Was Bruce Lee TRULY an Incredible Athlete? Would He Succeed in MMA? - A Case Study

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In this video, Grant Stevens takes an in-depth look at Bruce Lee's training and fighting prowess to answer the question: was he truly a great athlete?

Bruce is placed on a pedestal by many. Some regard him as one of the greatest martial artists of all time, a trailblazer, and an incredible athlete. There are stories of him performing incredible feats. Others say that Bruce was little more than an actor.

Was Bruce Lee really that strong? We know his measurements and his lifts and they don't align with the stories. Why did Bruce Lee never compete in fighting competitions?

What's the truth? How good was Bruce Lee really?

And: would Bruce Lee do well in MMA?

First of all: those two questions are NOT necessarily related. MMA success is not the only yardstick by which to measure a martial artist.

As for the rest... while we may never know for sure, there are certainly many clues. We can see the way he moved. We know the theory that guided his training. And there is a small amount of footage of Bruce's sparring floating around.

As usual, the answer is most likely nuanced. Here's Grant's informed take on the matter.

What do you think?
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By what I understand, he'd be really disappointed if he was the pinnacle of martial arts and training - because it would mean they stagnated rather than progressing beyond his pioneeristic work. He STARTED things, but he was expecting for people to build up on what he did and leave him behind.

lordMartiya
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i have never been a fan of people saying he didnt fight top guys because alot of the top fighters of his time that knew him respected him a great deal so they obviously recognized his skill

unlucky
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Bruce Lee’s philosophies and they way he expressed them with his words and actions made an impact on many people beyond martial arts. I feel the spirit of this channel encapsulates a lot of what Bruce stood for. I heard Bruce injured his back severely, which forced him to read and study more to train his mind. Maybe if he hadn’t hurt his back we wouldn’t have learned so much from him.

aaronsnumbuh
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The irony of Bruce Lee's legacy is that he was a pioneer in demystifying martial arts in popular culture, but a lot of his most ardent modern fans see him as the ultimate mystical practitioner.

goukiu
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Bruce was more dedicated to his fitness and training than most people of the time. He was a hard worker, and had the mental fortitude and dedication to overcome a version of Hollywood that didn't think a "Chinaman" should be in a lead role in a film in the US, changing the world and proving them wrong. He was 5'8" tall and walked around at about 145 lbs. He could easily have been on the larger side of the Bantamweight division nowadays by cutting water weight, or of average size at 145 without even having to dehydrate. He didn't have the training we have available today, but if he did he could get quite good. He was far fitter than most hobbyist MMA practitioners today. Would he be champion? No way to know, but he could have had some success in MMA with the right training for sure. Could he just teleport from then to now and jump straight into an MMA fight? Hell no, but that's not a fair expectation to begin with.

I_Might_B_Wrong
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I’ll never forget as a 15 year old boy (I’m 65 now) accompanying my older brother to watch Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon for the first time in 1973-4. Up to that point, I’d been impressed by David Carradine’s Kwai Chang Caine’s seemingly effortless and calm dispatching of clumsy thuggish cowboys in ‘Kung Fu.” Nothing prepared me for the astonishing visual spectacle of Lee. Years later, I discussed with my brother, that first experience. We both agreed that it was in a way frightening. To us it was a visceral experience - we felt slightly disturbed by how brutal and spectacular his performance in the caves leapt off the screen. His sheer presence, charisma and searing intensity gave us goosebumps. Looking back now, it was a combination of several factors that made such an impact on us. These being the aforementioned feline-like intensity he exuded, his incredible sweat streaked physique, lit dramatically, sequences of slow-motion, intercut with those shot at normal speed with both demonstrating his balletic grace, timing, sheer speed and precision. The bone crunching (grossly exaggerated) sound effects contributed significantly to the brutality of the spectacle as guard after guard was dispensed, punctuated by his legendary war-cries.
I have no time for those fans who elevate Bruce Lee way above the limitations imposed by the law of physics and claim he could perform superhuman feats. He was human, like the rest of us. Grant suggests that Lee himself would not have endorsed the wild and often ridiculous assertions made by many of his die-hard fans. I achieved my 4th Dan in Shotokan karate and in my day trained very hard with some of the best in the world. I learned through first hand experience the limitations of style and an overinflated belief in one’s own ability. There is nothing that Grant said in this really refreshing and honest video about Bruce Lee, that I could disagree with. There is a legend surrounding and being perpetuated by the followers of Bruce Lee that at its core, is based on exaggeration and pure fantasy. That is the stuff of legends. As grant discusses, Lee was exceptional, talented and ahead of his time. He also possessed buckets of sheer charisma that is in my opinion lacking in all those who tried to emulate or surpass him on the big screen. Lee himself said that he did not believe in the word “star” and was humble in that respect. I believe, like Grant, that Bruce Lee was unique during his lifetime and deserves his mantle, but I agree that such a great man doesn’t need the inflated claims bestowed upon him by his fans. I think it actually diminishes everything he actually believed and practiced, both physically and philosophically. I was an instant fan at 15 years of age and I’m still a fan at 65 without having to support and perpetuate a delusion.

bryanevans
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It's important to note that without Bruce Lee input or contribution to the martial arts, the Western world at its best would probably still have practiced their karate classical mess. Another point is that no one questions whether those karate masters were involved in tournaments or not. And to be fair, no one questions the ability of the kung fu masters from the east either. Without Bruce Lee, kung fu would have been kept a big secret to the Western world. Bruce broke many barriers, so you could have the freedom to talk in the manner in which you are doing now!

peterpinel
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Sorry, I realize this is my fourth comment but you brought up guys ahead of the game before Bruce and it made me think of Jack Dempsey. Every knows he was a champion boxer.

But he was in dozens of bar brawls back in the day and he also was an avid practitioner of Catch Wrestling. His book How To Fight Tough has boxing combinations followed into arm drags into standing RNC's, how to tie a man up with his jacket, scissor leg takedowns, etc.

I know this is more of a fitness than a martial arts channel but since Dempsey also did 300 pull ups a day as part of his training it may be just right for this channel.

twistedtrailerparktales
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Bruce Lee is so important to the Martial Arts community cause he popularize the arts. You mentioned that he didn't compete in tournament fighting, chuck Norris said it best He didnt have to cause he already had a name. If you want to know about Bruce Lee fighting abilities, I strongly recommend The Book Wrath of the Dragon by John little. It talks about all of his fights and sparring fights.

luisvelazquez
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A 20min long video of someone that inspired me so much & a role model the person to introduce to marital arts. I can’t put it into words but I’m just a MASSIVE Bruce lee fan. What attracted me about Bruce was his physical capabilities, down the line watching his interviews. Reading his books documentaries etc, listening to people that knew him personally talk about him in interviews. Understanding him more overall as person, back then when I first found out who he was. Hearing all of those fantasy rumors made me believe he was. Undefeated god-like figured, but lucky enough I followed people who actually knows what they’re talking about when it’s Bruce lee. People like Kung-fu genius & goldenbell training. I like Bruce Lee for the type of person he is outside of martial arts he’s just that guy the people I see as role models or had. A positive impact in my life I always liked to learn them as person not just leaving it at the surface level achievement’s fantastic video Adam & grant!
Also Bruce Lee also had a heavy Influence on my mindset & outlook of life in general I was heavily invested into his philosophy too

chris
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I’ve been in around fifty street fights. Serious fights. I’ve seen friends in street fights a couple dozen times. Some of my family and friends have fought competitively in boxing and kickboxing. A couple of my friends were high school wrestling champions. The one friend of ours that all of us knew without question was the best fighter among us was a guy who never had any formal training whatsoever. If you heard the stories about this man’s fights you’d think it was a movie script. I’ve even heard stories of him that I wouldn’t believe if I didn’t have stories I told of him that were hard to believe.
When you’ve known people like this and you’ve had significant street fighting experience it’s not hard to imagine Bruce Lee being an incredible fighter despite not fighting competitively.
Bruce had plenty of street fights, including challenge matches. When Bruce developed his expression of the martial arts he did so with the experience of fighting with no bell, no rounds, and no referee. Bruce was probably better than you imagine.

myfriend
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My view Bruce Lee is better then what most people think of him. Fast, Technique, Power, Leverage, Strong, Timing and he was an innovator in the fighting arts, he was obsessed with fighting. You can see from the movies he could fight, if you know what to look for. If you were to put Norris, Lewis or a modern MMA fighter in position of Bruce Lee to do all his movies, they wouldn't of had those attributes, to say wow, look at guy, that skill, speed, power and technique. Bruce Lee was clearly a phenomenon.

If you look at the Hong Kong Demo where he is filmed secretly, you can clearly see, how he had perfect leverage in his punch's to generate power. His kick's were also devastating. His the type of guy to practice a punch or kick, like 1000 times to perfect it, and you can clearly see it.

timmy
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To me, personally, Bruce Lee will always be a philosopher first, before even taking into account his fighting abilities, or prowess as a martial artist. He used the martial arts as a means to an end of understanding and expressing himself.

Awesome video, dude. Thanks for the perspective

benitoharrycollmann
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If the question is : could Bruce Lee fight with an heavy weight high level boxer in a ring ?
The answer is yes.
For exemple : he fought Joey Orbillo (188pounds) and won.
+ Joe Lewis, the best heavy weight karate champion (and kick boxing) of his time said that Bruce Lee was the best and beat him.
Joe Lewis also said that it was the same for many champions of his time but they don't want to admit by pride.

About Mohamed Ali, Bruce said : "He could kill me"
This sentence refer to "if they had fought in a boxing match" (which means only fists not total fight

About the fight IQ, Bruce Lee fought a lots in street fights wich certainly made him develop a very good fight IQ.
In my experience, guys who are good on the ring sometimes are useless on the street but guys with solid street fight background, when they train combat sport/martial art they become really strong on the ring.

About weightlifting, the document shown corresponds to one of his very first strength training (it is therefore normal that the weights are light).
In addition, Bruce Lee never sought to make series with heavy loads because he trained for speed.
That is to say that the movements were executed with as much speed and explosiveness as possible and not slowly to seek hypertrophy.

MAXTHALOS
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For people who have not spent their lives dedicated to martial arts, it can seem to be that someone with Lees' physical prowess and technical knowledge would have to have been a superlative fighter. In this age, there are even less excuses to cling to this idea; watching the footage of a high level professional fighter in fight camp should dispel the illusion of what is "enough" in terms of training. It is not that he couldn't have achieved that level, its just that he never did. He dedicated his life to pursuing a different aspect of the "Art" in Martial Arts. For me, now at 46, my focus is much more on the healing and conditioning side of the spectrum; there's something within this field for everyone.

pranakhan
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I always find it so funny when people think they understand how good Bruce Lee was, and then they proceed to leave stuff out and or be way off on what they see :') For the record I am a long time elite Mixed martial arts practitioner in multiple striking, submission, grappling, pressure point, and weapons arts, so I'm not simply a fan of Bruce Lee without any actual fight understanding. Bruce Lee was so strong and explosive, that normal 250-300 Ibs heavy bags were way too light, the man legit had to use a custom made 700Ibs heavy bag that swung off the floor, there's a video on youtube of one of his students side push kicking and swinging the bag half way up, and it's said that Bruce himself could make the bag touch the ceiling which logically makes sense, just so people understand to a good enough degree just how insane this ability is, no one and i repeat NO ONE in all of professional combat sports today, no one has needed a bag heavier then 300Ibs, hence why there are no heavy bags in gyms over 300Ibs, if people today were stronger and more explosive then Bruce Lee, then people would be using heavy bags over 700Ibs but they don't, also Bruce Lee had the ability to 6 inch punch a person, make them fall back into a chair, and then slide 4-5 metres, again no one in all of combat sports today is able to do such a feat, take any person past or present who you think is strong or powerful enough, I guarantee you no one is coming close to such ability. People don't properly understand Bruce Lee, because Bruce Lee was on a totally different level, it's as simple as this :')

bulletproof
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This was excellent. From what I know of Jeet Kune Do, it sounds that Lee drew a lot from Krishnamurti.

Thank you especially for noting how independent and self-motivated Lee was compared to contemporary fighters. It is extraordinary that he got so far from self-direction and inner discipline.

wiltonhall
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For all wanted to know more about the real Bruce Lee, please check out John Little.

Who said having a career as an actor, one might not know how to fight. It is just that we are convinced that if it is recorded in a video or film in competition. One must know how to fight.

In my opinion, Bruce Lee is definitely a fighter and the greatest martial artist of all time.

tsunamistrike
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I feel that Bruce Lee was an Innovator of martial arts, he wanted to improve it in his own way, trough his philosophy's. Though I do believe he was still on the progress on his own work of improving Martial Arts. I do believe at some point he would've liked to test his martial arts philosophy and training at an actual ring. But unfortunately we never got to see him reach that point due to his early passing. As well I'm sure that he would've liked to bring his style of teaching and teach actual fighters, at some point in his life!
P.S I really like that point you made! On how things will be TOTALLY different if you have you a whole team by your side straightening the path Vs doing everything on your own, trough failure and success!

jacktheheadedmonster
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we cannot ignore Adams sponsorship break! opening was hilarious 😂

jayrhussrosal