How tough was Bruce Lee?

[revolverjgw]

Sort of a weird question, maybe absurdly n00bish. I know nothing about Martial Arts except what I learned in Tae Kwon Do about 10 years ago, when I was 11. I know he's respected as an innovator and a pioneer, a sort of Renaissance Man, but could he kick my ass? Was he truly feared as a fighter, or was it all kind of aesthetic? Did he ever have any sort of competitive fights? Can he genuinely be considered one of the toughest SOBs, and how would he stack up against modern Martial Arts champions?

Just sort of interested, I love his movies and I find him to be extremely charismatic, and... well, he looks to me like a tough little guy. The Lee vs Norris fight scene is what made me look into Martial Arts initially.

[Uncle Corny]

this thread will be 5 pages of bruce lee ass kissing.

[Mr. Gordo]

Perhaps 6 pages of Bruce Lee ass kissing?

[LKFMDC]

trust me, don't ever attack the holy icon of bruce lee the almighty, everyone's azz will get out of joint and hell will break loose

[Tom Yum]

Originally Posted by LKFMDC

everyone's azz will get out of joint and hell will break loose

Will he bring back the lost art of break-dancing? Cause I got some old cardboard Toshiba TV boxes from 83' that are still in good condition...

BrEaK'n 2: eLEctric buGAloo...lol

[Mr. Gordo]

Speaking of breakdancing and breaking out of the "joint" , Bruce Lee couldn't beat a true master of Jailhouse Rock.

[Tom Yum]

Originally Posted by Mr. Gordo

Bruce Lee couldn't beat a true master of Jailhouse Rock.

Yeah. He hasn't been training for a while.

[Mr. Gordo]

Oh, sure...interject some logic in this thread now.

[Tom Yum]

What about School House Rock ?

[Mr. Gordo]

Damn....school house rock....you've checkmated me!

[Uber_Tap]

It seems as if Karma dictates someone asking the Bruce question every month or so.

To answer your question, Bruce was supposed to be very talented and was supposed to have fought a lot of street fights in China, and they say he took open challenges from guys even after becoming Bruce Almighty

Bruce of the 60's and 70's gets his ass beat by mma fighters of today. If he lived in this era with his appreciation of cross training he may have been competative in an mma arena, but I don't think he would have dominated. Just an opinion, one that from the previous posts you can tell will most likely make me a hated man on this forum for a while.

[tigrtclaw]

Ask yourself honestly: How good were the computers and televisions and everything that was part of the world of the 60's early 70's?

Bruce Lee was way ahead of his time. It was an era of dark ages as far as the Martial Arts knowledge of today. He trained very hard and always searched on his own to improve himself. He was very tough by the standards of those day's and would have of course been way ahead had he lived today.

[Tom Yum]

Originally Posted by Uber_Tap

If he lived in this era with his appreciation of cross training he may have been competative in an mma arena, but I don't think he would have dominated. Just an opinion, one that from the previous posts you can tell will most likely make me a hated man on this forum for a while.

I would have to agree with you. If Bruce lived in this era, I think he'd be a noteable fighter, but not the best. Most of his wins would be by KO or decision from his speed.

[SweepEm]

mentioning dancing,
an interesting note of trivia;

I read in one of Bruce Lee's bios that he was a national dance champion in the cha cha...

[squidd]

Originally Posted by revolverjgw

Sort of a weird question, maybe absurdly n00bish. I know nothing about Martial Arts except what I learned in Tae Kwon Do about 10 years ago, when I was 11. I know he's respected as an innovator and a pioneer, a sort of Renaissance Man, but could he kick my ass?

Was he truly feared as a fighter, or was it all kind of aesthetic? Did he ever have any sort of competitive fights? Can he genuinely be considered one of the toughest SOBs, and how would he stack up against modern Martial Arts champions?

hi,
i think fighters must be gauged not only according to skill but also the time frame within which they had that skill. i remember in the late 80's that some people were unimpressed over tyson's romp over the heavyweight division because the popular opinion is that there were no fighters that are the same caliber as an ali, foreman, holmes, etc.

it would be very hard and maybe even unfair to transpose an old legend into modern times because of 1) the great progress in martial arts in recent years and 2) bruce lee could very well benefit from the more progressive martial arts environment.

but i understand that it is really a nice fantasy to have athlete from different eras compete with each other. in fact this is one of the attractions of the ea sports bestseller NBA live. having the 90's bulls compete with the 70's lakers for example. but i digress.

going back to the fantasy, for one, i think if bruce were around today, he would not be as lean as he was. with great training avialable to a wide range of people today, bruce would have probably been smart enough to see that, all things being equal, the big skilled fighter has an advantage over the smaller skilled fighter.