A few things: * Bruce was never really a fighter. He looks pretty fast in the sparring footage that survives from a demonstration at a tournament, was clearly very athletic, and has an OK (if circumstantial) fight record. So he could thrash your average goon in a brawl, but I doubt you'd see him beating good professional boxers or wrestlers. He isn't even the most qualified actor in martial arts--Chuck Norris and Victor McLaughlin were better. * He was, however, a great martial arts theorist. This is undeniable--he had the respect of a goodly number of top-ranked martial artists, including Norris (top-ranked karate fighter in the late 60's) and Lewis (who credits Bruce with developing his kickboxing style). Jeet Kune Do was something that people had been doing for years, but Lee allowed the concept to become mainstream. Ironically, an actor got it right in the 60's and the Gracies--who still stick to a single style--never did. In conclusion: Great analytical mind, decent-to-good martial arts ability. Definitely a MA theorist deserving of quotation, and his influence on the martial arts was generally good. He was not a great FIGHTER, but then again, neither was Cus D'Amato. He's closest to Emmanuel Steward--a great abstract grasp of combat sports combined with respectable "amateur" experience.
I totally agree about the Chuck thing but what he did has to be respected. Like CT said he was theorist, he trained ****ing hard and I doubt every impressive accomplishment he had was fake. Like I said, ultimately he simply wasn't as proven as a professional combatant but still deserves respect.
No, like I said, I hate his cult of personality, which steals from people who rightfully deserve credit for being fighters.
I would thouroughly disagree, where are all the succesful JKD style fighters, because I can't even begin to count the number of succesful gracie trained fighters.
Impressive, compared to world class fighters? C'mon. Bruce Lee was a good athlete, but not a fighter.
There aren't any successful Jun Fan style fighters. JKD is the concept of cross-training--and there are many, many successful cross-trainers around (I myself am an extremely successful cross-trainer). The Gracies have, by and large, stuck with BJJ.
Your point is? And your point is? Wow!! He did something cool in a movie, he must have been the best fighter ever!
I've already said he isn't as impressive as the true pros but it is impressive he fought numerous styles and his theories are certainly compelling and I agree witht them. Lee was not Fedor or Mayweather but he wasn't some myth.
Bruce Lee was very important to the evolution of martial arts - his theories of using what worked and discarding empty tradition that has no application are the cornerstone of MMA. He was an original thinker, and a great one. I don't care if Sherk would destroy him, because Bruce was something very important to combat arts, an essential influence and in my mind the true creator of MMA. He wasn't a physical slouch, but I am confident he MIGHT be competitive with some good fighters his size because of his conditioning and strength at that low weight. A Tyson or Couture match up is ludicrous, but another 125 pound fighter might very well have some problems with Bruce. You have to appreciate that without Bruce everyone would still be throwing reverse punches with the other hand glued to the hip in martial arts competions. Philosophically he deserves the respect he gets, though perhaps not through competition.
