Bruce Lee the fighter

... does not exist. He's an actor for pete's sake.

Sure he had some kung fu scraps with some scrubs in Hong Kong. But if
he was anything more than an actor, why not show some of your kung fu
against a Muy Thai fighter of his time, or go hunt down the Gracies who
I'm sure would've put Lee in a Chinese carry-out box.

Get fucking real and quit idolizing him because you saw Enter the Dragon
when you were 5.

probably not a fighter in the sense of MMA.

but no one denies his influence as forming the foundational theory for mixed or cross training among styles.

He is realistically the godfather of MMA. He was the first to combine different styles and use what works without being limited by styles.

The brazilians had vale tudo, but it was'nt a combination of styles. Bruce lee advocaed whatever works.

"lol @ godfather of MMA. Surely he would of needed to prove himself on at least one occasion? "

Have you read Tao of Jeet Kune Do?

Tell me another fighting philosophy around at the time that advocated the same MMA training methods?

now STFU.

Pancrase the first modern MMA org was inspired by Bruce lee.

The guy he beat up on the movie set was none other than Whang In Shik who is the current grandmaster in hapkido.

whang would so take him in a rematch

Whang kicked chuck norris' ass when chuck told him he was okay with full intensity for the sake of a scene.

EVILYOSHIDA

"He was the first to combine different styles and use what works without being limited by styles."

In the 20th century.

I think the further back in history you go, the more you see of picking what works and using it.

IMNSHO, it wasn't until people de-emphasized the "don't get your ass kicked" aspect of MA that style bigots developed.

Mark

Bruce Lee was a genius who was way ahead of his time.  Everyone can learn something from him.

Gary Hughes

"Pancrase the first modern MMA org was inspired by Bruce lee."

PANKRATION was the first MMA event, and it dates back to way before Lee ever existed.

Let's not go through this again.

"PANKRATION was the first MMA event, and it dates back to way before Lee ever existed. "

what part of MODERN do you not understand?

also greek naked wrestling doesn't count as martial arts.

Forget about fighting, Bruce wasn't even much of an athlete.

I believe Bruce beat up some wrestlers while in college in Cali.

Who was a fighter in the MMA sense in 1970? Rickson?

I guess it was not enough to fight everyone who challenged him and train with as many diverse body types and techniques as he could. He had to go to every remote corner of the world and prize fight for dog scraps to prove his worthiness? Do you think the Gracie's did this? Do you think any Judoka or Muay Thai fighter of the time was doing this?

Look at the people Rickson was fighting in the early 90's. I can venture to guess that sled-boy, half a dozen tomato cans and a few pro-wrestlers who might not even have been trying to win are not much more of a challenge in a fighting sense then the guys who stepped up and challanged Bruce time and again.

You people are clowns. The man had extremely limited avenues to "showcase" his true fighting skills. Unike the Gracie's there is no obvious evidence of Bruce ducking people or avoiding confrontations, but like the Gracies all evidence of his prowess at the times was based 100% off of dubious challenge matches.

Your blurring the lines between sport fighting and what he did. He had the concept of mma way back when but not as a main stream sport! The majority of the ppl on this thread havent read his books dont really have an idea of what he was about when it came to martial arts and are just throwing out uneducated commits.

He was against competing or making it a fucking circus much like it is today with TUF and how every 17-22 yr old kid is claiming to be an "ultimate fighter" to impress a girland he saw it on the tv one night.Most of you are not much different.You lack the understanding seems all you fools know is what you see on the tube from pride or whatever shows u r watching these days.

    What he did and what you ppl are talking about are two different things completely.This thread reminds me of some of the threads on the OG  "superman VS daredevil" "praying mantis VS pissed off ant" 

     The past of MA is being watered down and downplayed becuase we have jackass average joe blows now calling themselves a part of the "mma scene"i guess thats the trade off for going main stream. This forum has more and more stupidity spewed on it every day.I personally want nothing to do with "mma" or the so called ppl involved with it anymore and could careless about whats said on the UG anymore these days but trashing a guy who died and pretty much gave his soul to see martial arts which was pretty much his religion given more respect and if it werent for him half of you fucking posers that are on this forum wouldnt have ever known what martial arts is.

      Please continue with ur rumors of what rick franklin had for dinner and what color it was and if tito really hates ken shamrock your all worse than fuckin women.

Im glad bruce isnt alive to see what he spent his life on is all about these days

RIP old man

having seen bruce lee perform in person i would have to say he would have kick fucked the gracies. i have observed a few martial artisits that upon seeing them work it was obvious they were the real thing. lee was one of those. another was joo bong lee (not sure of spelling) a hwawrongdo master (not sure of that spelling either.

lee was extremely fast and powerful. first saw him at the long beach internationals

"I guess it was not enough to fight everyone who challenged him and train with as many diverse body types and techniques as he could. He had to go to every remote corner of the world and prize fight for dog scraps to prove his worthiness? Do you think the Gracie's did this? Do you think any Judoka or Muay Thai fighter of the time was doing this?"

How did you end up on an MMA forum? Have you missed Helio Gracies fight with Kimura? Thats not enugh of a high caliber challenge for you? How about sending a letter to Joe Louis asking him for a no rules fight. How about the countless kung fu and karatekas being whooped in Thailand during the challenge matches of the 1970s. Yeah Bruce was definatly beating the cream of the crop. The stageworkers on his moviesets more likely

"Look at the people Rickson was fighting in the early 90's. I can venture to guess that sled-boy, half a dozen tomato cans and a few pro-wrestlers who might not even have been trying to win are not much more of a challenge in a fighting sense then the guys who stepped up and challanged Bruce time and again."

Yeah look at that clown Funaki. All he did was beat the likes of Ken Shamrock, Bas Rutten, Frank Shamrock, Guy Mezger, Yuki Kondo. Bruce could have handled him just as easily. Difference between Rickson and Bruce is that there is documented evidence of Rickson fighting

"You people are clowns. The man had extremely limited avenues to "showcase" his true fighting skills. Unike the Gracie's there is no obvious evidence of Bruce ducking people or avoiding confrontations, but like the Gracies all evidence of his prowess at the times was based 100% off of dubious challenge matches."

Yeah the Gracies challenge matches consisted of one of the greatest judokas of all time and a decent kickboxer like Dennis Alexio. All documented. Bruce challenge matches consisted of waiters and stageworkers. Didnt Bruce film Big Boss partly in Thailand? He could have easily gotten a fight at one of the stadiums. Oh wait i forgot. He would not have been able to use his super impressive grappling skills on the ground. Bruce never proved he was a good striker or a good grappler. Nothing aside from writing a good philosophical book about martial arts evolution. All the credit in the world for that. But still doesnt make him a fighter. Let alone one of the best fighters during that time period

A street fighter first and then a martial arts philosopher.

Used the medium of films to put out his message.

It is easy to kick a dead man but doubters should at least look up some of the accounts of Bruce Lee's life.

Bruce lee was 5'7 and 140 pounds, if he was that weak and pathetic as some people seem to think then how did he managed to impress so many people and to get his breaks.

Hollywood celebrities were paying his hundreds of dollars per hour for lessons. At that time before martial arts was popular most people would just think he was a small chinese man so he must have done somthing to impress them.

None of these people were as impressed by professional boxers otherwise they'll all be training boxing instead.

The sad truth is that the UG is under some collective delusion that wrapping another man between your legs in a padded cage whilst both half naked is the height of 'real' fighting.

a little off topic but i saw the end of 'game of death' on tv a couple days ago and bruce but kareem abdul jabar in a head and arm choke. just thought i would throw that out there.

"None of these people were as impressed by professional boxers otherwise they'll all be training boxing instead"

Because moviestars dont like to get punched in the face hard?

"The sad truth is that the UG is under some collective delusion that wrapping another man between your legs in a padded cage whilst both half naked is the height of 'real' fighting."

I was waiting for the "street fighters are too deadly" comment. Yes MMA is far from the reality that Bruce Lee experienced streetfighter mastered. I mean he would just eyegouge or claw his way out of any position a grappler could put him in. Thats why Gene Lebell humiliated him. But Bruce did not feel like gouging his eyes out to prove a point at the time