Bruce Lee wasn't a God

[Bill Mattocks]

Bruce Lee said....blah blah blah.

Bruce Lee was a hugely talented martial artist. He wasn't a philosopher. He wasn't a doctor. He wasn't a genius. And he definitely wasn't a god.

I respect Bruce Lee, and I think he gave a lot to the martial arts community. I don't bow down and worship at his feet. He was a very young man when he passed. He never got to experience getting old, becoming infirm, dealing with the ravages of age. His advice applies to young people fairly well, in my opinion. It applies to people in my circumstances very little.

But, but, but, Bruce Lee said...blah blah blah. Yeah, I know. I also don't care.

 

[MuayJitsu]

Agreed to me it’s pretty pathetic there’s still people who believe nonsense that he was untouchable amazing fighter and believe he can beat Mike Tyson in a fight. Tyson would laugh in his face and knock him out with a jab.

he did a lot to make martial arts popular sure but that doesn’t make you an amazing fighter. The man was smart though he made sure to cosy up with top guys like Joe Lewis and chuck norris to get his name out there. I don’t even think his movies are that great

 

[Hot Lunch]

I don’t even think his movies are that great

I've only sat through Enter the Dragon one time. Every other time I watch Bruce Lee movies, I fast forward to the fight scenes.

 

[Hot Lunch]

He was a very young man when he passed.

This. He started martial arts training at the age of 13, died at 32. So if you've got more than 19 years of martial arts training, you've got more credibility than Bruce Lee.

 

[gyoja]

Bruce Lee said....blah blah blah.

Bruce Lee was a hugely talented martial artist. He wasn't a philosopher. He wasn't a doctor. He wasn't a genius. And he definitely wasn't a god.

I respect Bruce Lee, and I think he gave a lot to the martial arts community. I don't bow down and worship at his feet. He was a very young man when he passed. He never got to experience getting old, becoming infirm, dealing with the ravages of age. His advice applies to young people fairly well, in my opinion. It applies to people in my circumstances very little.

But, but, but, Bruce Lee said...blah blah blah. Yeah, I know. I also don't care.

I don’t know anything about all of that, but what I do know is that a great martial artist that I had the privilege of training with and who also trained with Bruce Lee, had nothing but good things to say about him.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

I don’t know anything about all of that, but what I do know is that a great martial artist that I had the privilege of training with and who also trained with Bruce Lee, had nothing but good things to say about him.

I don't have bad things to say about him. What I have to say is that he was a young man when he died, and his perspectives and experiences are those of a young man. I take his quotes and aphorisms in that light.

 

[Badhabits]

I could be interpreting what Lee said about TMA, kata and such wrong.....but while I think a lot of the derogatory things he said along those lines had some truth to them, I also think there were a lot of "younger man" type errors and a lack of understanding of longer term processes in the TMA in what he said. No idea how good of a fighter he was, but as an "artist" he seemed pretty dang impressive to me.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

I could be interpreting what Lee said about TMA, kata and such wrong.....but while I think a lot of the derogatory things he said along those lines had some truth to them, I also think there were a lot of "younger man" type errors and a lack of understanding of longer term processes in the TMA in what he said. No idea how good of a fighter he was, but as an "artist" he seemed pretty dang impressive to me.

I thought he was amazingly fast and obviously he was in phenomenal physical condition. I don't think that qualified him to offer opinions on how best to live one's life. But we humans tend to put people who are very good at a specialized thing on a pedestal and act as if they are authorities in all things.

 

[gyoja]

I thought he was amazingly fast and obviously he was in phenomenal physical condition. I don't think that qualified him to offer opinions on how best to live one's life. But we humans tend to put people who are very good at a specialized thing on a pedestal and act as if they are authorities in all things.

I never took his writings as telling me how to live my life. It was more like, this is what worked for me and helped me to achieve this level if excellence. From what I was told about him from someone who knew him, was that he was more about taking advantage of all knowledge and techniques, then discarding what didn’t work for him.

 

[Gyakuto]

I've only sat through Enter the Dragon one time. Every other time I watch Bruce Lee movies, I fast forward to the fight scenes.

They’re rubbish, eh? Jackie Chan’s fight scenes are much better. But there’s very little to Lee’s films without the fighting.

 

[Gyakuto]

He wasn't a philosopher.

His philosophy was highly derivative…mostly, if not entirely appropriated!

He wasn't a doctor.

Maybe in caterwauling!

I respect Bruce Lee,

My respect dissolved after reading Matthew Polly’s excellently researched book about him. He was very conceited.

and I think he gave a lot to the martial arts community.

He certainly popularised the martial arts through his entertainments.

I don't bow down and worship at his feet. He was a very young man when he passed. He never got to experience getting old, becoming infirm, dealing with the ravages of age. His advice applies to young people fairly well, in my opinion. It applies to people in my circumstances very little.

Why do you have any respect for him above the ordinary then?

But, but, but, Bruce Lee said...blah blah blah. Yeah, I know. I also don't care.

I think most of those who worship Lee are not the most mature or experienced in the martial arts…that is a gross generalisation though.

He was ‘of his time’…like Charlie Chaplin, pantsuits and aviator spectacles.

 

[MuayJitsu]

I've only sat through Enter the Dragon one time. Every other time I watch Bruce Lee movies, I fast forward to the fight scenes.

Honestly even the fights are nothing special they’re kind of boring since his ego is so big the fights are so one sided they’re boring

 

[Hot Lunch]

Honestly even the fights are nothing special they’re kind of boring since his ego is so big the fights are so one sided they’re boring

Yeah, I don't claim to know how things work in Hollywood, but I can't imagine him being the good guy every single time AND winning every fight every single time if his time had been ten years later. Even Sylvester Stallone lost in the first Rocky and Arnold Schwarzenegger lost in the original Terminator.

 

[JowGaWolf]

My guess is that that most who quote Bruce Lee are those who know the Hollywood version of Bruce Lee. As for those who did know Bruce lee personal, I don't remember them being heavy with the Bruce Lee wisdom quotes.

I think other Chinese Martial Artists would have outshined Bruce Lee had they not been so secretive and so restrictive about their martial arts. I'll use myself as an example. The only way the world will know about Jow Ga Kung fu is if people who do Jow Ga Kung Fu share Jow Ga Kung Fu.

Keeping a secret about it doesn't help the system and it doesn't allow the system to evolve. I shouldn't have to be a master or a teacher to share Jow Ga Kung Fu. Bruce Lee shared with the world. Many other systems did not, as a result Bruce Lee overshadowed those systems. He also had charisma as well. He wasn't some stuffy martial arts teacher who thought the world should always be one way. Bruce Lee took the opportunity that other martial artists threw away or ignored.

It's was a different time with difficult challenges. Now you have Jackie Chan and Jet Li who outshine Bruce.

 

[Steve]

not a god, but good or bad, folks still talk about him. Bruce Lee died when Nixon was president, and even people uninterested in martial arts know who he is. He’s been gone for half a century.

For a young man, he has had an outsized impact on action movies AND martial arts. I think there’s room to recognize the people who influenced and informed Bruce lee’s philosophies and such while also appreciating the profound impact Bruce Lee has.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Why do you have any respect for him above the ordinary then?

I'm not certain that I do. Like Elvis Presley or Evel Knievel, I'm not really a fan, but I recognize that they had an outsized impact on the zeitgeist. But I am unusual (apparently) for a martial artist in that I don't watch martial arts movies (exception, Kuro Obi), and am not a fan of MMA/UFC/etc.

I just hear a lot of "Be like water," which is true enough, although plenty of people said it (in variations) before Bruce Lee.

"In his duties, especially in religion, a man's spirit should be like water flowing down the shallow channel of a brook; which, though it meets with stones and sticks and innumerable obstructions, in its course, continues to ripple and wind, and insinuate itself perseveringly, through every opening, till it has left them all behind; when, deep and broad, at length, it runs into the sea."

Voyages and Travels Round the World
By Daniel Tyerman, James Montgomery, George Bennet · 1841

Respect for Bruce Lee, I get. Reverence and worship? Not so much.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Some MA system invent "push" which is neither "punch" nor "throw". I like what Bruce Lee said, "I punch, I don't push."

I agree with him 50 years ago. I still agree with him today. Even today, I still don't understand why some people prefer to spend their valuable training time to train "push".

 

[Hot Lunch]

I think other Chinese Martial Artists would have outshined Bruce Lee had they not been so secretive and so restrictive about their martial arts.

Good point. I had always wondered by CMA wasn't as widely taught or practiced as karate or TKD, when Bruce Lee is arguably the most popular and well-known martial arts actor of all time. This is probably why.

I'll use myself as an example. The only way the world will know about Jow Ga Kung fu is if people who do Jow Ga Kung Fu share Jow Ga Kung Fu.

I know of one school in my area, but I understand it's pretty well-known in the DC area.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Bruce Lee said....blah blah blah.

Bruce Lee was a hugely talented martial artist. He wasn't a philosopher. He wasn't a doctor. He wasn't a genius. And he definitely wasn't a god.

I respect Bruce Lee, and I think he gave a lot to the martial arts community. I don't bow down and worship at his feet. He was a very young man when he passed. He never got to experience getting old, becoming infirm, dealing with the ravages of age. His advice applies to young people fairly well, in my opinion. It applies to people in my circumstances very little.

But, but, but, Bruce Lee said...blah blah blah. Yeah, I know. I also don't care.

nope, he wasn't, just a naturally skilled, hard working, martial artist/actor

I have never understood the Bruce Lee worship, nor have I ever understood the Bruce Lee hate.

 

[Hot Lunch]

...nor have I ever understood the Bruce Lee hate.

Luke 14:11