Funny
It's funny how one's words can be so twisted out of proportion.
1. I did not say Bruce Lee would not fare well in MMA just cos he can't eye gouge in a ring match. I made a comparison with him and Muhammad Ali, LOGICALLY, based on MY OPINION (we're entitled to our opinions), that with gloves on, without using kicks, he WOULD lose to Ali. And that is ONLY an OPINION. If you've ever fought or sparred with anyone for real, you'd know how different it is to strike someone with a glove on and without a glove on. I'm just guessing that since we're all guys, we'd definitely have had fights here and there in our younger days, so we would know the difference.
By power comparison, with gloves on, it'd take ALOT for Bruce Lee to knock Ali down or even slow him down. Without gloves on, it's pure bone and knuckle against flesh. Not saying it's a guaranteed win, but he does at least stand a chance.
2. The other things I brought up about him being able to fight, were NOT of my own words. They're well documented in the countless books I've read, websites I've stumbled upon, and masters I've trained with. These masters are from different styles, but they only have great awe for him. It takes ALOT to convince someone from a different style to even BEGIN to accept that someone else is good, let alone be in awe of him.
3. Erm, I don't recall myself disagreeing with MMA or being against slamming someone on the ground if it was called for.
4. I DID NOT say Bruce Lee was a godlike fighter or the best in the world. I am only disputing claims like "Bruce Lee can't fight because he has never entered the ring". I did not say he could beat Lesnar, Fedor, Hulk Hogan or the Ultimate Warrior. I only said the guy COULD fight, because he had public witnesses, many of whom were not related to him. It basically took him seconds to defeat or nullify an opponent, whether it was a karate black belt or heavyweight boxing champ much bigger than him. In my opinion, it takes ALOT more skill to nullify someone without having to hurt him, than actually having to knock someone out to win.
5. He did NOT need to enter the ring to prove his worth. Ring champions FLOCKED to him for LESSONS. And that was because of his STREET reputation.
There ARE some masters around who, when Bruce was alive, said only good things about him, but when he died, only tried to talk Bruce's skills down. So it's all up to you to make sense of it all.
To me, it's simple. Why are some guitarists so good, while some simply suck? Why do some actors suck, while others are freaking great? Why are some martial artists only average, while some are amazing?
It all boils down to PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. If you read his training schedule, you'd see NO ONE, not even Manny Pacquiao, trained as hard as him. Also, besides training, Bruce SPARRED plenty. Plenty, plenty, plenty. And he sparred with his students who were competitors themselves, street brawler types, boxers, japanese arts, etc. Some were even instructor or master-level themselves! You can't say he wasn't exposed to enough styles. And from what I've read and discussed with past instructors, his sparring were all like real fights - intensity, power and emotional levels were always high. Dan Inosanto even mentioned how after a sparring session, the grills on their head guards would be DENTED in, and Bruce wore gloves!
Ta.
Alex