Actor on set of Big Boss confirmed a fight with Bruce Lee with a thaiboxer

Hmmm...

1) He couldn't beat most professional fighters. Joe Lewis (the kickboxer, not the boxer) was pretty adamant about this, and he trained with Lee. Then again, Lewis is something of an egomaniac...

2) Lee could beat me, 98% of this forum, and many non-professional fighters.

3) Jun Fan JKD isn't all that impressive by modern standards. Still, it's a nifty bit of analysis and shows a keen analytical mind.

4) Victor McLaglen was a better actor and fighter.

5) Lee was a great trainer. Lewis in particular thought highly of his theories...and considering his aforementioned egomania, that's quite something. It takes a lot to impress Lewis. Norris and several of the other top karateka trained with him as well.

6) Very, very fit, but not superhumanly fit. A couple notches below somebody like LaLanne, for instance.

7) An ICON. His movies transformed the martial arts into a global phenomenon and encouraged cross-training among thousands of martial artists. Heck, the Croats and Serbs in one town in the Balkans created a peace monument with Bruce Lee on it as a unifying symbol. Crazy stuff.

8 ) Cloaked his theories in pseudophilosophical mysticism. Unfortunately, less scrupulous MA'ists than Lee used this mysticism to promote exactly the OPPOSITE message from Lee's "Hard Sparring And Test Your Stuff" approach.

9) Not the first to cross-train, and failed to appreciate the value of grappling (movie armbars aside). Barton Wright did it better seventy years before, but he wasn't a publicist of Lee's caliber.



If greatness = popularity and breadth of influence, Lee IS the greatest martial artist of all time. If we're looking for fighting ability or the "correctness" of his theories, then no.

 

I've made my argument as to why he is a poor man's Cung. You've done little to refute it because it can't be refuted. Generally speaking, both guys consist of great kicks, terrible hands and average grappling. Cung is proven and much superior to Lee in all of these areas thus making him a poor version.

I'm happy to discuss MMA or MA. As a MA, Lee isn't **** to all these ADCC champs, all these Olympians etc etc PROVEN athletes.

People have bought into the myth that is Bruce Lee. Millions like him because of MOVIES. Million rank him because of myth. I think the majority of educated MA fans would not rank him. I'd be shocked if we ran a poll on this forum and people bothered to think about him in the same sentence as Floyd Mayweather or George St Pierre.

 

:huh

I don't mean to sound sarcastic or dismissive, but when did Lee fight in a boxing match? Studying Ali's footwork and reading Dempsey's book--no matter how thoroughly--does not equal boxing proficiency. I've heard rumors of a single boxing match in Hong Kong, but that's it.

Say what you like about BJ, but he uses boxing to knock out guys who have also studied boxing and are trying to throw, kick, and knee him to a pulp.

 

Great post cross_trainer. Sums up my thoughts in a more succinct manor.

Although I didn't know who Victor McLaglen was, he looks an interesting guy.

 

Thanks. :good

McLaglen was indeed interesting. Big guy...boxed, wrestled, won an academy award, served in World War I, and fought Jack Johnson. Can't beat that combination.

His brother wrote a (bad) Jiujitsu pamphlet: http://ejmas.com/jnc/jncart_McLaglan_1202.htm

 

1957 High School Boxing Champion ......

 

three time champion British boxer Gary Elms?

Odd that he does not have a boxrec.

 

There have been conflicting reports on Lee's fight history before.

So there footage of him behind the scenes, his training, but no genuine fight footage to prove he is actually any good at fighting. Even in the sparring footage his footwork is continously out of position, he has no guard which to speak of, he is completely kick orientated and i doubt he has any clinch game or top quality grappling.

BJ is a quality boxer. Not flawless but a good boxer who has hung with everyone he's ever fought and he has fought good strikers and completely neutralised them.

Florian, GSP, Sanchez etc all strike to a higher level then Lee. Lee hitting the heavybag is at the same level as at least 50 people who post home made videos on youtube.

 

It was an amateur show...apparently.

 

Any info on Elms cross_trainer?

 

:rofl:rofl:rofl Wow....:rofl