Who Is The Daddy Of Martial Arts?

[georges]

Jet Li also created his own fighting style.

 

[-KING-]

Jet Li also created his own fighting style.

Did he? i always thought he learnt it with the shaolin monks

 

[Jagger69]

There is only one master....the rest are just wannabes. BRUCE LEE hands-down.

 

[ckjedi66]

Bruce Lee, hands down, no contest, he tops them ALL!!!!!!

 

[Ax3C]

If we're talking about ACTUAL martial arts as applied to the varied styles and systems, rather than just Hollywood stunts, hype, choreography, and CGI, then, with all due respect to the others listed, Bruce Lee gets my vote every time.

While all are actors, Bruce Lee is singularly notable in his craft. He opened the Western world's eyes to Chinese martial arts and dared go where no other actor had gone before. He choreographed his own films and stunts, directed, and produced in addition to developing his own unique fighting art ... Jeet Kune Do ... which relied heavily upon and drew many influences from Western fighting styles such as boxing and fencing.

Rather than being a straight-line, linear martial art like Karate, Tae Kwon Do, or Aikido, Bruce's interpretation developed more from Wing Chun and close quarters in-fighting techniques, creating a more circular style of fighting.

This "style with no style" is his legacy to the world of martial arts ... and anyone who thinks that pretty boy Jean Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal, and a multitude of others who rise and fall quickly could ever compare to the legendary Bruce Lee is flat-out, fucked up CRAZY and needs to be shot.

:hatsoff:

My :2 cents:

 

[Iamforever]

bruce lee is a punk. only because he trained lew alcindor. thats it. i wont even go into the fact that bruce put kareem in the flick. grrrrrr

 

[Ax3C]

bruce lee is a punk. only because he trained lew alcindor. thats it. i wont even go into the fact that bruce put kareem in the flick. grrrrrr

Not trying to pick a fight, but check it:

Game of Death was the film Bruce Lee had planned to be the demonstration piece of his martial art Jeet Kune Do. Ninety plus minutes of footage was shot before his death, some of which was later lost and has not yet been recovered (such as one fighter attacking Dan Inosanto with a thin log). The remaining footage has been released with Bruce Lee's original English dubbing as part of the documentary entitled Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey. Most of the footage which was shot is from what was to be the center piece of the film.

While in the middle of filming Game of Death, Bruce Lee was given the offer to star in Enter the Dragon; the first kung fu film to be produced by a Hollywood studio, and with a budget unprecedented for the genre, it was an offer Lee could not refuse. Unfortunately, Lee died of cerebral edema before the film's release. At the time of his death, he had already made plans to resume the filming of Game of Death.

After Lee's death, Enter the Dragon director Robert Clouse was enlisted to direct additional scenes featuring a stand-in which, when pieced together with the original footage as well as other footage from earlier in Bruce Lee's career, would form a new film (also entitled Game of Death) which was released in 1978, five years after his death, by Columbia Pictures.

The original plot involved Bruce Lee's character, as well as four other martial artists (two of which were played by James Tien and Chieh Yuan), fighting their way through a five-level pagoda, encountering a different challenge on each floor. The setting of the pagoda was at Beopjusa temple in Songnisan National Park in South Korea. The pagoda, called Palsang-jon, is the only remaining wooden pagoda in South Korea. At the base of the pagoda they fight a small army of poorly-trained lackeys, while inside the pagoda, they encounter a different opponent on each floor, each more challenging than the last. Although his allies try to help out, they are handily defeated, and Lee must face each of the martial artists in one-on-one combat. He defeats Filipino martial arts master Dan Inosanto, Hapkido master Ji Han Jae, and finally, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who fights with a free and fluid style mirroring Lee's Jeet Kune Do. Because Kareem's character has great size and strength in addition to a fighting style as potent as Lee's, he can only be defeated once Lee recognizes his one weakness - an unusual sensitivity to light. Lee smashes the surrounding windows, weakening him with exposure to daylight, and finally manages to kill him.

Although the pagoda was supposed to have five floors, complete scenes were only shot for three of the floors-the "Palace of the Tiger," where Lee faced Inosanto, the "Palace of the Dragon," where he fought Ji Han Jae, and the final floor, where he fought Abdul-Jabbar. Hapkido master Ing-Sik Whang was slated to play the guardian of the first floor, a master of a kick-oriented style, while Bruce's longtime student Taky Kimura was asked to play the guardian of the second floor, a stylist of praying mantis kung fu. However, no footage has been discovered of these floors. The goal of the film's plot was to showcase Lee's beliefs regarding the principles of martial arts. As each martial artist is defeated (including Lee's allies), the flaws in their fighting style are revealed. Some, like Dan Inosanto's character, rely too much on fixed patterns of offensive and defensive techniques, while others lack economy of motion. Lee defeats his opponents by having a fighting style that involves fluid movement, unpredictability, and an eclectic blend of techniques.

The 1978 version uses portions of the original footage married to an entirely new plot involving a new character, Billy Lo, struggling against a racketeering "syndicate" after gaining international success as a martial arts movie star. When Billy refuses to be intimidated by syndicate henchman Steiner (Hugh O'Brian) and his gangs of thugs, syndicate owner Dr. Land (Dean Jagger) orders his assassination to serve as an example to others.

Disguised as a stuntman, Land's assassin Stick (Mel Novak) sneaks onto the set of Billy's new film, and shoots Billy during filming. A fragment of the bullet passes through Billy's face, leaving him alive but in need of plastic surgery which alters his facial features. Billy takes the opportunity to fake his death and disguise himself, exacting revenge against those who wronged him one at a time. When the syndicate threatens and kidnaps his fiancee, Ann Morris (Colleen Camp), Billy is forced to come out of hiding in order to save her. In the revised film, Bruce Lee's fight scenes inside the pagoda are assumed to take place in the upper floors of the Red Pepper restaurant, where Dr. Land and his thugs have laid an ambush.

The revised version of the film uses only 11 minutes and 7 seconds of the footage from the original Game of Death, and for the vast majority of the film, the role of Billy Lo was shared by Yuen Biao and taekwondo master Tai Chung Kim. The plot of the film allowed Kim and Yuen to spend much of the film in disguises, usually involving false beards and large, dark sunglasses, that obscured the fact that they bore little resemblance to Lee. Many scenes, including fight scenes, also included brief close-up bits of stock footage of the real Bruce Lee from his pre-Enter the Dragon films, often only lasting a second or two. These clips are easily recognizable due to the difference in film quality between the old and new footage. One especially egregious trick, often pointed out by critics of the film, involved a shot of Kim looking at himself in the mirror, with an obvious cardboard cut-out of Lee's face pasted onto the mirror's surface.

Several of the actors from the original Game of Death, as well as some of Lee's former co-stars, agreed to star alongside the body double in the new film footage. Chuck Norris played an unnamed fighter with whom Billy Lo was making a martial arts film, while Robert Wall played a kickboxer named Carl Miller who worked as an enforcer for Dr. Land. Sammo Hung served as the fight coordinator for the film, and also played Miller's opponent in a kickboxing match. In order to maintain continuity with the fight footage taken from the original film, Dan Inosanto (renamed Pasqual), Ji Han Jae (whose character was unnamed), and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (renamed Hakim) were given small parts as additional enforcers for the syndicate. The critical backlash against the film by devoted fans sometimes extended to these actors, as well.

 

[Iamforever]

i never said he was a bitch. i know he would rule all ass. but he is a punk for teaching lew.

 

[Ax3C]

What follows is only a small portion of the many people with whom Lee forged either a teacher/student relationship or somehow influenced:

Students and Training Partners of Bruce Lee
Seattle

* James DeMile
* Sue Ann Kay
* Linda Emery

Oakland

* Daniel Inosanto
* James Yimm Lee
* Howard Williams

Los Angeles

* Daniel Inosanto - Asst Instructor
* Ted Wong
* Jerry Poteet
* Daniel Lee - schools first student in 1967
* Herb Jackson
* Chuck Hill
* Gary Fineman
* Lee Hong
* Melvin Kwan
* Leo Duffin
* Larry Hartsell
* Bill Bremer
* Mike Cochrane
* Robert Lujan
* Peter Rosas
* Al Wolin

Celebrity Students

* Lew Alcindor "Kareem Abdul Jabar"
* Steve McQueen
* James Coburn
* Roman Polanski
* Stirling Silliphant
* Tom Tannenbaum
* Joe Hyams

Private Students

* Mike Stone
* Chuck Norris
* Joe Lewis

Other persons he worked with

* Wally Jay
* Jhoon Rhee
* Bob Wall


The names I've bolded are extremely respected individuals in the world of today's martial arts.

So what if he trained Kareem Abdul Jabbar??? What's so unpleasant and annoying about that? I'm just curious as to why you label the man a "punk" for training one of the most respected U.S. basketball players in the history of the game?

Idle curiosity, nothing more.

 

[Iamforever]

because kareem is just that, a celebrity. it was for the money. why isnt chuck norris on the celebrity list?

 

[Ax3C]

From what I've read in some of the biographies, Norris was a student of Lee's BEFORE he became a celebrity. I tend to agree with you, though, with respect to "celebrities".

 

[Iamforever]

yep, chuck is cool. i dont think he is god like some online sites say.:1orglaugh

 

[Ax3C]

Chuck is cool, but damn ... I kinda get tired of seeing his old ugly mug everywhere. He's quite popular down here in Houston ... still has a home here and works with quite a few prominent businessmen and our main school district.

 

[Iamforever]

Chuck is cool, but damn ... I kinda get tired of seeing his old ugly mug everywhere. He's quite popular down here in Houston ... still has a home here and works with quite a few prominent businessmen and our main school district.

actually, there is one reason why chuck is a bitch. have you ever seen sidekicks? :rofl:

 

[Ax3C]

actually, there is one reason why chuck is a bitch. have you ever seen sidekicks? :rofl:

Sadly, yes. :o :eek:

Filmed here in Houston. Matter of fact, that very film is what led to him buying a home here and also helped developed those business relationships I mentioned.

I was working for Blockbuster Video as a district manager when that movie was being filmed and our district had the ... um, "privilege" ... of spending a day on the set with him.



What about "Walker: Texas Ranger" and his amusing attempt to sing the theme. I admit to watching that, too. :ban:

 

[D-rock]

You know, sometimes wonder if Bruce Lee would have been good in something like the UFC or Pride like it is today. A lot of people don't like when I tell them this but I don't think he would. Sure if he trained long and hard enough and changed the way he did some things, I think he could have did well or dominated his weight class. He did have a lot of natural talent, but as far as being able to beat anybody and being the greatest that ever lived like in his movies, I doubt it.

Even the stuff he did, and he was right about the economy of movement and other things, was in some ways still too much art and not enough fighting. That probably goes to show how bad some of the other people were that were completely closed minded about martial arts. That's one of the biggest flaws I think martial arts had until maybe very recently. Fancy moves don't win you fights just likes monster dunks don't necessarily win you basketball games. They look pretty but that's about it. One of the biggest things I've learned about martial arts, especially about how people thought of it at that time is that in a real world fight, a lot of that crap just doesn’t work. As much as people make fun of Chuck Norris and his roundhouse kicks, they are a perfect example of it. Think about it, something like that 1. Doesn't generate as much force as you think. 2. Takes forever to set up and execute relative to other moves. 3. Causes you to actually turn you back on an opponent. I guess in a contest with a lot of rules things like that might be ok, but not for anything else.

Another thing that a lot of the martial arts never consider is grappling. It's rare to see it in the old Gung Fu movies. Even a lot of martial art styles that do have some in it will just focus on how to put somebody into a quick arm bar. They don't teach you how to deal with a situation where both of you are balled up on the floor flailing away. The fact is most fights will eventually go to a grapple if even one person wants it (assuming one or more people doesn't have some sort of weapon). Even a skilled fighter against somebody that doesn't know anything will have a very hard time avoiding a grapple if the other person wants to initiate it. Looking back Lee actually had a lot of flaws for somebody that focused on doing everything to eliminate them. It was like one person said and I can't remember who it was. The UFC and Pride have done more to advance martial arts than everything else in the last 700 years combined. Just because we actually know what stuff works now, and what doesn’t.

 

[Iamforever]

he sang the theme?! :eek: :1orglaugh


i dont think so either d. i think that guy emilielenko would whip his ass in 2 rounds.

 

[Violator79]

i can't believe no one has mentioned Frank Dux, i.e. Bloodsport. That guy was and still is a badass. Also look up C.S. Kim.

 

[calpoon]

I don't think that street fighting and martial arts aren't the same thing. There's a reason that it's called "art." because it's all about technique. Remember that martial arts was not just a style of personal combat, but it was the technique for engaging in warfare. even though weapons have evolved so much,even today there is still a lot of strategy and orchestrating in warfare, probably even so much more so than then- it's not just people running out and randomly attacking each other at will. and that's what martial arts was developed as: moves to be carried out for succesful use in refined combat.

now of course that doesn't really apply so much in modern times and it's more "art" than "martial" technique, but I think that was a lot about what bruce lee was trying to do; to work on moves that were practical and useful in fighting and that could be flexable and adapt to circumstances, while getting rid of flashy moves that were ineffective.

 

[pancha]

Bruce Lee's goal was not to kick your ass in 3 seconds. . . at least not his MAIN goal. His goal was to open the eyes of EVERYONE to see and learn if they so desired, and in the process learn a little something about his culture as well. He is respected and revered for the stand he took against his own people to teach whoever wanted to learn. He went against what was considered the "NORM" which is a major influence in his "style" as well. If you read some of the publishings by either him or his close friends, he never intended to create a "style." His goal was to break away from rules and techniques to that there were less and less limitations on what you could or could not do when engaged in combat. And unfortunately, he did not have the opportunity to continue.