Bruce lee demistified...

[babooon87]

Article showing that Bruce was not that phnomenal:

http://www.myodynamics.com/articles/bruce.html

If you like Bruce, don't read this.

[DragonzRage]

Why was Bruce "not that phenomenal"? Is it because his workout routine shows that he wasn't the fastest runner in the world? Is it because he might not have been able to squat a lot of weight? Or is it because he might have made a few mistakes in his life?

Give it a rest. Bruce was not a god and he wasn't invincible. But he was still a pioneer and a great martial artist.

[TkdWarrior]

still Bruce was able to do which Most MAist can't...
he still able to achieve which most MAist' can't
he still able to achieve which most Movie actors cant(that too in a career of just 8-9 yrs)
he still able to achieve which most PPl can't at the age of 33...
he hav died proud, making his family proud, making himself proud.
bruce couldn't squat because of some genetics fault(but he still did because of his training none of his brothers can't)
he became from nothing to Everything.
he only lived 33 yrs yet he achieve more than HUMAN can imagine
after his death for more than 30 yrs everyone knows him(even those who don't like MA) n he still is hottest topic around on Internet forums...
Man if i can achieve something like that... i won't give a **** to the world...
-TkdWarrior-

[Mr.Binx]

Hollywood would not lie to me. Seriously though, he's respected for bringing the arts to the american mind. Pioneers of positive ideas should always be welcome in every society. Pity he felt he had to ignore his kids for the glory tho'. He was only a man afterall. :/

[ricksitterly]

Actually the article isn't entirely as negative as it would like to be. Even the writer had to admit that bruce had amazing speed - but simply accredited it to his light weight, giving little implication that he had to work to achieve that speed.

It was the fact that he could take his frail, small framed body and train it to generate such amazing speed and power through his technique. That is inspiring.

The article is skeptical about his body strength, and the means he used to achieve his physique, however it isn't Bruce's body (or his questionable body strength) that I respect him for. It was his theories on MA and methodology in training that make him so impacting to the MA community. His books and his founded style, Jeet Kune Do, were ahead of their time, and touch on concepts that the MA community is still catching up on ( especially now that NHB fights are testing the credibility of various styles ). He believed in not limiting oneself to the confines of a particular style, and learning versatility in all aspects of fighting (punches, kicks, grappling, takedowns, etc.). Basically, I feel it was his ideas, not his movies, that demand respect. (although i love the movies too..despite their corniness at times )

[StarBoy]

Clearly Christopher Hess is ignoring the internal aspects of MA. That "The great karate master Gichin Funakoshi stated that
martial artists should show great concern for family and relationships." bit was extremely weak. First of all, this is only a extremely minor part of the internal aspects of martial arts. Second of all, it was quoted from someone who studies a Japanese MA, and therefore Japanese MA philosophies. Two friends of mine and myself had a huge debate about this the other day that I won't get into now, but it ends with the conclusion that Japanese MA and CMA had many different forces which shaped their different philosophies. Though this isn't to say that abandoning your family is kosher by a CMA philosophy. I am merely stating that Hess' attempt to address this matter was sloppy.

The bit about Lee not competing in any "sanctioned martial arts events" was hilarious. See, I was always under the impression that a true martial artist doesn't feel the need the prove themselves.

As for his physical ability, I think Hess is misinterpreting the "myth". I can't speak for everyone, but I don't think any serious martial artist really thinks Bruce has godlike strength or anything like that. We are all aware that he was a normal human being. However, it was what he was able to do as a martial artist with a normal human body that impresses us.

His interpretation regarding the usefulness of the Bruce Lee myth is just insulting. Basically he's saying that it can be used as a hook to get people into the martial arts, which downgrades the work of Bruce Lee into a marketing ploy. He has clearly done much more than that for the MA community.

I did a little poking around on Hess. Apparently he is a "certified specialist in martial arts conditioning". I wonder where he received this certification. Something tells me if you trace his Martial Arts lineage you'll end up at UCLA. I honestly think Hess is jealous, which happens more often among people who study a martial sport (he does TKD, btw). This isn't to say that all TKD or martial sport practicioners have this behavioral tendency, but just that it is more common.

This was kinda funny in a way. In another forum, I was looking for critics of Pavel and Bruce. I've heard a lot of positive things about both and was hoping for an objective "other side". If this is the best criticism one can come up with for Bruce, then I'm pretty secure in my admiration of him as a martial artist.

[ricksitterly]

very well said. i pretty much agree with you on all aspects.

people also dont put into consideration that it is much easier to become a good martial artist BECAUSE of people like bruce lee, who sparked mass interest in the arts and helped start the huge public interest ing MA training that resulted new MA schools being started all over the country, which has a snowball effect, as schools produce students, and in time, some of those students branch out and start their own schools....basically, if it werent for people like bruce who helped start the fire, people (like the guy who wrote that piece of garbage), might not have even been exposed to MA in the first place

[No_Know]

On Lower body strength, person seemed to muchly regard a guide of maximum weights. Also for running the Top time...Bruce Lee Wasn't out to be the best runner. It merely made What he did do better.~ He wasn't a weightlifter. He used weights to make what he did better. So not being top in these areas of lifting~ and running is Insignificant.

People who don't know much get excited and like what they haven't seen before that they think they like. Claims of Greatness is related to experience. People tend to not be all that experienced. But getting to see or meet even read about Bruce Lee Might have been Quite an experience.

Bruce Lee's Strength was mentioned meaning his Power. And while not tops in single areas, he perhaps brought several areas together that excelled him above those really good in merely one or a few of those ares but did not consistantly bring them together favorablly.


And that 95lbs at 10 reps...lesser weights useable frequently is an endurance strength that a Conditioning fighter can use momre than Max weight/time in the weightclass.

[IronFist]

the article said:

Some readers, who are accustomed to viewing Lee as possessing epic strength,
may assert that Lee probably was not using his maximum ability at that time.
It is therefore noted that this regime occurred prior to Lee's well-known back
injury. Furthermore, if Lee was capable of performing the squat exercise with
more than 95 pounds for 10 repetitions, one must question why this was part of
his established routine or, alternatively, why he would be committing himself
to a method of underachievement by using too low an amount of weight to
stimulate the greatest strength gains possible.


Um, ever heard of periodization? People don't always squat with their max weight I would assume "sport science" people would know this.

IronFist

[Royal Dragon]

he may have not been going for maximun strength either. Does the artical say the speed of his lifting?? If it was slow taiji style movement, then he was doing something different.

Maybe he was developing speed, and blasting out lighter weigts as fast as he could. Again, both would require lighter weights, not heavy ones.

[StarBoy]

Bruce Lee's Strength was mentioned meaning his Power.

Yeah, this guy clearly didn't take the internal aspects into consideration. If you look at the references, you'll notice that he didn't include any of the knowledge from The Tao of Gung Fu, any of his Fighting Method books, or even Striking Thoughts (to understand Bruce's philosophies).

All I can say is sloppy, sloppy, sloppy. Someone should strip him of that phony SMAC certificate. I'd like to send this guy an email and set him straight.