the greatest martial artist of all time?

[lucifersdad]

just wondering on your thoughts.
iwas having a debate with some of my friends and we were disscussing who we thought the greatest martial artist ever was.

we came up with greats like bohridarhma, miyamoto musashi, mas oyama etc. etc.
i was just wondering what you guys thought?
and i know this one is going to be contriversial.

 

[MartialArtist]

I don't think anyone can argue this thing... Count Dante. His website is down for the moment, but he absolutely destroyed everyone.




Seriously though, I really can't say who's the best martial artist. There were many skilled people who were great in their own respect.

 

[celtic bhoy]

I believe there is many great men and women within martial arts.

I'm not so sure its down to the skill they have, it's more to do with the legacy they leave.

 

[lucifersdad]

thats my point!
for everyone we could think of we could think of a reason why they arnt worthy of that title!
maybe we should think of a marking scheme to give it some perspective, any ideas?

 

[Wmarden]

It is kind of like when they asked my sensei if he could take another black belt. This was in our reserve deputy class. Basically he said something to the effect you won't see a black belt fight another black belt in a real fight. So who is better in that sense is kind of hard to determine.

 

[chaosomega]

I hate to be cliched... But I'd have to say that good ol' Bruce Lee is one of the the greatest martial artists of all time.

 

[lucifersdad]

i knew it wouldnt take long!
bruce lee, now he was a great martial artist, im not debating that but is it just me that thinks the term "not the best, but the first" springs to mind?
yes he brought martial arts to the masses but dont you think there are people more worthy of the title greatest martial artist?
yes bruce lee's hand speed was incredible, but shouldnt we credit yip man with that? or am i being to narrow minded?

 

[MartialArtist]

Originally posted by lucifersdad
i knew it wouldnt take long!
bruce lee, now he was a great martial artist, im not debating that but is it just me that thinks the term "not the best, but the first" springs to mind?
yes he brought martial arts to the masses but dont you think there are people more worthy of the title greatest martial artist?
yes bruce lee's hand speed was incredible, but shouldnt we credit yip man with that? or am i being to narrow minded?

Not at all, you are not being narrow minded.

I have a lot of people in mind who could have beaten Bruce Lee in a fight, but few were more revolutionary than he was. Without a doubt, he is the most revolutionary man in the 20th century IMO.

 

[jefroman]

Originally posted by MartialArtist
I have a lot of people in mind who could have beaten Bruce Lee in a fight

Not that I disagree with what you say, but who do you have in mind?

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[MartialArtist]

Lee never was able to take on old Yip Man. Yes, given before Lee went on with his ideas, Yip Man at his old age could've beaten Lee.

Others outside? I think Mas Oyama and Han Jae Ji are two. Others can list a few of who they think can beat him. I think all of you know who Mas is, and Han Jae Ji is the person Lee fights in the Game of Death, the guy with the gold belt. Of course, movies are movies, and they weren't meant to really portray combat as it really was although Lee did a better job than most. IMO, Rickson would give Lee a tough time. Will Rickson destroy Lee? Possibly, or maybe not, maybe Lee might win, but no doubt Lee will have lots of trouble.

 

[KenpoDragon]

Originally posted by MartialArtist
Lee never was able to take on old Yip Man. Yes, given before Lee went on with his ideas, Yip Man at his old age could've beaten Lee.

Others outside? I think Mas Oyama and Han Jae Ji are two. Others can list a few of who they think can beat him. I think all of you know who Mas is, and Han Jae Ji is the person Lee fights in the Game of Death, the guy with the gold belt. Of course, movies are movies, and they weren't meant to really portray combat as it really was although Lee did a better job than most. IMO, Rickson would give Lee a tough time. Will Rickson destroy Lee? Possibly, or maybe not, maybe Lee might win, but no doubt Lee will have lots of trouble.

PLEASE....tell me that you are not referring to Rickson Gracie!!!! If you are, then what about Wallid Ismail, or Kazushi Sakuraba??? Both of which destroyed the Gracies. All of the, this guy would beat that guy stuff is ridiculous. We don't know who would beat who, because they never did fight. All of that is simply opinion, not fact.We would not be able to say who would beat who, because it never happened, Bruce Lee has been gone for many years, when he was alive Rickson Gracie was just a kid. I'm pretty sure Bruce would have destroyed him. Who is the greatest martial artist??? The answer is "Man". From the beginning of time "men" have created more efficient ways of killing each other. Now we don't even have to look at our opponents or even be near them, we can shoot missiles at them from across the sea. To credit one man with being the "greatest" would not be fair. After all if you say that Rickson Gracie is the greatest, then what about his father??? Didn't his father teach him, wouldn't that make his father better??? What about the guy who taught his father, wouldn't that make him better than him??? So on and so on, it would never end. The only way to do it is if we could somehow resurrect the dead martial artists and make it so they were able to fight at their prime (age,weight,strength,speed,knowledge) and put them against the present "great" martial artists, and have them all fight against each other until somebody was left standing. Oh wait....I forgot somebody already did that, it's called MORTAL KOMBAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (CUE THE MUSIC)

:karate: :mst: :samurai: :ninja: :boxing: :duel:

 

[KenpoDragon]

Originally posted by MartialArtist
I don't think anyone can argue this thing... Count Dante. His website is down for the moment, but he absolutely destroyed everyone.





Seriously though, I really can't say who's the best martial artist. There were many skilled people who were great in their own respect.

I SERIOUSLY hope that you were joking about the Count Dante thing. Other than that I agree.:asian:

 

[lucifersdad]

ha ha, im glad someone mentioned him!
not so much becouse he is a "great" just that it made me laugh when he beat royce gracie in the brazilian championships a few years ago, but at least royce kept is "thing" of not being tapped out since he got his black belt! lol
i personally would have tapped, i think its less embarrising than being choked uncouncious!

no disrespect meant to mr. gracie or any of his fans:asian:

 

[MartialArtist]

Originally posted by KenpoDragon
PLEASE....tell me that you are not referring to Rickson Gracie!!!! If you are, then what about Wallid Ismail, or Kazushi Sakuraba??? Both of which destroyed the Gracies. All of the, this guy would beat that guy stuff is ridiculous. We don't know who would beat who, because they never did fight. All of that is simply opinion, not fact.We would not be able to say who would beat who, because it never happened, Bruce Lee has been gone for many years, when he was alive Rickson Gracie was just a kid. I'm pretty sure Bruce would have destroyed him. Who is the greatest martial artist??? The answer is "Man". From the beginning of time "men" have created more efficient ways of killing each other. Now we don't even have to look at our opponents or even be near them, we can shoot missiles at them from across the sea. To credit one man with being the "greatest" would not be fair. After all if you say that Rickson Gracie is the greatest, then what about his father??? Didn't his father teach him, wouldn't that make his father better??? What about the guy who taught his father, wouldn't that make him better than him??? So on and so on, it would never end. The only way to do it is if we could somehow resurrect the dead martial artists and make it so they were able to fight at their prime (age,weight,strength,speed,knowledge) and put them against the present "great" martial artists, and have them all fight against each other until somebody was left standing. Oh wait....I forgot somebody already did that, it's called MORTAL KOMBAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (CUE THE MUSIC)

:karate: :mst: :samurai: :ninja: :boxing: :duel:

Come on now, I don't think Rickson ever went up against Sak. Sak did go up against quite a few Gracies, but never Rickson. Besides, Rickson is one of the only Gracies that I personally like. If you know the man, read his interviews, and such, you will see that he is more open to things, and a traditionalist at heart. He doesn't say that his art is better than yours, or etc. He gives respect, and he earns respect.

Lee might destroy many of the Gracies, but sooner or later, he will get beaten by at least one of them... Just mathematical probability and logic. He does have the potential to beat every one of them, but will he do that consistantly?

 

[MartialArtist]

Originally posted by lucifersdad
ha ha, im glad someone mentioned him!
not so much becouse he is a "great" just that it made me laugh when he beat royce gracie in the brazilian championships a few years ago, but at least royce kept is "thing" of not being tapped out since he got his black belt! lol
i personally would have tapped, i think its less embarrising than being choked uncouncious!

no disrespect meant to mr. gracie or any of his fans:asian:

Royce has more of an ego than the rest... Well, other than that one Gracie who was related to the family in a more distant manner who analyzed Sak and said he knew his weaknesses and all that... Guess how that ended up.