I’ve been here along time and really don’t post much. I’m a fly on the wall just watching, reading and learning. The Bruce Lee Battles annoy me and I’ve been in a few discussions about them here on T-Nation. I like him because what a deep spritual person he was… I would of really enjoyed speaking with him.
If you are 30 or older then you can relate to this topic with some knowledge unless you really know your stuff. So here you go!!! What other famous fighters and people have said about The Man.
Quotes about Lee
When I was having dinner with Chuck [Norris] I did ask him: “If you and Bruce would be in a real fight to death, who would win?”, and he said without thinking: “Bruce of course. Nobody can beat him”.
John Benn, in audio commentary on DVD of The Way of the Dragon (US title: Return of the Dragon).
Bruce and I were training out on my patio one day, we were using this giant bag for side kicks, I guess it weighed about 150lbs. Bruce looked at it and just went Bang, it shot up out into the lawn about 15ft in the air, it then busted in the middle. It was filled with little bits and pieces of rag, we were picking up bits of rag for months.
James Coburn
I wouldn’t have put a dime on anyone to beat Bruce Lee in a real confrontation. Bruce Lee was the best street fighter I ever saw, even to this very day, and not just pound for pound �?? but against anyone in a real fight.
James Demile in a Temple of the Unknown interview (10 April 2001)
Yes, I was on the receiving end of his side kick. It was like getting hit with a truck.
Leo Fong
When he could do push ups on his thumbs and push ups with 250lbs on his back, he moved on to other exercises.
Jesse Glover
The power that Lee was capable of instantly generating was absolutely frightening to his fellow martial artists, especially his sparring partners, and his speed was equally intimidating. We timed him with an electric timer once, and Bruce’s quickest movements were around five hundredths of a second, his slowest were around eight hundredths.
This was punching from a relaxed position with his hands down at his sides from a distance between 18-24 inches. Not only was he amazingly quick, but he could read you too. He could pick up on small subtle things that you were getting ready to do and then he’d just shut you down.
Jesse Glover
Bruce was gravitating more and more toward weight training as he would use the weighted wall pulleys and do series upon series with them. He’d also grab one of the old rusty barbells that littered the floor at the YMCA and would roll it up and down his forearms, which is no small feat when you consider that the barbell weighed 70lbs.
Jesse Glover
There’s no doubt in my mind that if Bruce Lee had gone into pro boxing, he could easily have ranked in the top three in the lightweight division or junior-welterweight division.
Dan Inosanto, as quoted in “The Truth of Boxing : A Critical Look at Bruce Lee’s Hand Skills” by Bob Birchland in Black Belt Magazine (November 2007). pg. 93)
The biggest problem in designing equipment for Bruce was that he’d go through it so damn fast. I had to reinforce his wooden dummy with automobile parts so he could train on it without breaking it. I had started to build him a mobile dummy that could actually attack and retreat to better simulate “live” combat, sadly Bruce died before the machine was built. It would have been strung up by big high-tension cables that I was going to connect between two posts, one on either side of his backyard.
The reason for the machine was simply because no one could stand up to his full force punches and kicks, Bruce’s strength and skill had evolved to a point where he had to fight machines.
Herb Jackson
He never trained in a gym, he thought he could concentrate better at home, so he worked out on his patio. He had a small weight set, something like a standard 100lb cast-iron set. In addition, he had a 310lb Olympic barbell set, a bench press and some dumbbells, both solid and adjustable.
Herb Jackson
Bruce used to beat all other comers at this type of wrist wrestling and even joked that he wanted to be world champion at it.
Herb Jackson
The slender, swift Bruce Lee was the Fred Astaire of martial arts, and many of the fights that could be merely brutal come across as lightning-fast choreography.
Pauline Kael reviewing Enter the Dragon, from 5001 Nights at the Movies (1982)
Bruce, well I can basically say this. I have been around a lot of great martial arts fighters. Worked out with them. Fought them in tournaments. In my opinion Bruce Lee was the greatest martial artist who ever lived. To me thats my opinion. I think Bruce Lee is the greatest martial artist ever. I don’t think anybody is in his class.
Jim Kelly
I wanted to do in boxing what Bruce Lee was able to do in the martial arts. Lee was an artist and, like him, I try to get beyond the fundamentals of my sport. I want my fights to be seen as plays.
Sugar Ray Leonard, as quoted at Bruce Lee Links
Bruce was incredibly strong for his size. He could take a 75lb barbell and from a standing position with the barbell held flush against his chest, he could slowly stick his arms out, lock them and hold the barbell there for 20 seconds, that’s pretty damn tough for a guy who at the time only weighed 138lbs. I know 200lb weight lifters who can’t do that.
Joe Lewis
I never stood in front of another human who was as quick as him. He not only had the quickness but he had the inner confidence to muster the conviction to do so. I’ve seen others who had the speed but lack conviction or vice versa. He was like Ali, he had both. I stood before both of these men, so I know.
Joe Lewis
If Bruce Lee wasn’t the greatest martial artist of all time, then certainly he is the number one candidate.
Joe Lewis, quoted at Realfighting.com
Lee, pound for pound, might well have been one of the strongest men in the world, and certainly one of the quickest.
Chuck Norris
Bruce was like the Michael Jordan or Muhammad Ali in his prime, somebody who stood above everyone else. It’s not that the other martial artists weren’t good. It’s just that this guy was great.
Doug Palmer
I think its important for people to realize that he was not only one of history’s greatest martial artists, but also one of the finest athletes period. His devotion to physical exercise and healthy lifestyle was mind-boggling.
James Rage
Bruce always felt that if your stomach wasn’t developed, then you had no business doing any hard sparring.
Mito Uhera
It’s a little tough for the traditional martial artists to swallow [Jeet Kune Do], because one system doesn’t do it. You’ve got to cross-train in many different systems. Actually, the father of mixed martial arts, if you will, was Bruce Lee. If you look at the way Bruce Lee trained, the way he fought, and many of the things he wrote, he said the perfect style was no style. You take a little something from everything. You take the good things from every different discipline, use what works, and you throw the rest away.
Dana White in Fight Times magazine
…that made Lee arguably the greatest martial artist of his time, or any other.
Bill Duff in the fighting sport documentary Human Weapon by The History Channel, episode 10: “China and Kung Fu”, aired November 2, 2007.