Why is Bruce Lee considered such an incredible mixed martial artist?

[superpunch]

Obviously, he never really fought. So, you can't claim it's his fighting skills. But then many people say his thinking skills and his philosophy were above parr. Like he was the first person to think of mixing martial arts. That doesn't take a genius! Back then, there were people not just thinking of mixing them -- but actually doing it, and competing in it: sambo, for one example, among many. Where does Bruce Lee fit into the martial arts aside from movies and acting?

 

[champbless2]

He is as good real life fighter as a Stevan Seagal

Put him into cage with UFC fighters of his size and he gets destroyed real quick.

 

[Bacco]

He's not, but he's a popular worldwide pop culture figure bigger than anything MMA ever produced, so immense following

I also think his role in modern MMA birth is incredibly overrated

 

[elreece]

He isn't.

 

[Memeojima]

bRuCe LeE wOuLd BeAt MiKe TySoN bRo

 

[piropiro]

All ancient martial arts were mixed martial arts. Bruce did nothing new.

Shaolin monks 1000 years ago were adopting any techniques or weapons which worked and getting rid of what didn’t.

Spartans same 2000 years before that.

... and most other martial cultures ...

That just stopped relatively recently when firearms made close contact fighting mostly obsolete, so then everyone got stuck with some “art” and “tradition” mostly as a cultural thing as they didn’t use it for fighting anymore.

So Bruce’s approach and the MMA mindset in general was rediscovered last century after 2-3 centuries of stop, but actually existed for millennia before that and was the main development approach of all forms of fighting.

PS: having said that, he almost single handedly popularized martial arts globally with his films, thus most practitioners today might not even know what martial arts are - let alone have schools to train in - if it wasn’t for Bruce ... so for that he certainly should be admired and respected.

 

[Okajima]

He's not.

 

[Adamant]

He could punch really fast and really hard. (Like really fast and really hard).

 

[in the liver]

Obviously, he never really fought. So, you can't claim it's his fighting skills. But then many people say his thinking skills and his philosophy were above parr. Like he was the first person to think of mixing martial arts. That doesn't take a genius! Back then, there were people not just thinking of mixing them -- but actually doing it, and competing in it: sambo, for one example, among many. Where does Bruce Lee fit into the martial arts aside from movies and acting?

fighters believe in really dumb shit, see how many thank their lord and saviour jesus christ first after a win, and all their coaches and sparring partners, who actually exist, come after that

bruce lee is some dumb shit they saw when they were a kid and they never matured beyond that, despite being way better than bruce lee. i think its really sad

can you imagine how bruce lee vs dan henderson would have gone? dan with his stiff neck, lumbering movement and totally predictable overhand would have probably ended bruce's life and then said something really dumb on the mic afterwards like "he said he was gonna be like water so I pulled the plug"

 

[RiotWyatt]

He isn't one in that he wasn't a proven martial arts fighter. He's considered a really good martial arts philosopher. He was the first to talk about mixing martial arts on a mainstream scale.

Sure, there were already underground "MMA" fights at the time but nobody knew about them. The mainstream world was still caught up in Kung Fu and Karate.

Bruce was philosophising about taking what works for each individual person from each martial art. 99% of the world at the time could not even comprehend what he was trying to say. They just thought Bruce was developing his own martial art.

Even in 1993, when the first UFC event was held, it was billed as, "What was the best martial art?", for the mainstream world because nobody understood the concept of mixing martial arts. Bruce was decades ahead of his time.

It's easy to look back nowadays and say, "It's so obvious that mixing martial arts was the answer," or "I googled and some guys were already fighting mixed martial arts style fights around Bruce's time," but at a time with no Internet, Bruce was the first to bring that thought process to the mainstream world.

 

[TheMaster]

Obviously, he never really fought. So, you can't claim it's his fighting skills. But then many people say his thinking skills and his philosophy were above parr. Like he was the first person to think of mixing martial arts. That doesn't take a genius! Back then, there were people not just thinking of mixing them -- but actually doing it, and competing in it: sambo, for one example, among many. Where does Bruce Lee fit into the martial arts aside from movies and acting?

Because before you were born or maybe before your parents were born he was at the front edge of martial arts.

He helped popularize it in the west and indspired countless people.

One of the sad things about MMA becoming mainstream is these kinds of questions get asked by people ignorant of the history.
Also that the martial codes are lost and idiots learn fighting.
Mcregor is the example of everything that's wrong and should not be associated with martial arts.

 

[Humongo]

then said something really dumb on the mic afterwards like "he said he was gonna be like water so I pulled the plug"

 

[Jojomojo]

Because a lot of people grew up idolizing him, they then talked about him as an inspiration and dumb people like Rogan talked about it like "bro Bruce Lee was the real deal" "Yeah bro for sure".
Thats enough for a lot of people to believe he was some sort of pioneer.

 

[contrail]

Bruce was and is incredibly influential on all of martial arts, entertainment, and sociopolitics, as before him Asian characters in American film and television were portrayed as racist caricatures. Obviously his impact is not from a sporting sense, but it endures just the same, and cannot be denied by anyone who has even a cursory grasp of the history of martial arts. There is a reason why thousands of top professional fighters in various disciples have cited him as a major influence over the decades since his passing.

 

[Fossor]

 

[Wolfbrigade]

Because b00mers thought he could fight.

They were wrong but propaganda still lasts.

 

[jimmy dakine]

Is history over rated? He learned martials arts, he made movies, the movies started a thirst to learn karate, the thirst for karate led to schools being opened. How much value you put or dont put into that is up to you. But one thing is certain, the history happened. If not Bruce Lee, eventually some other movie star might have ignited the fuse....same with MMA. The history is that the Gracies came and taught us the value of grappling/BJJ....thats the history, cant change that.....BUT, if they never came, someone else from Brazil would have eventually ended up in NY or LA and made a choice to open a school and the term MMA would become a seedling and start growing.....spin it any way you choose.

 

[BangBang]

 

[BangBang]

 

[piropiro]

Because before you were born or maybe before your parents were born he was at the front edge of martial arts.

He helped popularize it in the west and indspired countless people.

One of the sad things about MMA becoming mainstream is these kinds of questions get asked by people ignorant of the history.
Also that the martial codes are lost and idiots learn fighting.
Mcregor is the example of everything that's wrong and should not be associated with martial arts.

Actually BL was surprisingly similar to CM sadly...

As soon as he got some fame he became unbearably arrogant, was making constant declarations of his invincibility (without actually fighting), had out of control spending habits on showoff luxuries, dressed very outlandishly, consumed abundant drugs and alcohol, was very insecure about his size fame etc and incessantly boasted about himself, cheated constantly on his wife ..... just read the biography.

McGregor without the real fighting basically.