I thought this might interest people. these are some pages taken from the four volume called Bruce Lee's fighting method. thing you have to remember is that when these books came out people in movies were fighting like the series the Men from U.N.K.L.E. it was judo Chop to the neck stuff. What to me is amazing about these books after seeing MMA how relevant everything is. I mean look at the kind of attacks Bruce lee is defending against. This content is protected From Bruice lee"> This content is protected From Bruice lee"> This content is protected From Bruice lee"> From Bruice lee This content is protected From Bruice lee"> From Bruice leeFrom Bruice le e From Bruice lee"> From Bruice lee This content is protected From Bruice lee"> From Bruice lee
well said... they wanted to kill him for teaching martial arts in america... also..he created a marriage of styles... not just one discipline.... like my friend tom says... he basically is what made mixed martial arts. i'm sure even the fighters these people post about would agree that bruce would "school" them in a match......probably after he would beat them...they would join his art.
I donot respect it. It is one of the most ignorant non analytical comment that I have ever read. Just plain stupid. Because you donot know
A lot of you still live in your childhood. Bruce is like religion, and his followers are pretty blind to any rational arguments.
It took me ages to prepare post up those pictures from the Bruce Lee's book. not a single ****ing comment about it. those pages are very interesting, he is discussing very interesting boxing slipping methods. Unbelievably he's showing his defences against common mma attacks. with eye pokes groin punches at hair grabs. he would have MMA fighters running to their mummies. Talk about ahead of his time. people don't get it, when Bruce lee was teaching and writing these books. there was nothing but nothing like it at all. a few other martial art books were people in karate suits doing Kata or forms. I'm not really that bothered, you are the one that is going to have to deal with the consequences of being thought of as a dumass.
I don't see anything in those photo's that any student in a vast array of styles had not been shown before or indeed that Bruce had been taught by previous instructors. Hardly revolutionary and for my money there are numerous other high profile martial artists that put together far more comprehensive analysis that actually credits the true sources. I have a copy of the book and it is good - but it is not the holy grail. What I do see in those pictures is a very compliant uke and a lack of realistic, quality attacks. :yep
Great footwork and blinding speed. All from fencing and boxing. And this was the early stages of him creating his MMA style.
Well I'm a first poster here- been on MA forums and getting quite into Kick Boxing having previously done a bit of Karate, Kung Fu and Tae Kwon Do. I am a big admirer of Lee but disagree with holding him in a myth-like regard as he himself hated all of the myth and fantasy involved in the martial arts... I think that is why so many people question his abilities, as they get ramped up so much that some of the stuff he actually WAS capable of gets discredited. If we think for a second about the whole Lee vs Ali subject…. (Ali having been tied up by Lewis IIRC?) During his lifetime Bruce was aware that he may be pressured into a show fight with Ali. And was very much aware of his inadequicies in fighting a man of this size who also had good speed. Infact, as Lee became a big name in Martial Arts he constantly feared he would be conronted by "a 6 foot version of me" as he put it- and this is why he never rested on his training. If you visit www.bruceleethedivinewind.com then you will find a document about Bruce watching Ali's fights in a mirror and shadowing his movements in order to understand how he moves. He studied and loved the fighting arts- But when asked on the subject Bruce Lee said this: "Look at his hands, now look at mine (holds his hand out) -this is a small chinese hand...he would kill me..." Was he playing safe or just being honest- we will never know….he was said to be modest at times and at others completely caught up in his own hype…….. Lee was a philosopher, martial artist, teacher and…... an actor last. Lee always said he was not a fighter but a teacher....not to say he couldn't take care of himself but that's how he seen it "self defence" and a way of life rather than a sport/hobby/competition. He also felt that as a teacher, he should be able to exemplify to his students anything he would teach them, therefore he became a fantastically powerful and fast martial artist. The problem with Lee's view of the Martial Arts is that it is simply a self defence mechanism so he would use anything to preserve himself eg. hair pulling, biting, kicking to the groin etc. anything that would allow him to make a get away. These guys (Lewis, Norris, Stone looked at Lee's abilities and thought they could use his insights into fighting and make it work for them in the ring- and Lee helped develop and adapt it for these purposes and he in return learnt from their combat experiences. What a lot of people don't understand is that the art he shows on film were radically the opposite in what he trained on in private. There are poor video clips of him "training" but these are infact trial pieces for him…..recording movements to see how they look on camera (I.e. will this look good for TV) but this is not recordings of him training. The nearest I have heard his actual fighting style described is Keysi Fighting Method (funnily enough created by two certified JKD instuctors under Dan Innosanto) [ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keysi_Fighting_Method[/ame] this was used in the Batman films by Batman and if you watch closely, although many of the movements are overellaborate- he never draws back…constantly moving into his target. This is what Lee's true fighting style was- he would drag you toward him and attack you from inside your fighting/striking distance, constantly moving toward you. And I can see the comments coming now…I am NOT comparing BL to Batman….hahaha. Just trying to relate to something most people might have seen. It is interesting to think how he may have developed his own style when coming up against todays guys but fact is- he didn't so he had developed to his time. He did later regret naming JKD as it is not a style as such- it is basically the blueprint for MMA….use what works for you. If you are small and slight- develop speed, if you are big and heavy- use your size and overpower opponents. No two people are built the same, move the same etc. use what will be the most effective for you. The way he fought (not his movie movements- that was for show, for the cameras) was HIS interpretation of JKD. He soon realised terming it JKD was a load of bollox as all he was saying is "JKD means simply- to simplify" and it was that simple! He had got caught up in his own hype of creating the "ultimate style" and he knew it….and probably felt like a bit of a butt-nut for it…haha. To say that Lee understood where and how exactly to strike every part of the body was an understatement- he wrote volumes on the subject. He also trained to move "non telegraphically" ie. no backdraw on striking. I'm sure you all have methods of "watching shoulders" to guess when a strike is coming. Aswell as this he trained to look away from where he planned to strike ie. he would look at your eyes and kick you in the nuts, look at your knees and punch you in the face. These were studied and trained intensley. I would highly reccommend watching the "How Bruce Lee Changed the World" documentary- it is very interesting to see how much of an innovator he was and how revolutionary his ideas were at the time he was alive. Things you wouldn't even think about until you realise he was doing these things back in the 60's before they were recognised. eg. making his own protein shakes in his blender (milk powder, steak, water, eggs...with the shells, a few vitamins- whisk it up and away you go!) before things like Maximuscle were ever concieved possible and wring himself up to the mains electricity to work out his muscles through electro-stimulation (decades before todays Ab-Tek type systems). The man was not a scientist or anything but he studied the human body rigorously as that was his weapon, his livelyhood and he certainly achieved a lot n his short life. So in reality- not a proven fighter no, and I doubt very much he would have competed in any MA had it have been around in his day. It just wasn't "his thing". His thing was studying, learning and teaching. Yes he had great skill, power, coordination, reflexes etc. etc. but he wasn't interested in training to make his living out of beating guys up/getting beat up- he had a deeper appreciation of MA. I do think he would have been involved and trained a lot of MMA guys had it been around though- can you imagine BJ being trained by Lee after Lee had studied fighting for an additional 30 years? Chaos…..haha. Ofcourse he was good, how good is up to who you believe but ofcourse he had to say he was the man etc. to prolong his Movie career- he had an image to keep for his livelyhood- maybe he took it too far and this lead in someway to his death (overtraining from putting too much pressure on himself to be the best/defend against attackers - murder….whatever you believe) but his story has definitely influenced a lot of guys in MMA and I think that is something that can't be argued. Be it in a good way or a bad way, it's there and it has to be respected. Sorry to all who have read all of that…….it was a slow day today!
