Martial arts superstar Bruce Lee's legacy endures 50 years after his death

"When we talk about the 'god of martial arts', we could only be talking about Bruce Lee. There is no one else," he said.

I agree

Overrated...

You know Bruce Lee's not really dead, don't you?

Yeah, it's in a book.

What he did was he faked his own death so that he could work undercover for the Hong Kong police, infiltrating drugs gangs and the Triads.

HONG KONG

Hong Kong businessman W Wong still remembers the day in 1972 when he first heard neighborhood kids rave about a figure who seemed larger than life: Bruce Lee.

I still remember the day in 1972 when I moved to a neighborhood in the South Bronx, in New York City, and all the kids raved about that same larger-than-life figure. I remember all the movies, the nunchucks, the fighting, the admiration and the envy we all had. The devastation I felt at hearing he had died is still there 50 years on. No one comes close to Bruce Lee.

A life and career cut tragically and frustratingly short. An undeniably outstanding athlete and martial artist as well as a charismatic performer on screen, though I’m not sure how well his films stand up today upon re-evaluation. Was kind of surprised to see his image was being “borrowed” as a logo by a restaurant chain last time I visited Guangzhou.

You know Bruce Lee's not really dead, don't you? 

Yeah, it's in a book. 

What he did was he faked his own death so that he could work undercover for the Hong Kong police, infiltrating drugs gangs and the Triads.

Because if you were gonna send someone undercover to investigate the Triads, you'd probably want the world's most famous Chinese film star.

The devastation I felt at hearing he had died is still there 50 years on. No one comes close to Bruce Lee.

For reasons beyond my comprehension, nothing upsets a middle-aged African American man more than suggesting Bruce Lee wasn't actually that good.

Overrated...

The most accurate thing you've ever written. Although an intelligent man and a charismatic actor, Bruce Lee was 5'7 and 60kg, completely untested as a fighter - never really fought anyone - and likely wouldn't last 2 minutes with the average high school wrestler. He'd be taken down and pummeled, and there'd be absolutely nothing he could do about it.

Bruce Lee was 5'7 and 60kg,

So about two inches taller and 6kg heavier than Naoya Inoue? Would you fancy your chances against either of them?

completely untested as a fighter - never really fought anyone - and likely wouldn't last 2 minutes with the average high school wrestler.

Any sources for this or did you perhaps know him personally?

from Bruce's Wikipedia page:

In 1958, Lee won the Hong Kong schools boxing tournament, knocking out the previous champion, Gary Elms, in the final.

Until his late teens, Lee's street fights became more frequent and included beating the son of a feared triad family.[38] In 1958, after students from a rival Choy Li Fut martial arts school challenged Lee's Wing Chun school, he engaged in a fight on a rooftop. In response to an unfair punch by another boy, Bruce beat him so badly that he knocked out one of his teeth, leading to a complaint by the boy's parents to the police.[3

Another major influence on Lee was Hong Kong's street fighting culture in the form of rooftop fights. In the mid-20th century, soaring crime in Hong Kong, combined with limited Hong Kong Police manpower, led to many young Hongkongers learning martial arts for self-defence. Around the 1960s, there were about 400 martial arts schools in Hong Kong, teaching their own distinctive styles of martial arts. In Hong Kong's street fighting culture, there emerged a rooftop fight scene in the 1950s and 1960s, where gangs from rival martial arts schools challenged each other to bare-knuckle fights on Hong Kong's rooftops, in order to avoid crackdowns by British colonial authorities. Lee frequently participated in these Hong Kong rooftop fights. He combined different techniques from different martial arts schools into his own hybrid martial arts style.[125]

When Lee returned to Hong Kong in the early 1970s, his reputation as "the fastest fist in the east" routinely led to locals challenging him to street fights. He sometimes accepted these challenges and engaged in street fights, which led to some criticism from the press portraying him as violent at the time.[126]

So about two inches taller and 6kg heavier than Naoya Inoue? Would you fancy your chances against either of them?

Yes. If you understand anything about how realistic combat actually works, it's that wrestling/grappling completely nullifies striking 99 times out of 100. It's why we don't see boxers compete in MMA and we never will.

And no, to suggest a 54kg man without any grappling ability could realistically beat a much larger, stronger man with substantial grappling ability, is wishful thinking at best.

Any sources for this or did you perhaps know him personally?

It brings me no joy to burst your Bruce Bubble, but there has never been any credible, verifiable records of Lee being involved in any tournaments, competitions or documented fights. A lone "one-inch punch" demonstration at the Long Beach International, but that was it. The rest is pure heresy, speculation and fantasy.

Bruce Lee was 5'7 and 60kg, completely untested as a fighter - never really fought anyone - and likely wouldn't last 2 minutes with the average high school wrestler. He'd be taken down and pummeled, and there'd be absolutely nothing he could do about it

Lol.

I bet your speculations about who would win in fights between lions, tigers, gorillas, bears absolutely rival people in conversations at school lunch time.

I bet you know a lot about cars too.

*rivet

It brings me no joy to burst your Bruce Bubble

Bruce Bubble? Sorry, no Bruce Bubble here. I just stated he was an undeniably outstanding athlete and martial artist. I never made any claims of him being the GOAT of anything ever. I'm just a bit doubtful he was as ineffective as you seem to be claiming.

but there has never been any credible, verifiable records of Lee being involved in any tournaments, competitions or documented fights. A lone "one-inch punch" demonstration at the Long Beach International, but that was it. The rest is pure heresy, speculation and fantasy.

I'm guessing you meant "hearsay", not "heresy". If there are no records of Lee being tested in any kind of fight, how would you know for certain he wouldn't last two minutes against your average high school wrestler? Are you quite sure he didn't have any 擒拿 or something in his repertoire? I'm genuinely curious, so if you could be more detailed in your explanations, I'd be happy to learn something new.

Are you quite sure he didn't have any 擒拿 or something in his repertoire? I'm genuinely curious, so if you could be more detailed in your explanations, I'd be happy to learn something new.

Bruce demonstrated several throws from the "highly effective" martial art aikido (LOL) in Enter the Dragon, opposite Sammo Hung, To his credit he appeared to be able perform a rudimentary arm bar submission on his on-screen opponent. Having something in his repertoire, however, means very little if you don't routinely drill that particular skill set. Again, there is no footage or documentation of Bruce ever practising any form of offensive or defensive wrestling or grappling, so without even the basic ability to sprawl, there would be practically zero chance he'd be able to stop being taken down by even a novice wrestler bull-rushing his legs. Fortunately or unfortunately, the early style-vs-style UFC matches proved just how ineffectual literal lifetimes of stand-up fighting training are once taken to the ground.

Thank you for the opportunity to share. As a Bruce Lee fan, I too shared the belief he was the greatest fighter in the history of the universe. At some point, however, we need to embrace reality.

Thank you for the opportunity to share. As a Bruce Lee fan, I too shared the belief he was the greatest fighter in the history of the universe. At some point, however, we need to embrace reality.

No problem and thanks for sharing your thoughts. Honestly, while even I might sometimes get carried by excitement and exclaim that something is “the best ever”, it’s very hard to substantiate such a claim in an all-encompassing way. I think what people actually mean is that something is the best that they know of within the limits of their understanding. So I think Lee was an outstanding martial artist, but I couldn’t say he’s the best ever because I just don’t know.

By the way, I was curious and typed “Bruce Lee grappling” into Google, and this interesting video came up:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=P3-3jgm_ngc