Chael Sonnen trashes on Bruce Lee.

Discussion in 'Jeet Kune Do' started by Combat Sports, Dec 2, 2022.

  1. Combat Sports

    Combat Sports Formerly What Works Banned

    So Chael used to talk about Bruce Lee in the positive, but there is a movement now to just act like Bruce was only an actor.

    There is a HUGE emphasis on suggesting people have to compete to prove that they could fight. And while I agree it's certainly an indication, it doesn't mean someone could not defend themselves. The comment section is riddled with people who fail at just some basic facts.

    My understanding is:

    1. Bruce Lee apparently did some amateur boxing in Hong Kong?

    2. Hard sparring was a common thing he participated in during his own training and with his students. He says in the Tao of Jeet Kune Do frequently that hard sparring is vital.

    3. That while he did not compete, a lot of this had to do with not wanting to develop muscle memory for rule sets. Some of his fundamental strikes are not legal in any competition. (Eye gouges/pokes, pulling hair, etc.) And while yes I know practicing these things without being in an "alive" environment doesn't help you get good at them there are things that someone can do that we don't do in competition because they are too likely to seriously injure competitors. This is just common sense.

    My comment was that people should talk to people who actually knew him and trained with and around him. he was not a competitive fighter but he absolutely could fight, and did fight on multiple occasions. And he influenced and trained competitive fighters like Joe Lewis, Chuck Norris, etc.

     
  2. icefield

    icefield Valued Member

    His boxing was I think was during high school and maybe one fight or one competition in total.

    The roof top fights he and his gang fought in were not the deadly all or nothing fights we were lead to believe (videos came out showing what they were like).

    He probably did spar hard and could fight to some degree but listening to those that knew him (and have build careers and livelihoods off his name) probably isn't the most impartial way to judge his skills.

    About all we can say about him with certainly is that he was a very successful actor who changed the way Hollywood and the people in general saw the Chinese and he also knew martial arts and inspired a lot of people, why can't we just leave it at that.
     
    Grond and Mitch like this.
  3. Mitch

    Mitch Lord Mitch of MAP Admin

    WHY IS CHAEL ALWAYS SHOUTING?!??

    I see Bruce as more of a coach and inspirational figure. Now, to be clear, that's not denigrating him. Cus D'Amoto had no fight record that I'm aware of, but he trained Mike Tyson.

    Whether he himself could fight, I have no idea, and we have no concrete evidence either. But if he boxed at a reasonable level and sparred hard we know he was better than many martial artists out there.

    The, "too deadly," argument died years ago though, nobody puts much credence by it these days IMO.

    As Icefield says, the issue with accepting that he could fight because people invested in his legend say so is problematic, and as for him inspiring and training many, many others, I refer back to my first comment.

    The whole world of martial arts owes him a debt, and that's more than you can say about Chael, who will be forgotten outside proper MMA fanboi circles pretty quickly.
     
    Grond likes this.
  4. Grond

    Grond Valued Member

    Cheal is also a violent, unhinged pending convict. He apparently has enough money to hire good legal counsel, but why anyone would even watch a video of his is beyond me. Like watching watching Charlie Manson blab on a YouTube video about Hollywood actors....it's borderline obscene. Trash talk from a destined nobody. This guy has been sued over and over for shady business, but how he avoided jail time for assaulting people is beyond me.

    https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2022/03/ufc-news-chael-sonnen-11-battery-charges-hotel-altercation

    Report: Chael Sonnen Has Felony Battery Charge, Four Misdemeanors Dropped in Alleged Hotel Attack
     
  5. Grond

    Grond Valued Member

    He was in great physical shape compared to almost every other actor of his generation...and died of basic organ failure.

    The people often doing these long winded critiques of him are often either fat, unathletic nerd types, gym nerds with nothing better to do, or over the hill MMA clowns begging for likes.

    Nothing says classy fighter-trainer like picking on a dead man. I had such little respect left for Sonnen's entire class of fighter. Way to bring the bar even lower, Chael.
     

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