D.Cobb said:
Bruce Lee Blah Blah Blah ad nauseum!!
Mate, he was a thug. He was egotistical. He was not a Martial Arts Master!!
He was apparently a good fighter, we'll have to take his word for that, as there is no tangible proof.
If Chucks description of him makes him a master, , then I and probably half the guys who post on this BB are masters too.
I find it hard to appreciate a guy, who did possess some incredible fighting skills(like someone we used to know), that when teaching a newbie Chi Sao, became so insensed when the newbie actually got one in on him, that he beat the poor sod so bad he couldn't even walk out of the kwoon unassisted.
Definately not the action of a Master
He was not the first to think like he did, he was not the first to talk like he did. It was just that he could yell louder, and push harder against the "norm" than anyone else had tried before him.
If he was the first, then Uechi would never have developed the system of martial arts based on Pangai-noon, that we now know as Uechi Ryu. Miyagi would never have developed Goju Ryu.
They would have just learnt and taught the systems as they had been taught to them.
He wanted to be a movie star, and that's exactly what he was. He was incredibly fast, and incredibly focused. He could develop power in such a way, that most of us can only dream of. When all is said and done, as a MARTIAL ARTIST he was a great actor. As a MARTIAL ARTS MASTER he was severly lacking.
--Dave
You seem to be getting your facts wrong. No offence meant but who said that he beat the hell out of some poor guy just because he beat him at Chi Sao? It just seems like your one of these people who take up the rumors that are heard and use it here without evidence. He didnt want to be a movie star either, he simply wanted to show the beauty of his Chinese culture and he knew the best way to do this was through movies. I've read loads of books on him, seen all his films, seen both sides of the story. I'm not suprised there are so many rumors of him being a thug because the martial art community and the so called masters resented his views. Therefore there are going to be stories about him beating students, to make him sound worse.
As for a man who broke down the prejudice in movie making thats hardly the action of a thug.
He was a big head and I think if I posses the power and skill that he did I would probably be too.
I dont think that he would have wanted you to call him a master anyway, that would not be the way of Jeet Kune Do, as he spoke himself he is always the student as he is always learning. He is only the master of the techniques in which he has learned, he is not a master of other people.
He considered himself a Martial Artist first not an actor you know, your facts consist of various rumours i.e. he was a womaniser, he was a thug (? justify that?), he beat up students (what a load of crap).
That for example that he beat somebody who beat him at Chi Sao? If It was true, do you know the whole story? Did he hit him for the hell of it, it was he provoked or attacked first? Or maybe your refering to the black belt who challenged him in his school in which he did beat the crap out of then chased him around the building. Believe me I would do that to if somebody comes in to one of my WC classes preaching that it crap. I wouldnt wait for my instructor I would go for it. Challenge sure, but to try show somebody up in their own school isnt on. Anyway thats what made BL change his idea of WC.
No proof of him being a good fighter?
What the hell are you talking about? There are video clips of him fighting in black and white movies, him sparring versus black belts. I wouldnt take the films as an example because they are simply films and are biased..
Your facts consists of stupid rumours put about by the 'so-called masters' of Martial Arts who didnt like his ideas because they were new, they were simple and they worked.
Sure he's not as great as alot of people say. His death made him into a legend which is exaggerated with most people who die during their prime. But he's not the man you are making him out to be.
I'm sorry but I'm fed up of people throwing their weight about a subject they are no or limited and biased knowledge of..
Regards