Who did Bruce lee actually fight?

[Sircnay]

Hey if you manage never to get into any street fights through word of mouth then good lord then you must've REALLY fucked up those people you fought.

[fenwick99]

this thread was

This thread was quite entertaining, but a few observations are in order.
First, you do not need to fight professionally to be a real fighter. Many policeman, bouncers, bodyguards, roadies, etc. have survivied lethal situations. Are these guys tough?
Second, I will agree that Bruce was not the best fighter. However, he was timed at 5/100 of a second with a straight lead from about 8 feet away.
He could lock out a barbell weighing almost as much as he did, and his side kick had power. And he could pluck flies out of the air, with chopsticks! Try it sometime. I wish I could do that.
Third, a coach is not always the best at what he does. Penn and Couture are the best fighters, and they are also great coaches. However, many great coaches never even play the sport. Fourth, many persons challenge Oyama mythology. He was a tough guy and did fight bulls, but was he really 270-0?
Some doubt it. Fifth, it does not matter! Why don't tkd people have to say that Choi could have beaten Matt Hughes? Why don't judoka has to defend Dr. Kano against Couture? Lee is the founder of an art, not the best fighter.

[dimmak786]

Look at the time Bruce Lee was living there was no MMA scene, or any kickboxing scene. All you had were judo, kung fu and ku jitsu masters, and boxing world champions and thai fighters all competing in their own pool. Boxing was the only globalised event.

As for Bruces own pond (ie USA and HK), there were no contact karate tournaments or kung fu tournaments let alone kickboxing.

karate contests of the day were glorified games of tag.

Bruce lee had no wish to compete in such tournaments.

But others like Joe LEwis, Bill Wallace, Bob Wall and Chuck Norris did compete in them. So they had the right to call themselves World champion or US champion kickboxers.

In truth those titles meant nothing in the early 70's it was only after that the whole karate full contact tournament and kickboxing exploded.

So its a bit like Andy townsend telling people he's ex chelsea. It sounds really impressive until you realise he played for chelsea when they were in the second division!

Bruce could have killed any of those so called big names i just mentioned.

[jubaji]

.......................

[dimmak786]

Pencode makes a great post.

But one thing does intrigue me.

Surely thai boxing was what Bruce Lee was looking for.

Bruce criticised the "dry land swimming" of karate, kung fu and takewondo.

But thai boxing was the true kicking and punching and factual fighting art

I'd really like to hear more about the challenge fights with thai boxers.

[dimmak786]

Posted by domstarr "These guys say the Gracies proved their "stuff" in the ring, but all they did was set up the UFC so that grapplers had the advantage to make themselves look good. This is common knowledge. All the holds that were barred in there supposed no holds barred fighting were to their advantage, where a kicker would had broken their leg in half at the knee before they could do a take down. They would have had there throats crushed or their eyes jabbed out by someone like Bruce, before they could take him down. The rules they made up were self serving. You guys are hero worshipping the wrong people."

As much as I agree with you and Pencode in regards to bruce. You are wrong to criticise the Gracies.
They didnt set up the rules to protect themselves. Headbutts and groin shots were legal in the early UFC's. There was no weight limits. The only things not allowed were eye gouging and biting, and despite what you say about Bruce jabbing their eyes out, would doing those things (ie biting and eye gouging) really require any martial skill?? No because a 70 year old granny could do those.
The truth is the Gracies beat what was on offer in the early UFC's. Art JImmerson was a contender at his weight. Gordeau was a decorated kickboxer, Shamrock a decent pro wrestler. Both Royce and Rickson beat olympic gold medalist judoka or wrestlers. Renzo beat a legendary kickboxer in Maurice Smith.

[dimmak786]

Posted by domstarr "These guys say the Gracies proved their "stuff" in the ring, but all they did was set up the UFC so that grapplers had the advantage to make themselves look good. This is common knowledge. All the holds that were barred in there supposed no holds barred fighting were to their advantage, where a kicker would had broken their leg in half at the knee before they could do a take down. They would have had there throats crushed or their eyes jabbed out by someone like Bruce, before they could take him down. The rules they made up were self serving. You guys are hero worshipping the wrong people."

As much as I agree with you and Pencode in regards to bruce. You are wrong to criticise the Gracies.
They didnt set up the rules to protect themselves. Headbutts and groin shots were legal in the early UFC's. There was no weight limits. The only things not allowed were eye gouging and biting, and despite what you say about Bruce jabbing their eyes out, would doing those things (ie biting and eye gouging) really require any martial skill?? No The truth is the Gracies beat what was on offer in the early UFC's. Art JImmerson was a tp 50 in the world boxer at his weight. Gordeau was a decorated kickboxer, Shamrock a decent pro wrestler. Both Royce and Rickson beat olympic gold medalist judoka or wrestlers. Renzo beat a legendary kickboxer in Maurice Smith.

[Vader]

Hi this is my first post here. I know that Joe, trained with Bruce - Bruce being his teacher, but Joe Lewis claims they never Sparred.

Vader

[freefighter2010]

When i did judo as a kid my teacher use to say that Bruce could hit you 4 times when you blinked now thats what i call speed !

[q.10™]

Trubador Ramos is a great martial artist, he grew up in china, he have study almost all kinds of martial arts ever since he was a child... he have created his own martial arts known as "tracma".. (trubador ramos consolidated martial arts)... there is a time when he want to join the olympic but he was over qualified.. he was a 27° grand master... his speed is amazing.. they needed to slow the tape for 120x before they can see it in normal speed..

[Tant01]

Perhaps he is...

Bullshit. Show me some tape, and tell me who requires any kind of 27th degree anything. This is absolute crap.

Did he mean 27th generation "master" of something?

[Liberty]

Hi this is my first post here. I know that Joe, trained with Bruce - Bruce being his teacher, but Joe Lewis claims they never Sparred.

Vader

Joe Lewis also claims those open finger Kendo gloves Lee used to spar with (same type of gloves in the opening scene of ETD) hurt like hell. How would he know?

On second thought, think I'll opt out of this thread. Discussions of Lee's possible prowess then, now, next week, whenever, are about as fruitful as discussions of what is JKD. Each individual asserting his or her own bias - often improperly examined, if at all. Next...

[Caveman]

Check these out.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=O4CVTq44icg

There is 9 videos to watch. All in the 7 minute-9 minutes range. I watched them all. Has commentary from Dan Inosanto, Brandon Lee, and the man himself, Bruce Lee.
Also shows the personal training of James Coburn.


I really liked the videos. Something youtube actually has on it useful. Least for me.

Hope you enjoy it for those who haven't seen it.

[Tant01]

LOL Did you see what I did with the planet Mars a couple months ago?

That's right, I pulled it in with my Ki for a closer look. The Roman deity it's named for is dead. I assassinated him and his inbred plethora of fellow gods and goddesses ages ago.

I was so stealthy no one even noticed.

Bullets are slow and tiny. Too insignificant to bother with. I'm trying for my second supernova this month. What color is my belt?

It's secret. No video available....

Eyes open! Brain "ON". LOL

[Justthefacts]

Resume

The documented history of Bruce Lee's combat experiences are as follows:

1) Lee's brother, Robert, stated that Bruce went looking for fights in high school. Lee's nickname in high school was "King Gorilla."

2) Lee had many rooftop battles in Hong Kong with the last of these confrontations resulting in Lee seriously hurting the son of a Triad family. This fight was one of the reasons why Lee's family shipped him to the United States.

3) Lee got into 2 street fights in the early 1960's. Lee punched out a Japanese challenger in Oakland and he fought Wong Jak Man in 1964. Both fights were witnessed by several individuals.

4) Lee got into more street fights than Chuck Norris (e.g., one fight while in the service) and Bill Wallace (e.g., no street fights) combined.

5) Lee did not spar with Joe Lewis or Mike Stone, but he did spar several times with Chuck Norris and Louis Delgado. Richard Bustillio stated that Norris was "red-faced" after a sparring session with Lee and Norris confirms in his book on Zen concepts that he and Lee sparred against each other. Delgado told Fighting Stars magazine that Lee was the toughest man he ever faced.

6) Lee got into 2 fights on the set of Enter the Dragon. One fight was witnessed by Bob Wall and the other fight was witnessed by Dragon director Robert Clouse.

Justthefacts