Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee was a phenomenom. He was a person with tremendous natural ability, combined with a fanatical desire to push himself to reach new levels of expertise. And he had the intelligence to know how to do it.

Bruce Lee was a believer in mixing Martial Arts techniques, finding and using the ones that worked, and discarding the ones that didn't. Bruce Lee would study different techniques and pick out the ones he liked from a certain style of Martial Art. Then he would work on perfecting that technique.

Originally from a Wing Chun background, Bruce Lee went on to learn, and perfect Tae Kwon Do kicks, training with Tae Kwon Do Master Jhoon Rhee. He studed Boxing by watching fight films of Muhammed Ali in a mirror so that Ali would appear in a southpaw stance, like himself. Bruce Lee also practiced Grappling, with "Judo" Gene Lebell.

Bruce Lee developed his own style of fighting called Jeet Kune Do, or as Lee put it "style without a style" since it is more a philosophy than a patterned system of techniques. Jeet Kune Do could be called a predecessor to Mixed Martial Arts. In Jeet Kune Do the fight was broken down to different ranges (Kicking, Punching, Trapping and Grappling).

How would have Bruce Lee do in todays Mixed Martial Arts competitions? Bruce Lee was a tremendous Striker, and with his speed and power, it would be hard for anyone to stand with him for long. But Bruce Lee's weakness would be his Grappling.

Bruce Lee did some Grappling training with the "Toughest Man Alive" "Judo" Gene Lebell, and Bruce Lee was no match for "Judo" Gene. But because of Bruce Lee's training regiment, when he saw where his weakness was, he would work until he had mastered all aspects of Mixed Martial Arts.