Bruce Lee and Martial Arts

[markulous]

I was reading some posts and just wondered what everyones opinion on Bruce Lee was. Do you think he has affected your Martial Art at all? Is he someone you look up to or someone you don't give a rats @$$ about?

To me he is definately a role model and someone I can learn a lot from. He is not a god or anything close to that. He was just one man that actually tried to help the world around him. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't be able to practice Kung Fu and other arts. Also I think what he tried to teach is being forgotton by most. He tried to show that there are no secrets in martial arts. He tried to show people that there are no set styles and no set stances. Yet all the time I see people ignoring that because they are too set in their ways. Just my thoughts.

 

[Black Bear]

He helped a lot of people progress. Great minds of today stand on his shoulders and see farther as a result. I was not personally very influenced by the technical stuff he taught. More like his thinking affected the climate of thought in American MA, and this has had an effect on how most of us train.

I looked through my old Tao of JKD a year or two ago, and realized that EVERYTHING in it was true. But I could never understand those truths by reading it in the book. (I DID read it a long time ago, and it hardly helped me.)

"Do not walk in the paths of men of old; seek what they sought." - Basho

 

[Chicago Green Dragon]

He was one of the first people i saw in martial art films. I believe he was a great martial artist and martial arts actor.

I do believe his training and philosophy is something everything can use to benefit from no matter what style or art they practice. I also believe he was definitely someone who will be remembered and respected for all time for the things he has left behind in his short lived life. I wish he would have lived longer but i think what he has left behind will also help people in the marital arts world if they choose to see it.

In memory of Bruce Lee

:asian:


Chicago Green Dragon

:asian:

 

[MichiganTKD]

I won't deny that technically he was very good. He absorbed techniques and ideas like a sponge. However, he also seemed to be angry and antagonistic all the time. I think he constantly felt he had something to prove. Not a healthy way to go through life. Also, because of Bruce Lee, I think many people got the impression that it is okay to study a little of different styles rather than staying with one style, understanding it, and perhaps adding to it in time. As a result, we have all these students who feel that they should study TKD, Kung Fu, Karate, BJJ, and Aikido simultaneously because "Bruce Lee said it was okay". This, I think, leads to a very shallow understanding of Martial Arts .
Certain aspects of what he said are useful, but he is not a major influence in my training. I certainly don't watch Bruce Lee films for anything more than entertainment.

 

[Tony]

I have definately influenced by Bruce Lee! He was a great man, as well as being a phenomenal Martial Artist he was an intelligent person. Its because of him I began stuying Martial Arts. I have all his fighting methods books and have read Tao of JKD. Its a pity he died so young when he still had so much to teach us!

 

[Jason Davis]

http://www.myodynamics.com/articles/bruce.html

 

[Gary Crawford]

Bruce Lee was what got me interested in MA in the early seventies,but I didn't really start learning what he taught until the 90's(philosicaly).Bruce Lee films caused the MA explosion of the seventies and still continues to influence people to start training.I think it takes time to begin to understand what he meant by a lot of things he said.For example:I started training in jkd four years ago and started reading the tao,I didn't get much out of it then.After the first two years,I went back to reading it and started to understand a little more.I keep going back to it these days and always find something that all of a sudden makes sense.Bruce Lee was often quoted in saying that forms are useless.In a recent BB mag interview with George Dillman,Dillman said what Bruce said to him was "You don't need forms,I don't need forms,but to learn to write,you first have to learn the alphabet,then you make words,then you make sentences.Learning martial arts is the same".I think that statement implies that everyone needs forms to learn basics at least.Another thing that IN MY OPINION some people misunderstand is when Bruce talked about learning different styles.Bruce had a "base" style of Win Chun,then began to explore other styles.If you notice the techniques he took from other styles,they were used as an extension of Win Chun and later became jkd.I don't know if Bruce would agree with me or not,but I think it's important to learn a "base" style first,then grow from there.Just my opinion,please don't flame me if someone dissagrees.