best martial artist?

[Howard]

My vote goes to 'Bruce Lee' who is the greatest Martial Artist I have ever seen

Yes,I know Bruce Lee was the best martial artist in his time but there are different forms of martial arts do you know in which form Bruce Lee was master?

[A_Christian]

No such thing as a best martial art. There is however, great martial artists.

[bushido_man96]

I have to say of all the greats I've seen out there, the only one I've really got to work with was Royce Gracie. The guy was so smooth and made everything look so easy. So much skill there.

[sensei8]

I have to say of all the greats I've seen out there, the only one I've really got to work with was Royce Gracie. The guy was so smooth and made everything look so easy. So much skill there.

Awe shucky darn...I feel crushed...Just kidding Brian!! I wholeheartedly concur with you about Royce; he'd be in my top 100, imho.

[JusticeZero]

I'm not a big fan of "Bruce Lee was the greatest". He was good, yes, but he was a horrible student, and most of what he accomplished, he accomplished just because he acquired a lot of name recognition. There is a big difference between fame and skill, and not everyone focuses on leveraging the latter (and being photogenic) into the former.

[bassaiguy]

I was once on the mat with a member of the US Olympic Judo team. He was the most skilled judoka I've ever seen. I've trained with police academy instructors who were scary just walking onto the mat. I've worked out with sport karate champs whose speed was amazing. But the best martial artist I've ever met was a man named Al Gardner who was a Shotokan and Chinese martial arts master and a master musician - everything he touched was art. He had tremendous health issues and to look at him you might laugh, but the power, grace and balance he displayed was amazing. After meeting him I'll never again judge a book by it's cover.

[bushido_man96]

I have to say of all the greats I've seen out there, the only one I've really got to work with was Royce Gracie. The guy was so smooth and made everything look so easy. So much skill there.

Awe shucky darn...I feel crushed...Just kidding Brian!! I wholeheartedly concur with you about Royce; he'd be in my top 100, imho.

Don't feel bad, Bob! You are #2 for sure!

[ps1]

I think it's important to break this up into different historical periods. Especially since martial arts have transformed greatly in both application and methods over the centuries.

1. Ancient- I don't know enough different martial artists from ancient history. My immediate thought goes toward Miyomoto Musashi, though.

2. Modern Era, deceased: Jigoro Kano

3. Modern Era, Living: Dan Inosanto

Those are my pics, but it's all very subjective anyway.

[Hawkmoon]

My vote goes to 'Bruce Lee' who is the greatest Martial Artist I have ever seen

Change the view here, from a sport personality to say the movies/tv.

Consider this who did more to revitalize Sci-Fi?

Gene for Star Trek

or

George for Star Wars.

'Best' is a subjective term its measure is mainly down to the opinion of the voter.

Here Bruce is the best (IMO) as it was him that opened the worlds eyes to Martial Arts.

or

Was it Chuck Norris for his ability and fame in the sport.

[sensei8]

There are a many great MAists, and in that, it's quite hard, imho, to pick just one.