[quote]rrjc5488 wrote:
Yeah me too! Bruce had wayyyyy much more functional muscle. Are you kidding, Flex was weak as hell, like all bodybuilders.[/quote]
Dude, you forgot the [sarcasm] marks! 
Hey, I think Flex is probably the best looking bodybuilder of the latest generation, definitely worthy of an Olympia or two, but if I had to choose between two extremes, Iād go with Bruce Lee. Iām not saying he is the ideal physique for me, but heās my prefered extreme.
And he did kick ass!
Beam me up, Scotty.
Why is it anyoneās goal to be a short, skinny oriental?
These Bruce Lee worshipers are getting on my nerves. Is there a spray we can spray that will geit rid of them? Like giant can of RAID?
[quote]Miserere wrote:
rrjc5488 wrote:
Yeah me too! Bruce had wayyyyy much more functional muscle. Are you kidding, Flex was weak as hell, like all bodybuilders.
Dude, you forgot the [sarcasm] marks!
Hey, I think Flex is probably the best looking bodybuilder of the latest generation, definitely worthy of an Olympia or two, but if I had to choose between two extremes, Iād go with Bruce Lee. Iām not saying he is the ideal physique for me, but heās my prefered extreme.
And he did kick ass![/quote]
I wasnt being sarcastic. [sarcasm]
[quote]rainjack wrote:
Beam me up, Scotty.
Why is it anyoneās goal to be a short, skinny oriental?
These Bruce Lee worshipers are getting on my nerves. Is there a spray we can spray that will geit rid of them? Like giant can of RAID?[/quote]
No, I guess you will have to swat them with a slipper or something.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Krollmonster wrote:
DLboy wrote:
I have the book āExpressing the human bodyā and it has Bruce Leeās stats and measurements in them. Prepare to be disappointed. He had 13 inch arms. When I get home, I will post them.
Yeahā¦ but he had forearms and lats on lock!
Especially lats!
Unless his forearms were somehow larger than his upper arms, how did he have them āon lockā? A 12" forearm isnāt exactly stunning or that impressive. If it was less than that, even moreso. The guy was ripped. That is all he was. He was a legendary fighter, but he wasnāt that developed. You could simply see the muscle he did have because he had very little body fat.[/quote]
Ripped, yes. Wiry, yes.
Strong? Who could be sure? Yes, he could move fast. But did the moves pack real power? Not dissing the man. I doubt few people can attain his Legendary status that quickly. Yes, the Legend looked credible on film. But did those 135 lbs pack any out-of-this-world punch?
I always doubted one could verify the āpound for pound, probably the strongest fighter that ever wasā quote I once read on a trainerās website (4-5 years ago).
[quote]calgarynewf wrote:
The guy was ripped. That is all he was. He was a legendary fighter, but he wasnāt that developed. You could simply see the muscle he did have because he had very little body fat.
Yeah, what the hell is with that shit. I had an ex-girlfriend say that Leonardo DiCaprio was muscular in some shitty movie or other. Some people just canāt tell the difference in muscular and ripped. I dont care when it was in their careers but Leonardo, and Bruce were not big or muscular.
[/quote]
I noticed a lot of younger women (under ~23) tend to like the more slender lookā¦ When they see someone with no fat and a small amount of muscle, they think that looks good (?). They can see some muscle, and that they have a hard body, but at the same time the guys not that intimidating to them. Just my opinion.
FWIW, I was watching some show on tv that listed the 100 celebs with the best bodies. I thought most of the guys were too skinny, AND most of the women were too skinny. Iād bet the average weight for the guys on the list that I saw were under 170.
<<<but was he strong?>>>
Thereās a video of Bruce using his one inch punch on a Rams lineman whoās holding a tackling shiled. Bruce knocked the guy back about four feet.
He also had a custom made 300lb heavy bag that (video proves) he could sidekick with so much force that it swings up within about 2 inches of the ceiling.
Maybe not a Dave Tate or Louie Simmons, but definitely powerful for his sport and his size. He weight lifted and performed isometrics religiously. If you look at āArt of Expressing the Human Bodyā his workouts later in life were insane. His diet, however, (also in the book) was VERY short on calories.
One thing I forgot. Bruce was the first fighter, whether in boxing , wrestling, or martial arts, to implement weightlifting. He also gave birth to MMA. Impressive for a guy in the ignorant '60ās.
[quote]Fenris wrote:
<<<but was he strong?>>>
Thereās a video of Bruce using his one inch punch on a Rams lineman whoās holding a tackling shiled. Bruce knocked the guy back about four feet.
He also had a custom made 300lb heavy bag that (video proves) he could sidekick with so much force that it swings up within about 2 inches of the ceiling.
[/quote]
Thereās a video of me using my 12 inch dick on a Rams cheerleader whoās bent over a tackling shield.
ā
JMB
[quote]Fenris wrote:
<<<but was he strong?>>>
Thereās a video of Bruce using his one inch punch on a Rams lineman whoās holding a tackling shiled. Bruce knocked the guy back about four feet.
ā¦[/quote]
I have a lot of respect for Bruce Lee but that whole one inch punch thing is BS.
He hits someone they sprint backwards and Bruce makes a face. Donāt take it seriously too seriously. It is salesmanship.
[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
Fenris wrote:
<<<but was he strong?>>>
Thereās a video of Bruce using his one inch punch on a Rams lineman whoās holding a tackling shiled. Bruce knocked the guy back about four feet.
ā¦
I have a lot of respect for Bruce Lee but that whole one inch punch thing is BS.
He hits someone they sprint backwards and Bruce makes a face. Donāt take it seriously too seriously. It is salesmanship.[/quote]
Not so much that the sprint backwards, but they are standing not braced for impactā¦I tried a 1 inch punch on my sister; 0 martial arts training and I knocked her back 4 feet 
But the real question isā¦ whereās that video with the cheerleader?
No, Bruce wasnāt incredibly strong. But he was strong for a guy his size. And especially for training in the 60ās, when most athletes shunned weights and the field of strength and conditioning was in infancy, and no one cross trained, I think the guy deserves respect for that.
Pound for pound the best fighter? Well, considering no one aside from Bruce and his students did MMA back then (so there was no one to compete with), hard to say. But as a mixed martial artist and fan of Bruce Leeās, I have to sayā¦
Vanderlai Silva would kick his ass. So would Chuck, Tito, Randy, etc. Fighting has evolved so much, as has the field of sports conditioning. Bruce is no where near the caliber of athletes today. Hell, even the art has evolved. EVERYONE can fight on the ground or on their feet. Everyone trains at a very high (and very scietifically backed) level. Check out Frank Shamrockās training routine for his fight with Tito Ortiz. It blows Bruceās workouts away, and Frank weighed 185lbs (I think he bulked up to close to 200 for that fight, though).
Bruce was a pioneer in his field, though. And could produce a good amount of force for a 135lb guy (mostly thanks to doing Olympic Lifts). But as for best fighter ever? I respect Bruce Lee alot, but not for that reason. Iām more found of his philosophy than anything.
My money would be on Silva or Sakuraba in their prime.
Duh-he was small. Duh-he was pretty impressive. What is the argument? Itās not like he was a bodybuilder or anything.
Bruce was a legend of his time, but he is far outdated as far as MMA today.
He would get smashed on, badly
[quote]BorisTheSpider wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
Fenris wrote:
<<<but was he strong?>>>
Thereās a video of Bruce using his one inch punch on a Rams lineman whoās holding a tackling shiled. Bruce knocked the guy back about four feet.
ā¦
I have a lot of respect for Bruce Lee but that whole one inch punch thing is BS.
He hits someone they sprint backwards and Bruce makes a face. Donāt take it seriously too seriously. It is salesmanship.
Not so much that the sprint backwards, but they are standing not braced for impactā¦I tried a 1 inch punch on my sister; 0 martial arts training and I knocked her back 4 feet
[/quote]
I will try it with my 4 year old.
Hi guys,
Couldnāt resist chiming in here.
I agree that Lee was definetely not a large individual, nor would I consider him very muscular (in comparison with body builders/gymnasts/strongman competitors).
But, as somebody already stated, he did have proportionately large forearms, and lats.
As far as strength and power goes, well, as far as absolute strength, no he was no hercules. But, in proportion to his size, he was very strong.
In the book āThe Art Of Expressing The Human Bodyā there is one of Leeās gym cards from 1965. On it Lee has his exercises written down, and his reps/sets as well. Lee apparently did 3 sets of 8 repetitions with 70-80 lbs for standing barbell curls. Thatās more than 50% of his bodyweight. And this is when he just started lifting weights. Certainly, I wouldnāt consider that weak.
Joe Lewis says that the most impressive thing he ever saw Lee do was to take a 75 lb barbell lift it to shoulder level then press it out to arms length (still at shoulder level) and be able to hold it there for minutes at a time. Try doing that with more than 50% of your body weight sometime.
Also, as far as the 1 inch punch goes, yeah, I bet I could blast my little sister backwards with a punch delivered from 1 inch away as well. But, what was impressive was that Lee could do it to guy who outweighed him by as much as 100 lbs. Thatās a little harder.
He also did this to athletes, notice that it was a Lineman in the video. He also did this to Bob Wall, who was no whimp by any means, and who was not the type to let somebody do something to them, just to fluff up the other guyās ego. Wall was notorious for exposing frauds (he actually met Lee at an exhibition where he exposed a Chinese martial artist), so when he says that Leeās 1 inch punch was the real deal, I tend to believe him.
Good training,
Sentoguy
[quote]Velvet Revolver wrote:
Bruce was a legend of his time, but he is far outdated as far as MMA today.
He would get smashed on, badly[/quote]
Given equal resources, and Lee`s ability to think outside the box, I think his chances would be 50-50.
Theres also the problem associated with stars of the past. Maybe the had as much competition as the ones of today, but it sure didnt look like it. To me, the 70s martial artist stars are Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris and David Carradine. Then there was the 80s ninja media explosion, and now theres 20 world leaders for any known any unknown martial arts style in existence. Globabilization has its advantages.
[quote]MrChill wrote:
Velvet Revolver wrote:
Bruce was a legend of his time, but he is far outdated as far as MMA today.
He would get smashed on, badly
Given equal resources, and Lee`s ability to think outside the box, I think his chances would be 50-50.
Theres also the problem associated with stars of the past. Maybe the had as much competition as the ones of today, but it sure didnt look like it. To me, the 70s martial artist stars are Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris and David Carradine. Then there was the 80s ninja media explosion, and now theres 20 world leaders for any known any unknown martial arts style in existence. Globabilization has its advantages. :)[/quote]
Good post sento. I tend to believe it as well, as I had it applied to me by a 70yr old tai chi man (Dr. Henry Look), and I WAS braced for impact. Felt like my ribs were broken. That and the caliber of people that supported him.
MrChill/Revolver,
Recall that pound for pound means just that. If Bruce were fighting other 135lb MMA fighters, I believe he would beat the piss out of them. Bigger guys, maybe not. But if bruce gained weight to appear at 180lb class, I cannot imagine the kind of power he would be able to apply. He was religious about his training, and obsessed with studying theory and practice. If there was a glaring weakness, judging from the arts it says he studied in his book āTao of Gung Fuā, it would be ground fighting. Frankly, though, I think that if heād been alive for just a little longer, he would have started playing with that.
And yes, he did fight, although most of the matches were challenge matches as opposed to league/sport matches. Also, he originally took MA from Yip Man in hong kong, which was at the time considered somewhat dangerous, as well as having many different MA schools. This was before challenge matches between schools were largely stopped. He also fought challenges in the States.
As a side note, David Carradine is NOT a real martial artist (to my knowledge). He played in Kung Fu because the executives decided that the US wasnāt ready for a full blown asian actor, according to a biography shown (I think) on History Channel. Until Lee got crossover success from the Hong Kong film studios, he was only cast in a minor part in a TV series (if memory serves it was āThe Green Hornetā as Kato), and a minor part in the series āLongstreetā as Li Tsung. He had only one minor US film role in āMarloweā c. 1969 as Winslow Wong.
Bruce Lee did lift weights, but was unfortunately was under the belief of that time that being muscle bound was detrimental. He intentionally avoided size. In fact he lost a serious amount of weight, and thought that meant he was healthy shortly before he died. (The exact circumstances are not known. Marijuana believed to be the cause, but the unexpected loss in weight may have indicated a missed medical problem.)
The one inch power punch is interesting, and some of its presentation does use some trickery. (It is possible he didnāt even know this.) Anyway it was really teaching about some of his principles of punching. His focus seemed to be on speed, and if you have ever seen the results of a superbike hitting a car, you know that speed is a factor.
Also he did focus on reading other people so he could anticipate their attacks, similar to reading a person in poker.
His true skill is not known simply because there is no real documentation of actual fights, that I know of, against skilled opponents.
He was responsible for the creation of the television show Kung-Fu, but ended up loosing the part because of his race. He was pissed off about that, and rightly so.