Bruce Lee: could he have been a professional boxer?
I'm a huge fan of Lee, as well. I've read nearly every word of his that has ever been published. I think that, if he had chosen that path, he certainly had the attributes to succeed. Early in his life, long before he ever became a famous star, he competed in a amateur boxing competition. He flew through the early competition and made it to the last round just on mere natural speed, strength, and heart. He came up against a tough English kid in the final round and got his @$$ handed to him in the first round. He came back out and won it in the second, knocking the kid out. He was VERY fast, VERY strong, and had an unusually long reach for his height. All these physical attributes would've lent themselves to a very successful boxing career. I think he had the heart, as well. However, he had a broader and different aim in his view of martial arts. I'm not saying that the way he viewed fighting was better than boxers, or that boxers aren't as motivated or enlightened as he was. It's just like comparing apples and oranges, though. In the end, Bruce Lee was exactly what he was meant to be. He chose the path in the arts that he felt most drawn to. Some of us prefer the more specific focus of punching. There is footage of Lee hitting a heavy bag on youtube and one can see that while he did have prodigious speed/power/leverage, he had some technical issues that would've left him wide open to counter-punching in a boxing ring. That's just not what he trained for. Had he trained himself for boxing, I'm sure he would've studied and learned to adapt his techniques for the sport of boxing. Again, anything we say about what he would've potentially achieved in the sweet science is mere conjecture, but it is a discussion worth having. EDIT: I just did a google search and was unable to find anything on the amateur boxing competition that I mentioned. I forget which book it was in. I'm thinking, though, that it was in a biography called "Bruce Lee: Artist of Life". If you're a fan, you should definitely read this! It was, by far, the best biography of his that I've read...even better than the one written by his own wife.
Do you think Bruce Lee could have beaten a boxer in a boxing fight?
Lets reframe this question.Do you think Bruce Lee could have beaten a boxing contender in a boxing match?No. Not at all.The mythology around Lee is so untouchable it’s ridiculous. The guy was A MOVIE STAR. He wasn’t a fighter. Yes, he did martial arts. But the only reason anyone knows about him is because he was a really good looking asian guy who looked really good on camera.If Lee was alive today or if his career had begun later, he would have been dissected over time. But he died, and this left an aura around him which has only grown since his death. Others: Seagal, Van Damme, Norris, Jet Le, have all kind of faded because they’ve lived in reality and people have seen their mistakes; the truth.I have read all Lee’s books and I studied Jeet Kun do for a while. Aside from his impressive obsession with conditioning and fitness, I found nothing in his writings or martial sensibilities that stands out as particularly ground breaking. In fact, it all depends on one being fast, and as any boxer will tell you, SPEED is the first thing you lose with time.Now…let the Bruce Lee defensive league commence their assault.
How would Bruce Lee do in a no-holds barred fight against the best UFC fighters?
He would be mauled, punched, kicked and strangled.He would choke out and tap to save his life.Let's consider some facts -Bruce Lee does not have one professional fight to his name. Not one. He has displayed Jeet kune do in exhibition matches - but not one pro fight. To call a dude who does not have a single pro fight to his name, the “greatest martial artist” is not smart.Bruce Lee was an actor. He is one who performs in front of a camera. Like Jackie Chan. Do you believe in Batman? Bruce Lee is like Batman.Striking martial arts like taekwondo and “Jeet kune do” do not stand a chance against martial arts like judo or jiu jitsu. A jui jitsu black belt will take you down and choke you out like you're an asshole. Unless you get a knockout. Which is not easy. When a fighter is tapping out, that's simulated death. That's “please stop choking me or I'll die. I concede defeat”.Bruce was a good martial artist. Perhaps comparable to any black belt in any striking art such as karate or taekwondo. But not world class by any means.Repeat after me slowly - “Bruce Lee was an actor who acted in martial arts based movies”Jean Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris will kick your ass, by the way.Jean has a 18–1 kickboxing record. Pro fights.Chuck was a karate world champion. This is legit shit. World karate champion. The best karate practitioner (in a scientific, well organized, scored global karate completion) in the world. Chuck will fuck you up and actually survive a round or two against a professional cage fighter… for maybe a round or two.Bruce will be fucked up in 30 seconds. The people who speak highly of Bruce as a martial artist are being polite because Bruce popularized martial arts. Millions of people have gained livelihood opening gyms. He was a great ambassador of martial arts. Made martial arts popular all over the world. He is dead and the people who knew him, want to be polite and courteous especially since Bruce has passed away…but please don't confuse that for “respect for a great martial artist”. It's was “respect for a great ambassador of martial arts who is now no more”. That's a big difference.Cage fighters have a strange psychosis. And very different mindset. It's very difficult to understand that mindset. A regular black belt 2 Dan type average Joe won't stand a chance. This may be difficult to explain but a physical battle is as much a mental game as it is a physical one.Cheers.
Could Bruce Lee beat a UFC fighter in a street fight?
HIYAA!!!In the the time it took you to read that Bruce Lee has thrown about 7 punches. “That's impossible” you say, then you my friend don't know Bruce Lee.Lee June Fan, martial arts pioneer trained in Wing Chun by the grandmaster Ip Man was a genius in kung fu revered by other world champions (Donnie Yen, Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, etc.).A taste of how amazing he was, here's a few world records he created that remain unbroken:Broke a 45kg sandbag with a sidekick1600 pounds of force with nunchucks9 punches in a secondPunching power of 350 pounds while he weighs 130.6 kicks in a secondIn one go he could do1500 push-ups with both hands400 push-ups with one hand200 push-ups on two fingers100 on his thumbKicked a 135kg sandbag to the ceiling (5 meters high)UFC fighters practice MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) which gives them a wider range of attacks but Bruce Lee was a master of Jeet Kune Do (which he founded), a martial art form derived from Wing Chun which attacks while defending.Now I don't know about you, but if I were a UFC fighter and had to go up against Bruce ‘Enter The Dragon’ Lee… I'd knock myself out.
Do you think Bruce lee was overrated?
I give him credit for mainstreaming the arts and for telling martial artists that they should lift weights and hit a heavy bag. But Bruce Lee as a fighter? He beat up a black belt, and he fought to a 20-minute draw against some young kung fu guy. Those are his only two documented fights. He did not fight professionally. And he could have. He could have boxed in the US or done full contact in Brazil or Japan. I do not say he was a joke, but saying that he was the best "fighter" is like saying that Judge Judy knows more than the people on the Supreme Court! Yes, Bruce may have been a great teacher. But teaching fighting is not itself fighting. I think with what we know now about muay thai, BJJ, and MMA, people need to stop obssessing about Bruce Lee and jeet kune do. And jeet kune do is not revolutionary. The Brits at the end of the 19th century had a hybrid art called Bartitsu. Boxer Jack Dempsey developed an armed forces hybrid art combining boxing and judo. Kajukenbo was a hybrid combination of karate, judo, jujitsu, kenpo, chinese boxing, western boxing, eskrima, and tang soo do. And unlike Bruce Lee and his students, the kajukenbo guys really fought. So is it not time for people to stop this immature hero-worship of Lee and start concerning themselves with their own training? There were 100s of true masters of any number of arts, in Bruce's time, who could have beaten Bruce Lee easily. There are probably 14 year olds in Thailand now who could have kicked Bruce's butt. I wonder how many of the Bruce Lee fanboys on message forums like this have never even been in a fight, hit a heavy bag, broken a board, or done any live sparring- don't you?
Does anyone know how much Bruce Lee could overhead weight lift??
calm down people. Yes it is true Bruce Lee was an inspiration. he inspired me to become the person i am today, and inspired my view on how to look at the world from a certain view(i aint gunna go into detail about it) it has a record of his professional matches on wikipedia. i dont like how u referance me smoking crack. drugs are not something i want to be braught up in this kind of topic. due to the fact you use poor language and clearly lack any wisdom, your opinion has lost any validity it could have had. go away and grow up before you can reply. as to the guy who mentioned how my question wasnt answered, thank u very much, you clearly have more wisdom than the other guy. thanx for all ur help guys, but plz, u tell me i shouldnt be so worried about these kind of topics. but look at urselves, and see how much u have written to prove me wrong, or simply put me down. you clearly seem to be more involved in the topic than me. the person who posted the question.
Who did Bruce Lee actually fight?
I'm only slightly a Bruce Lee Fan. By no means one of the guys saying he was the best. But in all fairness, If someone that teaches self-defense for the (military, police, ....etc.) was very good at what he does, Would you insist on asking who he had fought? There seems to be several ideas about Bruce Lee that are way off who and what he actually was. Let me say for the record. I have trained with people that knew Bruce Lee. One was one of his original students, Larry Hartsell. I followed Bruce Lee's life, martial arts, and acting career. I was very aware of what he was and did. He was a real martial artist that was gifted with exceptional physical skills. Mainly because he trained obsessively. He fought in the streets in China. He came to the U.S.A where he became famous. He was never interested in competition or sport. to try to say that he was not good because he never fought in the ring is your hang-up. It is like saying that Gichen Funakoshi never fought in the ring, so he must not be any good. Not that I'm anyone special but, for that matter I never fought anyone famous. But anyone that thinks can't fight is mistaken. Why is it that we have those that think that anyone that has not fought professionally is no good? Sport is not real life. It never was, and never will be. Bruce Lee never mastered any of the arts he practiced. But he did develop his overall skills to a level beyond what many people would consider a master. Those that have the idea that Bruce Lee was only an actor, simply have not taken a through look at his life. There are many people that were not alive that read a few comments by people that have their facts wrong in the first place. Then they spout that same ignorant trash to others. Bottom line here is Bruce Lee was not a master of any traditional martial art, but was highly skilled at what he did. There is much advanced martial arts that he never learned or practiced. He was fortunate enough to have become a movie star. He was as all [people not perfect. He had his faults. but who does anyone think they are expecting Bruce Lee, or (for that matter) anyone to measure up to their standards. Since none of the people that spout these things is at Bruce Lees level, they have no business judging him as a fighter, sport or not. To do so is like a fifth grader saying because his teacher never did XYZ, he is no good. ...
Plz Answer! How hard did bruce lee punch?
this is a serious question people say that he is the hardest puncher in the world does that mean he punched harder than george st pierr? (2859 psi)? How hard do you think in terms of psi did Bruce lee punch in your opinion PLZ NO CRAPPY ANSWERS!!! BEST ANSWER GETS 10 POINTS!!!