This is true, which is why most here have remained undecided on whether he could be a good boxer. By the way, he was more than just an actor. He was an artist (some of his paintings were quite decent actually) a philosopher and to a point, a visionary. Very much a free thinker. It was he who termed classical martial arts a "classical mess", maintaining, long before he developed JKD, that all those fancy stances and such is a lot of rubbish. Bare in mind that this was in the early 60's, when you just did not dare question these things. His system, which obviously has been supplemented with new ideas since his death by the likes of Dan Inosanto and others, bears many similarities to modern MMA. Certainly, the ideal of JKD does. It was he more than anyone who helped popularize martial arts in the US, and he also trained champion karatekas like Chuck Norris and Joe Lewis. Bob Wall, a renowned karate practioner of the period who won many karate tournaments said of Lee: "He tends to **** you off, because he can do everything he claims he can." Lee must have been one of very few people back in the 60's to advocate weight training for athletes. Top boxing trainers like Angelo Dundee refused to let their fighters touch a weight, but who was right in the end? Every ambition he had, he fulfilled. He was a perfectionist in everything he did. He set out to learn english, and eventually spoke english better than most Americans. It comes across strongly in his philosophical writing, where he uses a high standard of english. He set out to open up a school to teach martial arts to westerners, and despite many obstacles, did. Today JKD is a thriving style practised all over the world. Bare in mind that the style is his own creation too. He wanted to make movies and did, smashing box office records left and right in Asia. In addition, he conquered the States with just one movie. He could have been a real box office star had he not died prematurely. Lastly, he wanted to be a star. He surpassed that status eons ago. He became a legend instead. To claim he was just an actor is only looking at one aspect of a multi-talented individual.
Good post. Chuck Norris who won several full contact karate matches in the USA and Korea sparred with Lee and said he was the real deal.
No, all those choreographed fights in his films weren't "doctored". He can do a pushup on his thumbs. Well boo ****ing hoo. There are athletic feats that are a million times more impressive. People running 100m under 10 seconds. Marathons. Weight lifting. Etc etc. Yet of all those people, only 130lbs Bruce Lee can kick Tyson's ass and would be a great boxer, according to some people. atsch (and i'm not talking about you, just how people in general think of him) I mean, seriously. Can you speak of a man who throws a one-inch punch and knocks someone back several feet back with it and not laugh? Doesn't it smell just a little bit like a movie feat? An exxagarated feat? Something that has **** all to do with a real fight? All of these "he can do pushups in a special way, punch holes in cans, knock people out with one-inch punches, but for some magical reason he can't prove it in the ring outside of a few vaguely, film-less amateur fights". It's almost as big a leap of faith you need as some dude building a ship with all species on it and surviving a giant magical flood. atsch
Imagine how a fan of his must feel then...cringing at some of these utterly ridiculous stories, knowing it brings (justifiable) responses like yours. Kidz ruined Bruce Lee. But still he did have some great physical gifts, and I don't think it's out of order to wonder how he'd fare as a real fighter, however unrealistic it may be. It's all in fun anyway...
Sorry, just wanted to come back to this. The story I've got is that James Coburn, who was his student for a spell, bought a new punchbag to practice kicks on. There is no mention of the weight of the bag. Lee thought the bag unsuitable for kicking practice, and demosntrated his point by destroying it with a few kicks. Whatever the weight, it's highly unlikely the bag weighed anywhere near three hundred pounds. The chopsticks one I've never heard of before, and I should have highlighted it in my previous post. Incidently, he considered stuff like breaking boards cheap parlour tricks.
I think it's as early as the age of 10 when our elder brother takes us to one side and tells us that Bruce "can't really catch a bullet between his teeth". We all have to move on and get over it.
Hey, I'm a lot less narky in Classic than in the lounge. :good End of season. I've decided to stop thinking about Liverpool and awarding myself a 'stress free' summer. Instead, I wanted one telling Johann to "**** off". :good Although the fixtures will be out in a couple of weeks and that'll start me off again. Bemoaning their easy opening game. :yep
The question was Do we think that Bruce Lee would have been a good boxer. I believe that Bruce Lee would have been an excellent boxer. He was quick strong, agile a beter athlete then most boxers. The question is his ability to take a punch and all ofthe other grueling stuff. The 1 inch punch demonstration in Long Beach. I know the man in the recieving in of the punch it was real but we can all learn to do someting similiar. It is body torque
I can throw A wicked left hook and a devistating hammer fist at 6" So could Joe Louis. If Joe Lewis said that Bruce Lee was the real deal you had better believe it. Joe was could have been a terrific boxer.
Sorry I quit on this thread last night, but truth is my lap-top just up and quit on me. Most the posts overnight (my night anyway) seem to be on the same general train of thought. Of course no one knows whether Bruce Lee could have been a good boxer, but I believe he had a better chance than the aveerage Hollywood actor. Could he have taken a punch? Was he a bleeder? Would he have had the stomach for the punishment, the brutality, the pain, the broken this or that? Of course we'll never know. But seems like a question some on this forum at least found plausible enough to entertain. After all, much of what I've read on this forum could be characterized as conjecture.
Whilst you're right to question the more dubious Bruce Lee claims I think you are doing Bruce Lee a huge disservice to label him simply as an 'actor'. He was just a little bit more than that. His influence on Martial Arts is huge and not simply for being a movie star. He started the movement towards a MMA mindset with Jeet Kun Do and also was one of the first to advocate weight training as part of the MA regime. It's also clear that Lee was a physical freak who had unusual strength for a man who weighed 135lbs. As for the claim that he could punch harder than most heavyweights I just don't know. I've been punched by guys who trained in the Lau Gar style of Kung Fu which is similar in part to the styles that Lee trained in. Using the same short punching method I was put on my arse and across the floor. Granted it was a while ago and I weighed about 140lbs soaking wet at the time but still, the power generated by that type of punching is very real. How Lee would fare as a boxer is largely speculation. Lee apparently had been involved in many street fights in Hong Kong before he moved to the States but again details are sketchy. I think you'd have to give him the benefit of the doubt; he had the skills, strength, speed, will and desire and the only thing missing is whether he could take a punch. I'm going to come out and say that I think he could. Let's face it; the guy's been training in combat arts for most of his life and I'm sure he's been hit with hard punches numerous times. You just can't train and be at the level he reached without getting your fair share of knocks. Coming back to Stallone I believe that he trained as hard as most boxers for the Rocky role but he was missing that vital ingredient; he couldn't take a shot to the jaw. There's a rumour that Dolph Lundgren connected with a punch once and put Stallone in hospital for several days.
