Bruce Lee and His Physical Fitness

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
21

The problem is most of these come from anecdotes and hearsay.

I call bullshit on this one.

I looked it up and found it came from “Bruce Lee: The Art of Expressing the Human Body” page 108, which I found I could preview on amazon. It came from the first hand account of george lee, his old friend, who said he saw bruce do 50 one arm chins, 50 wide grip chins, and 50 dips.

Ignoring for a second that being able to do 50 one arm chins would mean he could do hundreds of pullups, perhaps more, this story seems improbable.

The only guy I have ever heard of to do such a thing was Jasper Benincasa. This was a guy who essentially dedicated his training career to strength feats on the pullup bar, and is reported to have done 50 one arm pullups (25 each arm) at age 41. Jasper had excellent genetics, solid knowledge, and spent his years of training on little else. Are we to believe bruce lee could do this as well?

22

[quote]Racarnus wrote:
The problem is most of these come from anecdotes and hearsay.

Lee performed 50 reps of one-arm chin-ups.

I call bullshit on this one.

I looked it up and found it came from “Bruce Lee: The Art of Expressing the Human Body” page 108, which I found I could preview on amazon. It came from the first hand account of george lee, his old friend, who said he saw bruce do 50 one arm chins, 50 wide grip chins, and 50 dips.

Ignoring for a second that being able to do 50 one arm chins would mean he could do hundreds of pullups, perhaps more, this story seems improbable.

The only guy I have ever heard of to do such a thing was Jasper Benincasa. This was a guy who essentially dedicated his training career to strength feats on the pullup bar, and is reported to have done 50 one arm pullups (25 each arm) at age 41. Jasper had excellent genetics, solid knowledge, and spent his years of training on little else. Are we to believe bruce lee could do this as well?[/quote]

If they are talking about the one arm type of pullups where you grab your own arm, and therefore are not really doing it with one arm, then I’d buy it. He was so light he had to have a crazy weight to strength ratio. All those different types of pullups in a row though? I doubt that.

I have a couple of BL books from that series you’re talking about by John Little. If you are a fan, then they are gold because there are a lot of first hand accounts, scanned hand-written notes, sketches , etc. They are not good for working out necessarily but are great for FYI behind the scenes info.

The most interesting one of the series for me was the nutrition section (don’t have it handy, packed away somewhere). I remember that for his time (late 60’s and early 70’s) the nutrition info seemed way off. I know he wasn’t a bodybuilder, but some of his nutrition beliefs were way out there (I’m assuming that what was in the book was actually what he ate, who knows). I wish I had it on hand so I could give an example or two.

What always interested me about BL wasn’t his abs or his side kicks and one-inch punches. It was how a skinny immigrant could overcome so many things to become so popular over here. Granted some of it may be fallout from the James Dean “died young so seems so much better in potential than he would have actually been” but either way, it’s inspiring to me.

23

Bruce Lee was very cool, no doubt about it, but that list is just horseshit. I mean come on. A three-foot strike in .05 seconds? I was watching Sport Science one day, and they showed a hockey goalie stopping a puck in .1 seconds, and it was blinding. You think Lee could move twice that fast? Unlikely.

I shouldn’t even have to comment on the one about throwing rice into the air and catching it with chopsticks.

24

[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
btbnashua wrote:
The following list are more of the physical feats that are documented and supported by reliable sources.
â¿¢ Lee could lift his leg and fart a fart that could drive back a 275lb opponent 150 yards away
â¿¢ In a speed demonstration, Lee could vanish from a restaurant table within seconds of the waitress presenting the bill, leaving his companions to sit in awe
â¿¢ Lee could lie on a couch and while flipping through old issues of Black Belt perform push-ups using only his mind
â¿¢ When Lee was very young he was able to hold his breath for 60 seconds or longer when he really wanted something.
â¿¢ Lee could throw a handful of M & Ms into the air and then using his tongue catch only the green ones as they fell
â¿¢ Lee could perform one-hand push-ups while using someone elseâ¿¿s hand
â¿¢ Lee once performed 150 reps of jumping jacks without jock support
â¿¢ Lee could bench press for reps a 125lb barbell while having a chopstick shoved up each nostril.
â¿¢ Lee could break wooden boards with his six inch dick.
â¿¢ Lee performed a secret and ancient Chinese front thrust move while training with a young Ann Margaret, and broke her hymen.
â¿¢ Lee could thrust his fingers through unopened steel cans of Coca-Cola and break his fingers.

Hysterical![/quote]

Couldn’t he also slam a revolving door? Lead a horse to water AND make it drink?

I know the guy was a freak who was in absolutely incredible shape, but some of these claims are ridiculous.

I take nothing away from the man, but if Bruce were alive today, I bet he would laugh at these himself.

25

[quote]MytchBucanan wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
btbnashua wrote:
The following list are more of the physical feats that are documented and supported by reliable sources.
â¿¢ Lee could lift his leg and fart a fart that could drive back a 275lb opponent 150 yards away
â¿¢ In a speed demonstration, Lee could vanish from a restaurant table within seconds of the waitress presenting the bill, leaving his companions to sit in awe
â¿¢ Lee could lie on a couch and while flipping through old issues of Black Belt perform push-ups using only his mind
â¿¢ When Lee was very young he was able to hold his breath for 60 seconds or longer when he really wanted something.
â¿¢ Lee could throw a handful of M & Ms into the air and then using his tongue catch only the green ones as they fell
â¿¢ Lee could perform one-hand push-ups while using someone elseâ¿¿s hand
â¿¢ Lee once performed 150 reps of jumping jacks without jock support
â¿¢ Lee could bench press for reps a 125lb barbell while having a chopstick shoved up each nostril.
â¿¢ Lee could break wooden boards with his six inch dick.
â¿¢ Lee performed a secret and ancient Chinese front thrust move while training with a young Ann Margaret, and broke her hymen.
â¿¢ Lee could thrust his fingers through unopened steel cans of Coca-Cola and break his fingers.

Hysterical!

Couldn’t he also slam a revolving door? Lead a horse to water AND make it drink?

I know the guy was a freak who was in absolutely incredible shape, but some of these claims are ridiculous.

I take nothing away from the man, but if Bruce were alive today, I bet he would laugh at these himself.
[/quote]

dude, those were jokes.

26

[quote]Der Candy wrote:
MytchBucanan wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
btbnashua wrote:
The following list are more of the physical feats that are documented and supported by reliable sources.
â¿¢ Lee could lift his leg and fart a fart that could drive back a 275lb opponent 150 yards away
â¿¢ In a speed demonstration, Lee could vanish from a restaurant table within seconds of the waitress presenting the bill, leaving his companions to sit in awe
â¿¢ Lee could lie on a couch and while flipping through old issues of Black Belt perform push-ups using only his mind
â¿¢ When Lee was very young he was able to hold his breath for 60 seconds or longer when he really wanted something.
â¿¢ Lee could throw a handful of M & Ms into the air and then using his tongue catch only the green ones as they fell
â¿¢ Lee could perform one-hand push-ups while using someone elseâ¿¿s hand
â¿¢ Lee once performed 150 reps of jumping jacks without jock support
â¿¢ Lee could bench press for reps a 125lb barbell while having a chopstick shoved up each nostril.
â¿¢ Lee could break wooden boards with his six inch dick.
â¿¢ Lee performed a secret and ancient Chinese front thrust move while training with a young Ann Margaret, and broke her hymen.
â¿¢ Lee could thrust his fingers through unopened steel cans of Coca-Cola and break his fingers.

Hysterical!

Couldn’t he also slam a revolving door? Lead a horse to water AND make it drink?

I know the guy was a freak who was in absolutely incredible shape, but some of these claims are ridiculous.

I take nothing away from the man, but if Bruce were alive today, I bet he would laugh at these himself.

dude, those were jokes.[/quote]

I know, I was referring to the OP. I liked Zap’s “facts”, so I added my own.

27

[quote]MytchBucanan wrote:
Der Candy wrote:
MytchBucanan wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
btbnashua wrote:
The following list are more of the physical feats that are documented and supported by reliable sources.
â¿¢ Lee could lift his leg and fart a fart that could drive back a 275lb opponent 150 yards away
â¿¢ In a speed demonstration, Lee could vanish from a restaurant table within seconds of the waitress presenting the bill, leaving his companions to sit in awe
â¿¢ Lee could lie on a couch and while flipping through old issues of Black Belt perform push-ups using only his mind
â¿¢ When Lee was very young he was able to hold his breath for 60 seconds or longer when he really wanted something.
â¿¢ Lee could throw a handful of M & Ms into the air and then using his tongue catch only the green ones as they fell
â¿¢ Lee could perform one-hand push-ups while using someone elseâ¿¿s hand
â¿¢ Lee once performed 150 reps of jumping jacks without jock support
â¿¢ Lee could bench press for reps a 125lb barbell while having a chopstick shoved up each nostril.
â¿¢ Lee could break wooden boards with his six inch dick.
â¿¢ Lee performed a secret and ancient Chinese front thrust move while training with a young Ann Margaret, and broke her hymen.
â¿¢ Lee could thrust his fingers through unopened steel cans of Coca-Cola and break his fingers.

Hysterical!

Couldn’t he also slam a revolving door? Lead a horse to water AND make it drink?

I know the guy was a freak who was in absolutely incredible shape, but some of these claims are ridiculous.

I take nothing away from the man, but if Bruce were alive today, I bet he would laugh at these himself.

dude, those were jokes.

I know, I was referring to the OP. I liked Zap’s “facts”, so I added my own.

[/quote]

They were btbnashua’s. I wish I could take credit.

28

[quote]Stronghold wrote:
Dave Tate ate Bruce Lee with some fries, a milkshake, and 2 boxes of oreos.[/quote]

But not for the protein content!

29

Oh Proffessor X we need you!!!

30

[quote]maxblood wrote:
bruce lee also starred in gay porn in the begining of his career.[/quote]

and how do YOU know this?

31

I wish Bruce Lee was still alive to compete in MMA so he could get his ass handed to him on live TV.

32

[quote]Heliotrope wrote:
I wish Bruce Lee was still alive to compete in MMA so he could get his ass handed to him on live TV.[/quote]

If he was alive today, he would be 67 years old or do you mean you wish he were alive today but as a 32 year old in his prime? Please, be clear when you’re posting nonsense. Thanks.

33

Maybe they were 1-arm croc chins.

34

[quote]undeadlift wrote:
Lee performed 50 reps of one-arm chin-ups.

Maybe they were 1-arm croc chins.[/quote]

waah waah waah!

35

[quote]undeadlift wrote:
Lee performed 50 reps of one-arm chin-ups.

Maybe they were 1-arm croc chins.[/quote]

What?

36

[quote]medevac wrote:
Racarnus wrote:
The problem is most of these come from anecdotes and hearsay.

Lee performed 50 reps of one-arm chin-ups.

I call bullshit on this one.

I looked it up and found it came from “Bruce Lee: The Art of Expressing the Human Body” page 108, which I found I could preview on amazon. It came from the first hand account of george lee, his old friend, who said he saw bruce do 50 one arm chins, 50 wide grip chins, and 50 dips.

Ignoring for a second that being able to do 50 one arm chins would mean he could do hundreds of pullups, perhaps more, this story seems improbable.

The only guy I have ever heard of to do such a thing was Jasper Benincasa. This was a guy who essentially dedicated his training career to strength feats on the pullup bar, and is reported to have done 50 one arm pullups (25 each arm) at age 41. Jasper had excellent genetics, solid knowledge, and spent his years of training on little else. Are we to believe bruce lee could do this as well?

If they are talking about the one arm type of pullups where you grab your own arm, and therefore are not really doing it with one arm, then I’d buy it.
[/quote]

Ah, that was probably it. This is very buyable.

37

i’m sure this is gonna get lost here, but i saw a documentary about him and in his autopsy report listed several drugs including winstrol. that might have helped a bit

38

[quote]nikolo wrote:
Heliotrope wrote:
I wish Bruce Lee was still alive to compete in MMA so he could get his ass handed to him on live TV.

If he was alive today, he would be 67 years old or do you mean you wish he were alive today but as a 32 year old in his prime? Please, be clear when you’re posting nonsense. Thanks.

[/quote]

Watching a 67 year old competing might be nice for a cruel joke but no I meant I wish he had been alive in his prime during the era of MMA.

Then he could get his ass kicked like every other champion that competes in competitive fighting and all you idiot fan boys would quit believing the nonsense that he was some demigod.

39

The reason Bruce wasn’t alive during the “era of MMA” as you put it, is because MMA today is the direct consequence of his work. Dana white, UFC president, called him the father of MMA. The idea to mix and match the bests of each style came from Bruce Lee. He was pioneering a concept ahead of his time. It is generally understood that we wouldn’t have MMA as it is today without him.

Why does it matter if he would have lost 40 years in the future fighting an art that continues to evolve even today? Take any top guy today and throw him 40 years in the future and he would lose. Besides, even now, everyone loses in UFC. There are no gods.

40

[quote]Racarnus wrote:
The reason Bruce wasn’t alive during the “era of MMA” as you put it, is because MMA today is the direct consequence of his work. Dana white, UFC president, called him the father of MMA. The idea to mix and match the bests of each style came from Bruce Lee. He was pioneering a concept ahead of his time. It is generally understood that we wouldn’t have MMA as it is today without him.
[/quote]

You should really stop talking unless you have an idea of what the hell you are talking about. This is the type of revisionist bullshit history Lee-ophiles spew that makes everyone hate him.

MMA predates the small Asian actor you speak of by a few thousand years. The Gracies were fighting before Bruce Lee was even born. Dana White is a mongering businessmen who will try to attach his name to anything in pop culture so what he says is to be taken with a large grain of salt and a shot of whiskey.