1st KYU Posted August 14, 2004 Posted August 14, 2004 have any one you seen the movie of bruce lees life? created with the assistance of his wife? arguably, bruce lee killed a man in under sixty seconds, thats after the fact that doctors told him he would never walk again! due to a harsh kick in the back. i have trained with a direct disciple of bruce lee, larry hartsell. he is 80 years old but he could kick my *. he has been featured in many magazines. BRUCE TAUGHT THIS GUY. im not saying bruce was the best, but, he was ONE OF THE BEST. people are saying hes gotten beat, UH DUH the man was not perfect. are you trying to tell me that no one ever beat this trovador guy? people make mistakes. bruce was soooooo fit , actually in one of bruces movies they actually had to slow down the tap to see the moves. if you have kazaa you can download bruce performing the famous one inch punch, the man he hits , falls to the ground. this is not a movie. people say jun fan JKD is not a great style. ill say this once IT IS NOT FOR AMATUERS. it is a very complex grappling system that will make an experienced martial artist like a newbie. and to people who say jet li would even have a chance too bruce lee you have been watching too manmy movies. jet li is a family man that no longer trains. have you ever seen jet take his shirt off? lol hes flabby. bruce on the other had is impressive, he is the most toned individual ive ever seen. if you have the movie THE ONE on dvd watch the extras, Jet emits he is not that great ANYMORE (he used to be one of the best but thats a different story). i also here people judging how good somone is by how many forms they know? give me a break, you gotta grow up. to say the least i am very UNimpressed with some of the comments made here i thought people on this site were more compitant than this. "Cry in the dojo, laugh on the battle field."
Shorin Ryuu Posted August 14, 2004 Posted August 14, 2004 thats after the fact that doctors told him he would never walk again! due to a harsh kick in the back. Don't believe everything you've seen on that movie...if you've actually read his biography (endorsed by his wife), he injured his back due to a training exercise (he was lifting weights that targeted the back and did a little too much). Hmm...it doesn't take a great martial artist to make a great martial arts movie star... I'm not saying that there aren't great martial artists that are movie stars...I just don't think Bruce Lee was really a great martial artist. Martial Arts Blog:http://bujutsublogger.blogspot.com/
Drunken Monkey Posted August 14, 2004 Posted August 14, 2004 the thing about bruce vs jet is that bruce has a background in FIGHTING jet has a background in performing. post count is directly related to how much free time you have, not how intelligent you are."When you have to kill a man it costs nothing to be polite."
Ravencroft Posted August 14, 2004 Posted August 14, 2004 ok personally i dont even believe that he got beat by trovadar in the first place namely because his fights are kinda hard to document in the first place. but if u wanna call him a great martial artist or not thats ur opinion its not really possible to prove it seeing as how people hold different standards for it. i personally feel he was the grreatest because no one has done more for MA as a whole...ever. that and he found new ways as well as bringing light to other ways of applying the arts. He revolutionized martial arts and its training in many different ways and if u seriously think he wasnt really all that good...then wow, thats your problem.
Monkeymagic Posted August 14, 2004 Posted August 14, 2004 If it wasn't for guys like them, there wouldn't be such a massive interest in martial arts, meaning less money put into clubs and the promotion of them. The films are great to watch and they inspire people (unfortunately, sometimes the wrong people) and this is what keeps it all going. Peace to Bruce and continue with the Jet lis and Jackie Chans. 'Karate is a set of beliefs and practices that are never grasped in their totality and that generate more knowledge and more practices' Krug (2001)
Drunken Monkey Posted August 14, 2004 Posted August 14, 2004 ...it's all about perspectives. among his contemporaries in the west, he was probably right up there with the best of them. among his wing chun brothers, he wasn't and never claimed to be the best. as a teacher, he was far from the best (remember, most of his 'senior students' were proficient martial artists before they trained with him i.e he didn't need to teach them) but all that has to be taken in relation to his time period. is he really as good a fighter as todays fighters like frank shamrock? in reality you can't compare cos standards have changed. and besides, does it even matter? it doesn't mean anything. him being good or not has no bearing on anything that matters today to you or me. there is too much bruce lee worship going on. yes he has done a lot for martial arts but my problem is that a lot of people selectively choose to ignore the 'seedier' aspects of his life and his questionable training of people. it is well known that the majority of his students were not much more than punch bags. for every larry hartsell, dan inosanto, taki kimura, ted wong, there were a hundred nameless punchbags. post count is directly related to how much free time you have, not how intelligent you are."When you have to kill a man it costs nothing to be polite."
Shorin Ryuu Posted August 14, 2004 Posted August 14, 2004 among his wing chun brothers, he wasn't and never claimed to be the best. In the rolll roster according to skill, he was ranked last... there is too much bruce lee worship going on I agree completely. A student of his, James DeMile said in a published interview that he went to Hong Kong to visit his parents and show his teacher Yip Man how much he had improved. "His progress was zip. He came back from Hong Kong shattered. He could hit the good Wing Chun men maybe once out of every three times they could hit him." He never studied the orthodox Chinese boxing of either the harder Shaolin types or the softer bagua, xingyi or taiji. He was not introduced to any of the advanced concepts such as pressure point manipulation. Nor did he study jujitsu or wrestling. All the stories you hear about his fights are always from students and fans, there is hardly anything verifiable from one to the next. Simply put, he was a bright package produced by Hollywood. As Donn Draeger said it "he's the richest guy in the graveyard." Did I mention his movies flat out stank? I was briefly in the Bruce Lee craze, until I read more of his books and watched his movies... Martial Arts Blog:http://bujutsublogger.blogspot.com/
Drunken Monkey Posted August 14, 2004 Posted August 14, 2004 In the roll roster according to skill, he was ranked last... well, i wouldn't go that far. don't forget that he was one of the active wing chun fighters at the time, although he was far from being another wong shun leung (sorry if i keep mentioning him but in my mind, he is more of a 'legend' than bruce lee is).... he was accepted by yip man as a 'proper' student as shown by his participation in the after school class that the likes of wong shun leung, william cheung, cheung hok kin etc etc took part in and this recognition showed that he was skilled in wing chun but um, well, that was at the beginning of his training.... as you pointed out, apparently he didn't get much better during his years away. it has been said that the 'flaws' he found in 'traditional' kung fu (i.e wing chun) is purely based on the fact that he stopped his wing chun training. in fact, if you list all of the jkd principles, it reads like a list of wing chun principles. but then i would say that wouldn't i.... anyway, y'know what i say? leave the man alone. enough has been said already. don't worship the legends, go make your own legend. don't look to whether or not he was the best go and make yourself the best. don't try to be like someone else. try to make other people want to be like you. martial arts is a very personal thing so why spend so much time worshipping someone else? you should be concerntrating on yourself. post count is directly related to how much free time you have, not how intelligent you are."When you have to kill a man it costs nothing to be polite."
Shorin Ryuu Posted August 15, 2004 Posted August 15, 2004 In the roll roster according to skill, he was ranked last... well, i wouldn't go that far. No, I mean literally, he was ranked last in the roll roster according to skill. It was shown to Donn Draeger (perhaps one of the most respected writers in the martial arts world, his word is not to be doubted). Martial Arts Blog:http://bujutsublogger.blogspot.com/
Ravencroft Posted August 15, 2004 Posted August 15, 2004 well i d believe him to be the greatest. if u wanna try and pull up all of these unverifiable little statistics that no one gives two craps about go ahead but when it gets right down to it none of it ha been proven and it all goes back to opinion. but i do agree with one thing y'know what i say? leave the man alone. enough has been said already. don't worship the legends, go make your own legend. don't look to whether or not he was the best go and make yourself the best. don't try to be like someone else. try to make other people want to be like you. martial arts is a very personal thing so why spend so much time worshipping someone else? you should be concerntrating on yourself. well said.
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