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[Brutus]

Newsvine - Bruce Lee: The First Ultimate Fighter

The blend of martial arts techniques that has found its fullest expression in the octagon of the Ultimate Fighting Championships is the direct inheritor of a revolution in fighting systems dating back to the late 1960s when Bruce Lee unveiled an integrated combat science he called jeet kune do.

Certainly, there were events where different martial arts styles competed head-to-head prior to Bruce Lee. The Long Beach Nationals, created by Kenpo karate legend Ed Parker was the most famous of these, and it was this event Lee electrified in 1964 when he demonstrated his new art. The nationals were open to all comers, and karateka, kung fu practitioners, and judoka all attended, pitting their skills against each other in open tournament. But Bruce Lee created something new. He was the first to blend the strengths of all the arts of the day into an integrated, scientific fighting system.

“Absorb what is useful, reject the rest” is a Bruce Lee maxim that captures what he accomplished with the creation of jeet kune do. Focusing on results, on combat effectiveness as opposed to mystique or tradition – Lee conducted an in-depth survey of the entire suite of fighting systems. From the popular, like karate, to the obscure and brutal such as Filipino Kali or Indonesian Pentjak Silat, he dissected the styles and absorbed from them their most powerful ‘secret weapons’. Brilliantly, he devised a method for combining the devastating close range punching technique of wing chun kung fu with the elbow strikes of Thai boxing. If this fusion of styles was all he accomplished, it would be a significant precursor to today’s mixed martial arts tradition which sees wrestlers learning to strike and boxers learning to grapple. But in researching his new system, Lee hit upon a fundamental principle that is still not widely understood. He called it range control, and it involves understanding the range at which each ‘tool’ is useful, and even more importantly, how to move from one range to another.

To illustrate, let’s consider the theoretical ‘pure’ JKD attack. The attacker moves through kicking range, from high to low kicks aimed at the knee, followed by hand range techniques: straight punch, jab, uppercut and hook. These strikes nicely flow into a closer-in mode of striking which involves wing chun punches, elbows and knees, coupled with hand trapping. From there, the flow goes directly to stand-up grappling -- arm, wrist and head locks, with strikes still being employed. Next comes a transitionary throw – the simplest example being the classic judo hip throw – that moves the action to the floor, where the grappling arts – jui jitsu, Filipino dumog, Greco-Roman wrestling – all come to the fore, with the finishing move being the finale. His new system – containing this revelation about the use of the various ranges and how to safely move from one to another – was what emboldened Lee enough to make his Long Beach challenge, during which he boasted that he could defeat anyone at the tourney in under a minute.

In making good on that boast, Lee became responsible for the birth of mixed martial arts that day in 1964.

Seeing as the first formal training I ever had was in JKD i felt compelled to post this article. My best friend and I took up an offer from on of our long time buds to go and train w/ him an ever since then I, personally, have been hooked.

Bruce Lee always said "Be like water" meaning your style will only take the shape of your training. He created JKD to encourage fighters to practice fighting as their own personality. He combined many of the current matial arts into one, as he thought were effective.

If you feel that one martial art is more effective than another please post ur opinion.

[Ramma]

Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way round or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend.

I always wondered what Bruce Lee would have thought of MMA. I am sure he would have loved it... but, it would have been nice to see how he played his part in the sport.. commentator, hall of fame, etc..

[Brutus]

Originally Posted by Ramma

I always wondered what Bruce Lee would have thought of MMA. I am sure he would have loved it... but, it would have been nice to see how he played his part in the sport.. commentator, hall of fame, etc..

I think he would have embraced it considering it combines all aspects of martial arts into one. that was his basic idea when he taught JKD.

If you wanna see a good example of Bruce doing his think check out "Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do" on DVD. Chuck Norris is one of his students and demonstrates a lot of the different strikes. Danny Asanto is also a contributor to the discussions. Its a good view if you can find it.

[Texasboyballin]

Awesome Read, I spread 2 much Rep, I'll get u though.

Bruce Lee the 1st true Ulitmae Fighter.

[atj-lucko]

Bruce Lee the Godfather of modern day Martial arts, but not MMA.
He never cross trained in BJJ.

If he was alive today I think he would hate MMA, because like most Karate/ Kung-Fu practitioners that train only in standing striking, knowing that they have wasted their life in training in a martial art that has no practical use in a fight with a BJJ practitioner.

If he was alive it be great to see a Rickson Gracie versus Bruce Lee fight although it would last a minute with Rickson subbing Lee.

[Brutus]

Originally Posted by atj-lucko

Bruce Lee the Godfather of modern day Martial arts, but not MMA.
He never cross trained in BJJ.

If he was alive today I think he would hate MMA, because like most Karate/ Kung-Fu practitioners that train only in standing striking, knowing that they have wasted their life in training in a martial art that has no practical use in a fight with a BJJ practitioner.

If he was alive it be great to see a Rickson Gracie versus Bruce Lee fight although it would last a minute with Rickson subbing Lee.

you're right, the fight would be less than a min but Bruce would end up KO'in Rckson in about 5 seconds. No way Rickson could keep up w/ those strikes even if he went for the takedown.

[Punk Ass]

He was the greatest. I would think Chuck Norris would have jumped on the MMA bandwagon but I think he is so stuck in his ways that he think most people just want to see stand up. I do respect Chuck though, as he is also one of the inovators of MMA.

IMO, right now, the closest thing to Bruce Lee is Cung Le. IMO he is so far advanced in the standup and takedown game it's rediculous. I just wish he got into it at a younger age.

I would love to see a Wing Chun practitioner in MMA also. I think many clinches would end up in KOs.

[jlruthven84]

Originally Posted by Hunchbacked Lemur

you're right, the fight would be less than a min but Bruce would end up KO'in Rckson in about 5 seconds. No way Rickson could keep up w/ those strikes even if he went for the takedown.

Right on. Any guy that has to slow down his movements for the camera so that they can be seen with the naked eye is about eighteen fucking levels about anyone else.

[AngryJohnny]

Originally Posted by atj-lucko

Bruce Lee the Godfather of modern day Martial arts, but not MMA.
He never cross trained in BJJ.

If he was alive today I think he would hate MMA, because like most Karate/ Kung-Fu practitioners that train only in standing striking, knowing that they have wasted their life in training in a martial art that has no practical use in a fight with a BJJ practitioner.

If he was alive it be great to see a Rickson Gracie versus Bruce Lee fight although it would last a minute with Rickson subbing Lee.

I'm a big, big fan of BJJ fighters though I'd hardly consider Karate or Kung-Fu a waste. I believe there are skill sets in both that can be useful. Not everyone who encounter combat is going to experience it in a cage or ring. There may be situations where tying up your body trying to grapple with one guy will leave you wide open to getting your head split open by his buddy with a whiskey bottle/etc. Anyway I see what you're saying, and I do agree the BJJ guy would probably win the majority of sanctioned bouts, but Karate, Kung Fu, and especially Lee's influence stretches further than just MMA matches alone.

[Punk Ass]

Originally Posted by Hunchbacked Lemur

you're right, the fight would be less than a min but Bruce would end up KO'in Rckson in about 5 seconds. No way Rickson could keep up w/ those strikes even if he went for the takedown.

I wouldnt get too caught up in the mistique dude. Bruce was only 130lbs. The laws of physics applies to everyone, Bruce couldn't carry that much power fighting someone much bigger than him.

BTW, I heard Bruce did train BJJ or some type of grappling and you can see it in his movies as he subbed Chuck Norris and Kereem Abdul Jabar.

I think Rickson would win because he was so much more schooled in the art of BJJ than anyone at that time who didn't have Gracie in their name. Bruce Lee wasn't a wrestler so he didn't have good takedown D and Rickson was so much stronger and he was also a pro fighter, something Lee admitedly never really trained for. His muscle memory, fight experience, and lock of training all would have played a big factor.

Rickson has beaten the who's who of all disaplines.