do you think anybody could beat Bruce Lee in a fight when he was in his prime?

Answer 1

Definitely, he was an actor with amazing martial arts skills...but he was not a "professional fighter". If you put Bruce Lee and a K-1 fighter in the ring, though Bruce would not go down easily...I think he would have a hard time surviving the rounds.

I mean, look at Van Damme...good fighter, but got his a** beat in a bar by a common folk.

Answer 2

A lot of people could beat him in a fight.

First of all, we don't have his actual skill level pinned down. Most people make assumptions about him based on movies or potentially biased statements by other martial artists looking to boost thier own reps by using his name.

We can speculate that he had some level of skill, as he did advocate full-contact sparring including the head as a target (which many teachers and martial artists did not do at the time), however as he has no fight record, nor any recorded fights, we have no specific evidence.

The only video of bruce lee of any significance is something like this of him sparring full contact:

http://www.bruce-lee.ws/sparring_demo.html
(bruce lee is the one in all black)

While bruce lee might have had good physical ability and speed, he is no match for a person with a much bigger weight advantage. Even he admits that muhammad ali would whip his ***.

The reality of fighting is simply that size and stregth do matter, bruce lee might have been very physically fit, but he was not very big, maybe he could have handled a guy that had somewhat of a stregth advantage, but there is a point at which natural size will overcome technique, the bigger the difference, the more technique you require. That is why people invented weapons. If we are talking about giving bruce lee a real weapon (like a staff or a jo, not the useless nunchaku- that is more a danger to the user than an opponent) then that is another story.

Even if you do take that he was as skilled as fanboys and self-serving statements and promoters (linda lee) make him out to be, his theory of intercepting an attack fails when you are fighting someone with longer reach- your arm is only so long, your leg is only so long, a taller man will have a longer arm or leg than him and even if he were to connect, it wouldn't stop his opponent's strike.

EDIT: van damme is not by any standards a good fighter, once again an example of people equating movies with real-life. van damme is a ballerina, thats it. ballet.

Answer 3

Hey seriously i think not.. Because although many actors are just a good fighter in the screen.. But Bruce Lee is a great fighter behind the screen too.. I remember last time there is a tv show about him.. Although forgotton the name of the show.. But some of the content say that Bruce Lee often pick a fight with all the backstage helpers, and always beating them to a bloody whatever.. And it also say that unlike Jackie Chan and some other actors who fast forward their punches and kicks to make them look faster.. Bruce's punches actually have to slowed down.. Or else people infront of the screen will not be able to see what happen .. And guess what.. I am a student learning Jeet Kune Do.. A fighting style invented by Bruce Lee himself..
And for the guy down there who say: his theory of intercepting an attack fails when you are fighting someone with longer reach- your arm is only so long, your leg is only so long, a taller man will have a longer arm or leg than him and even if he were to connect, it wouldn't stop his opponent's strike' Hey, please look up book or even website about Jeet Kune Do.. Or maybe you've look it up but looked at the wrong one.. Jeet Kune Do have been modified by some other people.. And you'll see different school teaches different technics all under the name Jeet Kune Do.. My trainer admit that they are using the modified version.. But while he is teaching us the modified one.. He'll also tell us the orginal moves.. Because Bruce train from a young age under training hours that modern people cannot achieve because of study and all those.. That's why moves are being modified... Because the move itself can only be used by a well-trained person.. If you'll to look at the orginal Jeet Kune Do.. It'll be more effective than what the people are learning now.. And lastly, a taller and muscular fighter will have lesser speed and ability to evade.. That's why a taller and stronger opponent will not determine the winner of the match...

Answer 4

No. Well maybe, but not somebody famous like Chuck Norris, or Chuck Liddel. Probably some monk that lived in China, a monk that had incredible martial arts skill that nobody knew about! I am big Bruce Lee fan! But I think there was somebody, (not a famous person) who could beat Bruce Lee.

Answer 5

The only person I have ever heard of who I believe could beat Bruce Lee would be Morihei Ueshiba. There are probably others.

Regarding Chuck Norris: He was Lee's student, and has said that he couldn't beat him. He may have improved since that statement.

Regarding other competitive fighters: I doubt it. Read about him a little; you'll find that he was no pushover. If in doubt he would probably attack the knees or shins, and face and neck, targets vulnerable even for the strongest man alive. A larger, stronger opponent would be left in the dust by Bruce's speed and (especially) intelligence. He'd change his tactics to suit his opponent; if he went totally postal, there are few who could withstand that.

Answer 6

he'd have a hell of a time sumo wrestling. everything else though...damn...i dont think i can name anything.
edit:
a true monk might 'Ving Tsun' or Wing Chun system of kung fu was the martial art he studied in his youth, was the work of one female monk and her studies.
the truth is no one will ever know Bruce Lee's actual skill and we can all agree he was an enigma that had a huge impact on modernizing and westernizing many of the martial concepts. He cut out a lot of the fat and dropped some of the hocus pocus.
Something westernes might actually do themselves, but out of reverence and respect continued to observe many time wasting traditions until someone like Lee came along to slap them all off the shelf.
He cross trained across and experimented with multiple disciplines. He developed Jeet-Kun-Do as a base philosophy that each individual person should cross train and specialize in piece meal fashion from all the styles of martial arts in attempt to enhance thier individual talents and find compensating skills for thier shortcomings. There were many facets he introduced to training and breaking down cultural barriers. His impact on the martial arts is legendary, so naturally we tend to think he must have been nearly invincible, where actually there is little credit to support this common view, the point is he was an extreme badass with unfathomable cunning and work ethic in himself and that is something anyone should attempt to emulate and be made better for.

Answer 7

Bruce Lee was little and never fought anyone that was more then a middleweight. The Gracie family could beat him, along with Chuck and Silva to name a few.

Answer 8

I love Bruce and he is a great fighter both on and off the screen. But even if we bring him back from the dead in his prime, he would not make it to the championship round in the UFC today.

Answer 9

I think so with the advances in MMA fighters. I know Bruce's theory was not to limit your fighting to one style, so you could say may bee he started the MMA practice early. But the fighters today are so well versed in many styles and they are able to take the pros from certain arts without the cons.

Answer 10

NO at all according to me bruce lee in his on the prime time is very good and in every aspects of fighiting he is on fire.undoughtely he is a very good fighter.if i am not tell more that he is the best fighter .