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

[Tevfik1907]

You know they can edit the movie if he can't properly turn that nunchaku in his first try and he would have a lot of opportunities to do it in a right way right?

 

[Y2Khaos]

Dude, Bruce Lee has faced some legit badass guys.
He beat them all. See for yourself.

What did Bruce do...

What did Bruce do...

What did Bruce do...

What did Bruce do...

What did Bruce do...

 

[DrunkMonkMeth]

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?

He popularized the notion of mixing martial arts and mastering the basics. Maybe he wasnt the first to do this he definitely was the most vocal and popular one. He also showed people feats of conditioning and strength in a way that was foreign to western society. His popularity gave birth to thousands of dojos and gyms and inspired millions of future martial artist to train. Theres alot of well known martial artist and fighter who simply dont exist if bruce didnt.

 

[The Elemental O]

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.

I think Lee would have at least whooped Seagal's butt, Lee learned some grappling pointers from Gene Lebell the same man who according to sources choked out Seagal, also Lee took part in a high school boxing tournament back in Hong Kong.
https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2020/2/...et-the-only-man-to-officially-fight-bruce-lee

 

[Roman_23]

At his time he was pretty great, but obviously things evolved. Jeez how many times can this be recycled on here?

 

[Y2Khaos]

Bruce was an innovator. He was out there pulling off moves like,

the crucifix dick chop

the fatal tiger claw

the reverse double fist

and the foot bash of doom..

 

[Freddy Fisticuffs]

He had quite a few good ideas, even though he wasn't super dangerous himself.



I like to think of him like a coach. He isn't winning fights himself, but his knowledge can help YOU win fights.

 

[The Elemental O]

Short answer, mainstream exposure and awareness.

Long answer, while the concept of grappling and throws was shown on media pre-Bruce Lee (like the James Cagney WWII film Blood on the Sun that highlighted Judo for a 1940s audience) and while athletes like boxing legend Jack Dempsey promoted cross training (Dempsey had experience in classic Jiu-Jitsu and wrestling and had written a book on subject titled How To Fight Tough), the concept of cross training wasn't really something that many casual audiences in many countries were strongly familiar with and still wasn't very common in Hollywood movies. From my experience, I can confirm that despite Judo and wrestling being highly practiced sports here in Egypt, many casual Egyptian and other Arabic speaking viewers assumed Bruce Lee was the first to propagate grappling and throws and cross train on film, more people in the region know better now but back then that wasn't the case. So either way, Bruce Lee highlighted this concept to a number of audiences that weren't familiar with it even if he was sloppy at it himself and who knows maybe he could have improved but we'll never know for sure due to his sudden passing.

 

[GSP_37]

Open mindedness. Thinking outside the box. Pursuing other martial arts techniques. Speed, dedication, experimentation.

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

Would have loved to have seen Bruce Lee vs Tank Abbott back in the older UFC days, would watch and enjoy!

 

[Mike]

His fans are mentally 12 years old forever

 

[amano]

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

bruce was the real deal , even when the most people say he was an tv-star.
first he was a mixed martial artist, 2nd philosofer, 3 tv-star.

he dedicated his life to training and fighting, spiritual.
and its not even fair to compair bruce lee to nowadays fighting skills, everything is evolving, what do u think would bruce do , when he would still alive and young? even in his days he studied most combat sports, he also brought fencing technique to fighting.

 

[Fight Professor]

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.

His level of athleticism was good enough to do well in MMA after years of proper training. The entry level is not that high.

 

[BangBang]

His fans are mentally 12 years old forever

Whaasssaasssat????!!!!!!!!! I willlllll kkkkkkllllll yoooooouuuuuu uuuuuuuu!

 

[websurfer]

He is as good as these guys say and then some.


.... It goes on for 14 episodes, of which I will not post here.

 

[Krimzon]

this is a case of: fighters know, fans dont.

"there's levels to this game" - connor mcgregor

 

[TheAlliance]

Hype. All hype. You can’t ever underestimate hype.

How many crazy stories have you heard of some “O.G’s” who have “beaten up” a couple of dudes when you were a kid? And clearly given that OG a pass for the rest of his life - “he’s insanely tough, don’t mess with him.”

Sortve like that.

Or I’ve had too much wine already.

 

[Mammothman]

Mayweather would destroy Bruce Lee

 

[knock_you_out]

Ask Dana White.

 

[fzoid4454]

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?

What do you mean "he never really fought"?

If you mean sport fighting, like MMA, that's not "really" fighting. He started training in martial arts because his parents were concerned because he was getting into street fights. So, really fighting. His teacher encouraged his students to participate in tournaments because he didn't want them mixing it up with street gangs. So, martial arts competitions. Either way, he really fought.

Why do people who know zero about Bruce Lee, or the history of martial arts, in general, love to come on here and shit on the guy?

He was one of the first guys to innovate with the idea of full-contact instead of point sparring. Here's a breakdown of his technique in the one actual full-sparring video of Lee, and his fighting technique is legit.