On Bruce Lee

[The Onion]

Maybe he was a lover and a fighter, just like Dan Hill.

[ChopperRider]

Bruce Lee was an actor, plain and simple.

He has no tournament records or professional fights, because he simply was not a fighter.

He wasn't a fighter, just as Jean Claude Van Damme is not a fighter.

Was it possible that Bruce Lee knew how to fight and could very easily defend himself against the average man or even seasoned fighter? Sure.

Did he have what it takes to actually compete in mixed martial arts or professional boxing? Maybe, but he didn't give us anything to determine this from.

He was a very good actor, when you consider the level of conviction that his roles portrayed and the fact that his "legend" has lived on as long as it has.

Jet Li isn't a fighter, but if you go by his movies, you would assume that he could defeat any professional fighter. Similar to Lee, Jet Li could easily spar with Randy Couture and afterwards Couture can say that Jet Li got him in a number of moves that rendered his skill set useless. Does this mean that Jet Li should then be remembered throughout time as some sort of professional fighter that never showcased his skills due to a larger calling in the realm of acting? Absolutely not.

I like Bruce Lee and I think his movies were entertaining, but a fighter he was not.

"1"

This X 1000

I think many of you younger guys don't realize how badass Chuck Norris really was when he was a young man.

[The Ugly]

Bruce Lee was an actor, plain and simple.

He has no tournament records or professional fights, because he simply was not a fighter.

He wasn't a fighter, just as Jean Claude Van Damme is not a fighter.

Was it possible that Bruce Lee knew how to fight and could very easily defend himself against the average man or even seasoned fighter? Sure.

Did he have what it takes to actually compete in mixed martial arts or professional boxing? Maybe, but he didn't give us anything to determine this from.

He was a very good actor, when you consider the level of conviction that his roles portrayed and the fact that his "legend" has lived on as long as it has.

Jet Li isn't a fighter, but if you go by his movies, you would assume that he could defeat any professional fighter. Similar to Lee, Jet Li could easily spar with Randy Couture and afterwards Couture can say that Jet Li got him in a number of moves that rendered his skill set useless. Does this mean that Jet Li should then be remembered throughout time as some sort of professional fighter that never showcased his skills due to a larger calling in the realm of acting? Absolutely not.

I like Bruce Lee and I think his movies were entertaining, but a fighter he was not.

"1"

Fuck no, he's not. A pretty gymnast in a gi is all.

[The Ugly]

This X 1000

I think many of you younger guys don't realize how badass Chuck Norris really was when he was a young man.

Chuck was a legit middleweight champ. Incredible record, too, but he mostly fought in point tournaments. Not sure if he ever crossed over into full-contact, if it was even around back then. Wallace was a monster in FC, but no one dominated like Benny the Jet. Urquidez would embarrass pretty much anybody.

I'll ask again, any of you old school Karate fans remember a tourney fighter named Frank Smith? Dude was a legend in the 60s/70s.

[Alucard]

Finally someone that uses brain like One More Rep and The Ugly... Kwon_2 what those supposed pictrures of me represent? I'm not a fighter, neither a MA practitioner... Bruce Lee, the movie star with no recorded fights, lol... He's no different than Steven Seagal, JCVD, Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Scott Adkins, Tony Jaa, and others, all stuntmen, actors, MA practitioners at best, not fighters... Actually there are some recordings of those famous "deadly rooftop-street fights" in China, laughable stuff, all Wing Chun slapping, lol, real fighters... Still i see no BL there, who was born in one of the richest family in Hong Kong... The only competition he ever won was a Cha Cha Cha dancing one... Chuck Norris, Benny The Jet, Mas Oyama and others would have cleaned his clock badly... Still waiting for a single proof for his fighting prowess, come on guys...

[Kwon_2]

That's the classic hearsay that fuel the myth... Challenged on set and not one single recording of what happened, funny stuff... I also had some "streetfights" when i was in school, does that make me a fighter? Hell no... Don't believe this stuff, he was an actor, not a fighter...

Not hearsay at all.

I was there.

[ChopperRider]

Chuck was a legit middleweight champ. Incredible record, too, but he mostly fought in point tournaments. Not sure if he ever crossed over into full-contact, if it was even around back then. Wallace was a monster in FC, but no one dominated like Benny the Jet. Urquidez would embarrass pretty much anybody.

I'll ask again, any of you old school Karate fans remember a tourney fighter named Frank Smith? Dude was a legend in the 60s/70s.

It was full contact Point.....keep in mind the poly dipped safety equipment hadn't been invented yet.

6X World Champion.

He didn't take kindly to laundromat disrespect....

[The Ugly]

It was full contact Point.....keep in mind the poly dipped safety equipment hadn't been invented yet.

6X World Champion.

He didn't take kindly to laundromat disrespect....

I know, but they still pulled punches, right? No KOs or anything. I've seen his old YouTube comp clips. Mullins had his number, though. A legend, nonetheless.

[Donny]

this was an interesting man too Ed Parker and his American Kempo System..

[SuperTed]

Lee had some very impressive physical attributes but yeah, he was just an actor at the end of the day.
The way I've heard some people go on about him you'd think he was the greatest fighter in history or something.

[Europe]

He was an actor, philosopher & martial artist. He practised Wing Tsung which was a derivative from Wing Chung, and added anything that worked in real life combat & called it Jeet Kune Do, was it legit? yes it was.. but it was not Sport base, which MMA is. It was self defence system like Krav Maga or Military Combat.

Bruce Lee trained, sparred with Chuck Norris, Dan Inosanto & lots of grandmasters at their discipline.(including wrestling & Judo)
There's a reason why the UFC included him at their latest game, because he visualized MMA before it was established in the US, even thought MMA(Vale tudo) in Brazil already existed long time before Bruce Lee, Bruce was seeing it as a sport & self defence system.

Hell Bruce even admitted that someone that trained Boxing or Wrestling for 1+ plus year could defeat a master at Traditional Martial Arts.

Quote: "Someone with only a year of training in boxing and wrestling could easily defeat a martial artist of twenty years experience."
--Bruce Lee

About Benny Urquidez he got his ass kicked by some small Muay-Thai Boxer..

[The Ugly]

About Benny Urquidez he got his ass kicked by some small Muay-Thai Boxer..

I see. I take it back then. A good fighter should never lose, ever. All the greats, undefeated to the end.

I feel stupid now, sorry.

[Europe]

I see. I take it back then. A good fighter should never lose, ever. All the greats, undefeated to the end.

I feel stupid now, sorry.

No. quite the opposite.. Benny was one of the greatest fighter in history.. despite being unaware on Muay Thai Techniques he was marching foward with great heart. This only opened the eyes of many how effective Muay Thai could be.

 Unlike many other Kickboxers, Karate or Fullkontakters at that time, Benny Urquidez was one of the few that tested himself against anyone in Stand-up combat, a Pioneer if one would call him that.

[The Ugly]

No. quite the opposite.. Benny was one of the greatest fighter in history.. despite being unaware on Muay Thai Techniques he was marching foward with great heart. This only opened the eyes of many how effective Muay Thai could be.

 Unlike many other Kickboxers, Karate or Fullkontakters at that time, Benny Urquidez was one of the few that tested himself against anyone in Stand-up combat, a Pioneer if one would call him that.

Ok. Your original Benny comment didn't imply any of this, though. Thanks for clarifying.

[Europe]

Ok. Your original Benny comment didn't imply any of this, though. Thanks for clarifying.

sorry that it looked that way at first, but English isn't my first language(3rd language).

[The Ugly]

sorry that it looked that way at first, but English isn't my first language(3rd language).

Legend has it, promoters used to give Benny a bonus if he took the fight past the first few rounds. He was the Tyson of FC Karate/Kickboxing, with first-round KOs left and right. That's the myth, anyway.