Gene Lebell did NOT teach or fought with Bruce, here is the proof

[drop bear]

LeBell was full of ****. Totally overrated

Yeah. Steve Martin beat him up once.

 

[Thonged warrior]

Yeah. Steve Martin beat him up once.

Exactly LeBell was just a wrestling show man
He really was a bit creepy

 

[Thonged warrior]

Also in Jeet kune do the Judo is pretty basic so therefore Bruce Lee didn't need LeBell.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

LeBell was full of ****. Totally overrated

Did you meet him? Doubt you would say that if you did. Even as an old man he was quite formidable. I don’t know a thing about his history with Bruce Lee.

 

[Thonged warrior]

Did you meet him? Doubt you would say that if you did. Even as an old man he was quite formidable. I don’t know a thing about his history with Bruce Lee.

Yes I met him..he was actually a fan of the thong

 

[MuayJitsu]

Did you meet him? Doubt you would say that if you did. Even as an old man he was quite formidable. I don’t know a thing about his history with Bruce Lee.

I mean this guy thinks elvis was an amazing martial artist so I think that tells you everything

 

[Buka]

I met Gene briefly in the nineties in Sherman Oaks, California. (For about thirty seconds)
It was an honor to shake his hand. World Judo Champion, wrestler, grappler, jujitsu man, stuntman in hundreds of films. I know some people who trained with him, they all say they learned a lot. I wish I had been that lucky. I know a bunch of stunt players who worked in a lot of films with him, I wish I had been that lucky, too.

Overrated? Not in my mind. More like a Legend.

 

[isshinryuronin]

"Judo" Gene had a reputation of being a good judo-ka in the years before Bruce Lee (1960's) within the general MA community.

 

[Thonged warrior]

I met Gene briefly in the nineties in Sherman Oaks, California. (For about thirty seconds)
It was an honor to shake his hand. World Judo Champion, wrestler, grappler, jujitsu man, stuntman in hundreds of films. I know some people who trained with him, they all say they learned a lot. I wish I had been that lucky. I know a bunch of stunt players who worked in a lot of films with him, I wish I had been that lucky, too.

Overrated? Not in my mind. More like a Legend.

A legendary story teller

 

[Steve]

All that said, do people really care about this? Both men are dead. Arguments about this are getting into the "my great grandad could beat up your great grandad" territory.

Well. I don’t know your grandad…. But mine was a tough old codger. Just sayin’.

 

[Steve]

I think i mentioned this before. But competent guys will still make stuff up.

When I bounced this was prevalent. Special forces guys have been caught out. And martial artists do it.

I don't fault them for it. But it is good to be aware of.
View attachment 32555

Memory is a funny thing, too. There was a podcast I listened to years ago that talked about memory. Worth a listen, if you’re interested. Podcast is called Revisionist History with Malcom Gladwell and the episode is Free Brian Williams (in case the link below doesn’t work).

Free Brian Williams | Revisionist History

"Sorry dude, I don’t remember you being on my aircraft."

www.pushkin.fm

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

I mean this guy thinks elvis was an amazing martial artist so I think that tells you everything

Fair enough.

 

[Sammy Naur]

It was reasonably easy to find this clip that shows both of them basically know what they're doing.

What was the issue again, that Gene lied about training Bruce Lee? I'll bet it was pretty mutual. They were both excellent stuntment.

 

[frank raud]

That is quite the understatement regarding Gene. More like straight up making stories to look like he bested Bruce in a fight and taught him stuff which honestly Bruce was well familiar with. Basically every time when Gene talked about this, he kept on changing the story since that is what liars tend to do. Have you read the whole article by chance?

Are you claiming that Bruce Lee NEVER trained with anyone in judo after Seattle? because then you are saying not just Gene Lebell, but Wally Jay is lying about their time with Bruce. And Bruce was so good at judo (which you have pointed out he held NO rank in, a/p Jesse Glover) that a decade later he could pull off an armbar in Fists of Fury? That's impressive.

 

[Kung Fu Boi]

Are you claiming that Bruce Lee NEVER trained with anyone in judo after Seattle? because then you are saying not just Gene Lebell, but Wally Jay is lying about their time with Bruce. And Bruce was so good at judo (which you have pointed out he held NO rank in, a/p Jesse Glover) that a decade later he could pull off an armbar in Fists of Fury? That's impressive.

My point is that Bruce learned Judo from others years prior to meeting Gene, and netting Jesse is the earliest when he was introduced to it. Not denying Wally or Fred Sato since that can be verified. I am saying there is no verifiable evidence that Bruce learned or fought with Gene. Plus why would Bruce train with Gene if he was already familiar with judo and how it works? The techniques Gene claimed to have taught Bruce, he already knew from Jesse. Gene claimed that after the filming of enter the dragon, Bruce came back to the states and told him he did the armbar, but when John Little asked Gene when was the last time he saw or spoke to Bruce, Gene said that in the last few years of Bruce’s life, Gene did not see or talk to Bruce. Which one is it? After the filming of enter the dragon, Bruce was busy in Hong Kong resuming the production for Game of Death but tragically died.

 

[Xue Sheng]

I met Gene briefly in the nineties in Sherman Oaks, California. (For about thirty seconds)
It was an honor to shake his hand. World Judo Champion, wrestler, grappler, jujitsu man, stuntman in hundreds of films. I know some people who trained with him, they all say they learned a lot. I wish I had been that lucky. I know a bunch of stunt players who worked in a lot of films with him, I wish I had been that lucky, too.

Overrated? Not in my mind. More like a Legend.

I was not paying much attention to this thead, didn’t take it seriously at all. But today i looked at it thinking, “I wonder if @Buka commented, he probably has some info on this”

And you did comment, and you have info, and i will take your word for it sir, thank you

No reason to look at this thread anymore