Bruce Lee "barely" knew how to grapple?

With all due respect, I do wonder how much of a mass audience ambassodor (with regards to actual training methods) he was during his lifetime; we perhapps need to seperate the poshumous efforts of his students and biographers from what he actually 'got out there' himself.

 

I'm aware of this, I was merely stating from what I understood he never meant JKD to be a style? Didn't he keep banging on about the art of fighting without fighting, and no style?

I have great respect for Kano, but I don't think he got the amount of interest in the Martial Arts like Bruce Lee did. I think that's a big factor. Kano was very much so a revolutionary for the things he achieved, and maybe Bruce Lee was merely reciprocating a lot of Kano did, but did it in a fashion where he could reach a much larger audience. I've known about Bruce Lee since I was a kid, I only learned of Kano in my late teens.

We don't see the likes of Anderson Silva banging on about Kano like he does about Bruce Lee (not saying this is right) just saying that's the way it is.

Bruce Lee is a cult figure that reached a lot more people than Kano did.

 

Oh his legend is undoubtedly posthumous. Without his death and the rumours around it he wouldn't be the cult figure he is today. But then again, if he didn't die, what would that mean today?

 

No need to speculate, we'd all know for sure....

 

No Kano= No judo = No Bjj = No UFC = No MMA = More emil martirossian types.

Therefore Kano > Bruce Lee.

Sorry Hannibal, Could be worse, I could of said vunak!

 

Winner^

Jeebus - more Emil Martirossian types? I'd take the zombie apocalypse over that alternative reality any day.

 

Don't forget that also no Kano = no Masahiko Kimura

 

Crow you do realise that judo was extremely popular in the west well before lee's time. As we're wrestling and boxing.

Lee made CMA popular, specifically wing chun.

 

Yes.

But let me ask, how many martial artists today got in to MA because of Kano?

How many in your gym/dojo know who Kano is and got in because of him?

How many were influenced by Bruce Lee and got in because of him?

I believe Karate and and TKD were also extremely popular in the West, obviously Boxing and Wrestling was... those are some of the oldest arts around.

But those were quite a niche "Hobby" around those days. Bruce Lee's influence made it viral and added so much interest to MA in general. I would say since Bruce Lee the biggest influence has been the UFC.

 

I know more people who got into MA cos of ninjas than lee.

AlsO think about the number of people into boxing cos of Ali or wrestling cos of gable.

I think it's very few cos of lee. How many lee fans actually stick to MA - very few cos it's not like the movies. How many stayed in judo after their first class cos they saw how effective the methods Kano passed down were?

 

I hope you won't argue that Bruce Lee without a doubt had a huge impact on the sales of Nunchaku's?

I'm not denying Gable, Ali were huge influences to people getting into wrestling and boxing. But they weren't legends and iconic figures the likes of Bruce. Not saying it was because he was better or more important, it was because of the cult that was built around his death. You could name Ali, Sugar Ray, Joe Louis many other boxers, you could name Gable, Gama, Gene Lebell etc. But there is only one Bruce Lee.

 

My first MA was Judo, I took up TKD because of Cynthia Rothrock.
My head says Kano, My heart says Cynthia,

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&so...2YHABw&usg=AFQjCNGQfRAeKn7uHMXGa7qUjM6f7XaNnw

 

I'd venture to say that there's likely a generational aspect to it. How many people got into MA because of Lee, a heck of a lot actually. A heck of a lot of very good ones too. There are a significant number of guys who came out of Dan's Academy back in the day who have gone on to be significant driving forces in MMA today - Erik Paulson, Greg Nelson to name a couple and a good amount that started out in JKD - the likes of Matt Thornton. Even guys like Eddie Bravo sought out JKD prior to getting involved in BJJ.

So yes Lee directly or indirectly influenced a lot of high level guys in combat sports and MMA today, who cares what proportion were influenced by Kano, or whoever else in comparison? It's a totally asinine argument, that has no bearing on the efficacy of MA's that those people currently practice.

 

My uncles were teaching me things since I could walk. I did TKD as a kid from around the age of 7 or 8 till 12. Because it was the closest class to me and I enjoyed kicking people.

 

fair enough argument!
you'er right there. love or hate him, theres only one Bruce Lee.

 

Ok now I can finally go and watch Dragon's Den. Lets do this!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/tv/bbc_two_england/watchlive

 

If we never had Bruce Lee we wouldn't have ridiculous threads like this one chock full of rather long winded and incoherent arguments while 20 somethings figure out their ass from their elbow.

 

Sometimes I really hate old people. They think they have the upper hand with all their "experience." At least it doesn't take me a month to recover from a minor injury :evil:

 

I'm with Crow on this one. Bruce Lee was the man.

Like it or not, movies are what got a lot of people into martial arts. That's definitely true in my case and Bruce was leading that charge.

But my respect for him only grew after I realized that he was NOT just a movie star . . . NOT just an actor who knew how to throw a few kicks. He had an obsession with fighting--and an openness to learning--that was uncommon in its day. A true martial artist.

It seems the trendy the thing to do these days is to find fault with him. I don't really get why. His influence is virtually unparalleled there are plenty of reports that suggest that he had considerable fighting skill. And . . . he was just a cool dude.

War Bruce Lee!

 

hahahahahaha!!! The beauty of it is... you will get to that point. No one escapes it! It's only ever in this type of thread that you could end finding yourself having to argue Kano VS Bruce Lee. ahahhahaha... it's rather absurd from the start. But if one decides to jump in and respond it's usually best to have considered context and structure. Without that... we are left with chaos.