I’ve noticed that on the net many people refer to Mr Lee by his first name, Bruce. Were all these people that close to him?
Why are there still people that don’t believe Bruce Lee was, and still would be today, the worlds greatest fighter?
When will the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences finally recognize Mr Lee’s performance in Enter the Dragon with an award?
If Bruce Lee was still alive today what would you ask him?
Jeeezus! Enough with the Bruce Lee sh!t already. He is probably about the most over-hyped and over-rated martial artist in MA history!
He was bloody quick, that’s all. His form was bad, his fighting system incomplete and he was the worst role model due to his over-training, which eventually killed him.
He was a novelty, that’s all. Sure, he did great things to raise awareness of kung fu in the west, but puh-leeeeeze!
1, the price of fame
2, because there is no evidence to support this
3, because it was some terrible acting
4, do you think you missed the point?
Serpent, you really must read The Tao of JKD". Even Bruces notes show more insight into the martial arts than many grand masters. Also the commenteries are very good.
Serpent, you really must read The Tao of JKD". Even Bruces notes show more insight into the martial arts than many grand masters. Also the commenteries are very good.
Hardly. It is a good read and he did have good idea’s, but to say that he knows more than many grandmasters is false.
Ben, I’m talking about Bruces acting, not John Saxons.
i think many many people refer to him as Bruce because Mr. Lee would be very confusing as Lee is a very common asian name.
the WORLD’S greatest fighter? that encompasses a lot of martial artists. Jkd isn’t always better than any given classical style.
not to sound disrespectful to him or you
Originally posted by rogue
Serpent, you really must read The Tao of JKD". Even Bruces notes show more insight into the martial arts than many grand masters. Also the commenteries are very good.
I own that book. In some ways it’s very interesting, but I had issue with a lot of what was said. He was a great thinker and philosopher, he was a great innovator with exercise and anatomical training. But that doesn’t make him a “great martial artist”.
Over-rated in every way just about.
but to say that he knows more than many grandmasters is false
You really should read “Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee’s Wisdom for Daily Living”. It’ll influence your life like it has mine.
Use 50 pound test.
Excerpted from Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee’s Wisdom for Daily Living by Bruce Lee, John Little. Copyright © 2000. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved
The Mind
An intelligent mind is constantly learning. -
An intelligent mind is one which is constantly learning, never concluding - styles and patterns have come to conclusion, therefore they [have] ceased to be intelligent.
An intelligent mind is an inquiring mind -
An intelligent mind is an INQUIRING mind. It is not satisfied with explanations, with conclusions; nor is it a mind that believes, because belief is again another form of conclusion.
The qualities of mind -
To be one thing and not to change is the climax of STILLNESS. To have nothing in one that resists is the climax of EMPTINESS. To remain detached from all outside things is the climax of FINENESS. To have in oneself no contraries is the climax of PURITY.
You are the commander of your mind -
I’ve always been buffeted by circumstances because I thought of myself as a human being [affected by] outside conditioning. Now I realize that I am the power that commands the feeling of my mind and from which circumstances grow.
To free the mind -
In order that the mind may function naturally and harmoniously it must be freed from all attachment to oppositional notions. The mind should be freed from the influence of the external world. To let the mind take its course unhindered among phenomena. Not the cultivated innocence of a clever mind that wants to be innocent, but that state of innocence in which there is no denial or acceptance, and in which the mind just sees what is.
Bruce Lee.
He was a great Martial Artist, if he was the best or not is naturally open to debate.
To be honest I think he simply was something so new that hit the west that it took everybody by surpise.
I can’t think any other great martial artist off-hand that went by the name of “Bruce” and reached similar popularity levels, thus the “Bruce” references.
Alos many people kinda idolise him and try to indentify with him thus “Bruce”.
I don’t think that he will ever be honored with an academy award, his Hollywood career was too short bad his movies and acting live a lot to be desired.
What would I ask him.
I would ask him about his youth and why there are so many conflicting stories about his early life and MA studies.
Bruce Lee did have some interesting ideas. How ever, too often he added 2 and 2 and got 5. The thing that sums up Bruce Lee for me is this saying (from Tao of Gung Fu)
Before I started MA, a punch was just a punch and a kick was just a kick.
When I started martial arts a punch was no longer just a punch and a kick no longer just a kick
Now that I’ve done martial arts for some time, a punch is just a punch and a kick is just a kick.
It is here that I think Bruce Lee missed the point. After only 5 years of patchy training and then working out on his own for a wjile, he decided that WC was a “classical mess”, when according to this line of thought he just wasn’t good enough at it.
His acting in ETD was bad, it only seems OK because the others were so bad.
I think his movies are greatly underrated. Many fly against the surf of the conventional movie, but if you look under the surface they sometimes touch the deep sea and you can net some insight into the man.
wjile. You didn’t know he was Dutch did you 
Bruce Lee’s films contained bad acting, dreadful stereotypes and often some pretty shabby fighting.
I compare his movies to the rest of the movies coming out of Asia at that time.
Considering that at the same time Jackie Chan and similar names were already in the industry.
As for his teachings and insights, to be honest, I find them not to be anything unique or unobtainable from other sources.
Many of the things he said kinda remind me of things we are taught in TJQ and other arts.
And there is still plenty more not revealed to me yet.
Like I said for many he was the first and thus holds an exalted position.
Originally posted by rogue
I think his movies are greatly underrated. Many fly against the surf of the conventional movie, but if you look under the surface they sometimes touch the deep sea and you can net some insight into the man.
Give me a break. The most innovative thing he worked on was The Silent Flute (called something different in the US… Circel Of Iron or something like that?) Shame that Carradine ended up playing the teacher, but still a great movie. It would have been really interesting to see him in that role.
But I maintain - he’s over rated as a martial artist, as an actor and as a philosopher, though his philosophy was probably his strongest attribute.
I’m tired of people holding him up as the messiah, the savior of martial arts come to free us from “classical mess”. He was very good, probably not the best, and had some nice idea’s, nothing more.
P.S. While not the worst actor I’ve seen, he really isn’t “award winning”.
If I could ask him one question if he were alive, it’d be “How’d ya get out of your grave?”
Second
“What did you think of that God awful Dragon movie they did on your life?”
I’d ask him why he didn’t do something about the headaches. Like quit overtraining.
ROGUE
You’re joking right???
Bruce Lee the best fighter in the world, how droll.
He at one point was the most famous just because he broke Hollywood but he was never ever the best fighter, where did you get that idea from???
If I could ask him a question it would be :
Why did you make such a wrong turn in life (at the begining of it) by giving up internal martial arts and settling for what you ended up with, with it’s limitations?
Hmmm
I’ve nothing against him, but I’ve read a few of his books and they’re awfull, quite childish in parts and under researched especially the one where he talks about Taiji masters.