing stories about Davy Crockett killing a bear when he was only 3 or the other stuff they tell us in history class, like George Washington chopping down some famous cherry tree, Babe Ruth's called shot, which has since been called into question.

So the short answer is because people love to inflate the legends more and more as time goes on.

Heh cause Norris was merely a point fighter YET STILL actually competed and fought. Further shows how even somebody like Norris is more legit

[Zaroku]

Im not trying to prove anything. I don't have to. He wasn't a fighter. He never had a single fight.

There's a huge difference between fighting a choreographed fake fight and actually fighting another person for real.
.of course real fighters like Norris have nothing but good things to say. But you could tell Norris was like "is this guy serious? Ahh poor kid he actually thinks Bruce was a legit fighter"! When asked about who would have won in a real fight.

You guys can keep living in make believe land cause a hollywood actor was ur hero idol doe hahah

You could prove anything, that’s obvious. I know you don’t have to do so, because you can’t.

Carry on busted cheeks. Are you even working? Trolling doesn’t count.

Never mind, I’m sure you are a real solid dude, who has a job, and you are probably well intended.

I agree with you a bit, doing is a different thing.

Good night son.

[ukbox]

Absolutely nothing. Although I have fought in a few smoker bouts for fun about 3 years ago..

But im not claiming to be one of the greatest fighters of sll time.

Lol one of the greatest yet never threw an actual strike in competition

So, how does your opinion hold any weight against proven fighters who rate Bruce Lee?

[Cheek busting]

So, how does your opinion hold any weight against proven fighters who rate Bruce Lee?

There's nothing to have an opinion on

Bruce wasn't a fighter therefor can't be rated as. Abad or good fighter.

He was a movie star and a very good one doe..

[ukbox]

There's nothing to have an opinion on

Bruce wasn't a fighter therefor can't be rated as. Abad or good fighter.

He was a movie star and a very good one doe..

Who says he wasn't a fighter, you doe?

[Anthony342]

Heh cause Norris was merely a point fighter YET STILL actually competed and fought. Further shows how even somebody like Norris is more legit

But Lee beat at least one guy in a full contact fight for the right to continue to teach non Chinese students. His wife Linda was a witness to this among some other martial arts instructors. It is said the fight took about 3 minutes and ended when Lee's opponent verbally submitted after taking a lot of punches after being mounted.

So while not in as many legit fights as Norris, there are the 3 mentioned in that other link provided. Fighter or not, the guy was a martial artist and came up with his own system. You make it sound like he was some liar making wild, unproved claims like Frank Dux or that George Dillman guy, who claimed to be able to knock guys out by touching pressure points or without touching them. Nobody is saying he's the greatest fighter, just that he was ahead of his time and an innovative martial artist. The proof of that is in the fact that decades later after the UFC was started, fighters got the same idea to combine different fighting styles, just like Lee studied and trained others in all those years ago. It only took this long to catch on because there was no sport of mixed martial arts back then. But give the guy some credit.

[Cheek busting]

But Lee beat at least one guy in a full contact fight for the right to continue to teach non Chinese students. His wife Linda was a witness to this among some other martial arts instructors. It is said the fight took about 3 minutes and ended when Lee's opponent verbally submitted after taking a lot of punches after being mounted.

So while not in as many legit fights as Norris, there are the 3 mentioned in that other link provided. Fighter or not, the guy was a martial artist and came up with his own system. You make it sound like he was some liar making wild, unproved claims like Frank Dux or that George Dillman guy, who claimed to be able to knock guys out by touching pressure points or without touching them. Nobody is saying he's the greatest fighter, just that he was ahead of his time and an innovative martial artist. The proof of that is in the fact that decades later after the UFC was started, fighters got the same idea to combine different fighting styles, just like Lee studied and trained others in all those years ago. It only took this long to catch on because there was no sport of mixed martial arts back then. But give the guy some credit.

Frank Dux also competed in hardcore full contact martial arts fights to the death. Bloodsport was based on his life.

True story

I AM giving Lee credit; credit for being one of if not THE BEST martial arts performer of all-time.

His ability to captivate audiences brought an entire new genre or at least made it popular - of movies and entertainment.

His ability to continuing inspire generation after generation to take up martial arts and get fit and ripped is amazing.

And from all accounts he was a good dude to boot. Genuine, down to earth, and friendly.

I never called Lee a fraud, because HE never claimed to be a real fighter.

I just think the notion that he was a legitimate martial arts fighter needs to be checked. That's all..

And the memes of "I could have kicked Chuck Norris' ass," should also be poked fun of!

It's really all part of the bigger picture of charlatans and fraudsters in the martial arts community. Since Lee's era, this "ninja aura" has allowed so many con artists to take advantage of of gullible kids(and adults).

Again, LEE WAS NOT A FRAUDSTER because he never claimed to be a fighter (as far as I know). But his image and likeness are exploited.

So I think by starting at the roots of this whole mummer's farce, is the false notion of Bruce Lee being some badass ninja who could KO or kill you with his pinky.

Indeed, by unravelling that all his moves and whatnot were for fictional entertainment ( and damn good entertainment it is), we can start dealing with this problem at the roots...

[Zaroku]

There's nothing to have an opinion on

Bruce wasn't a fighter therefor can't be rated as. Abad or good fighter.

He was a movie star and a very good one doe..

You say he wasn’t a fighter... define fighter? A person who fights? A person who knows how to fight? Do you fight, ever been in a fight?

I don’t mean to bust your cheeks, but I think he could fight. A lot of guys boxed police activities league in my area of San Jose, but other guys fought in the street..

I’m not understanding how you can say he is not a fighter, before defining what you define a fighter to you.

My wife paints, pretty well, never sold a painting, is she a painter? An artist?