Bruce Lee on different styles

[100-Artiste]

Just thought i'd put down what Bruce Lee said about various arts: (editted by John Little but from Lee's own writings):

 

Just to fire up a little conversation + it's not a bad analysis of quite a few of the most popular martial arts:

 

He also stated:

 

"Because we have two hands and two legs. Now the unfortunate thing is that there is boxing, which uses hands, and judo, which uses throwing. I'm not putting them down, mind you - but because of stles, people are separated."

 

Street Fighting:

 

Pro: 1) Lack of finesse in structure

 

2) Efficient sharpeningof "tools" generally lacking

 

3) Correct mental attitude

 

Western Boxing:

 

Pro: 1) Efficient footwork

 

2) Variety of punches (jab, hook, cross, uppercut)

 

3) Shoulder/chin in protection

 

4) Conditioning

 

5) In-fighting

 

6) Head and body movements

 

Con:Set of restrictions and designed to defeat an opponent in a certain manner.

 

Wrestling:

 

Pro: 1) Leg Tackle

 

2) Uncrispy, economy rush

 

3) Protective Shell while moving in

 

4)Strangulation

 

5) Holds, locks

 

6) Ground fighting

 

Con: Need to add ..hair pulling, groin grabbing, eye poking, shin pinching (study the old time illegal holds)

 

Karate:

 

Pro: 1) Tool Development: Balance/Form

 

2) Front Kick (Snap, Thrust)

 

Con: 1) Need to stress greater mobility and aliveness

 

2) Need to modify upward snap (compare with savate)

 

Tae Kwon Doe:

 

Pro: 1) Leg Flexibility

 

2) Turning heel kick

 

3) Head ram

 

Con: 1) Lacks contact

 

2) Lacks broken rhythm and aliveness

 

3) Lacks Variety

 

Judo:

 

Pro: 1) Balance

 

2) Osoto

 

3) Foot sweeps

 

4) Mat work (Locks, Chokes)

 

Con: (need to add) Hair pulling, groin grabbing, eye poking, shin pinching

 

Thai Boxing:

 

Pro: 1) Elbows

 

2) Knees

 

3) Actual Combat

 

Con: 1) Punching not of a high caliber (left jab is poor, uppercut almost non-existent, hook is inadequate)

 

2) Gloves prevent use of finger jab and palm smash

 

3) Lead foot attacks lacking (no knee/shin lead attack and groin attack)

 

4) No grappling tactics.

 

5) No 'under the belt' tactics

 

6) Scientific economical structure is lacking. Plus a lack of sophistication in cadence, timing, broken rhythm.

 

7) No hair pulling or scratching.

 

Specialized all-in fighting:

 

Pro 1) Poking eyes (long range jab, close range poke)

 

2) Pulling hair (immobilization, as release, as assist)

 

3) Biting (as release, to disable, to attack in close)

 

4)Grabbing groin

 

5) Specialize in under the belt attack with kicks, strikes, punches and grappling.

 

Gung Fu Styles - Wing Chun

 

Pro: 1) Teaches the economy of straight line

 

2) Nucleus punching

 

3) Chi sao - two halves of one whole

 

Con: 1) Over-simplification

 

2) Lacks Variety

 

Gung Fu Stles - Tai Chi

 

Pro: 1) Estoric

 

2) The Flow

 

Gung Fu Styles - Northern Styles:

 

Pro: 1) Palm Strike

 

2) Variety to liberate

 

Con: 1) Needs to add power

 

2) Needs to be more compact.

 

Western Fencing:

 

Pro: 1) Skillful use of front lead

 

2) Timing and cadence

 

3) Foil//saber//epee

 

Kendo:

 

Pro: 1) The Zen Approach

 

2) The determined clash

 

3) The footwork

 

Aikido:

 

Pro: 1) The Flow

 

2) Two halves of one whole

 

3) The footwork

 

Con: 1) Needs to work on the idea of adding uncrispyness to snap (in their concept of flow)

 

Enjoy.

[Radok]

Interesting outlooks and comparison of alot of arts.

[wckf_azn]

hey!! is there a point to ur topic or are you just informing us whatz goot and whats crap???

 

next ryt a beta topic... maybe i can actually help you..

 

well cya

[Treebranch]

That's really cool and interesting, I only wish Bruce Lee would have lived longer to look at other styles, to see what he thought.

[100-Artiste]

No i'm just informing you of Bruce Lee's (a better martial artist than both you an I - in case you didn't realise) views. He does not criticise the arts directly, he is just stating what he believes are their strengths and weaknesses in a full contact street situation. A lot seems to be said about art's effectiveness in these situations and this is what Lee thought..

 

As you can see he generally describes them within the context of their own ruleset..

 

If you don't like what he said then that's fine by me.

[Kensai]

I am not a big Bruce Lee fan, but he was indeed a gifted man. I dont think it was really his place to judge styles he had never studied.

 

But it is an interesting read.

[Kyle-san]

I dont think it was really his place to judge styles he had never studied.

 

Why not, we do it all the time on these forums?

[battousai16]

also, keep in mind that although he never studied most of those under an instructor, he had an extensive library on all of them and new them. it's not like he was just pulling things out of thin air; he read up on them, applied them to what he new, and figured it out.

[WhiteBelt]

I take karate and agree with Lee's assessment. Depending on the school you could add a lot more to the cons, but that applies with all of the arts and the practitioners.

[SupaNinjaz]

I have read this before, the problem with what Bruce Lee stated about different martial arts were incorrect in some cases, but back then information on martial arts was extremly limited, so mistakes on Bruce's parts should be expected. It would be nice to hear what Bruce would say about those same martial arts if he was alive today!!!