How has Bruce Lee affected the MMA community?
Did Bruce Lee really "spit in the faces" of Gung Fu masters when he said, "I’ll teach whoever wants to learn!"
Does this really mean that MMA fighters owe their art to Bruce Lee breaking racial barriers?
It seems kind of ironic that an Asian guy did that because you hardly see any Asian guys in MMA. In fact I’m starting to think that the UFC is prejudice because I never see full-blooded Asian guys on the Ultimate Fighter.
Then again, I don’t watch martial arts on TV. I only practice it.
the concept of cross training has been around for thousands of years, the first matches go back as far as the 1800′s if not further.
further the first popular mixed sport on tv was not ufc but shootfighting which is basically the forerunner of mma for back in the 70′s.
btw shootfighting was created in japan
well now people are fascinated by any martial art from China
Bruce Lee did offend and upset some people by teaching to non-Chinese, but he wasn’t the only one teaching whitey. Whites had access to judo and jiu-jitsu for several decades, and there were plenty of whites practicing karate since at least World War 2.
You also notice that there isn’t a lot of wing chun in the octagon now, is there?
Another myth is that Bruce Lee was the first MMA’er. Many artists cross-trained decades and centuries before he did.
But by bringing some real skill to the screen, Bruce Lee did stimulate interest in martial arts by a lot of people of the MMA generation. Ask a lot of top MMA fighters, and you’ll find a few who say that their interest in MMA began when they watched a Bruce Lee movie.
Bruce Lee had little to no effect in the MMA community. MMA-style were going on while he was alive in Brazil, they are called vale tudo (anything goes).
No, MMA fighters owe nothing to Bruce Lee, there were already teachers back then.
There are LOTS of Asian guys in MMA, and they fight guess where? Asia, it’s closer and they make more money.
So you’ve never seen Caol Uno, Takanori Gomi, and Ryo Chonan? they were all in main cards.
Well, in a way he did, not only the he write about it and his book "Tao of Jeet Kune Do" but he also practiced it as well, does that mean that all of the MMA fighters owe him anything, no.! but if you ask just about anybody today that if Bruce Lee had any influence on them in any way, the answer would be a resounding yes.!! Besides, who else was bringing the concept of MMA to the big screen back in the 70′s.? that’s right.! only Bruce Lee, and you’ve seen his fight against Chuck Norris, you would know what I am talking about.
Now, your question just made me want to go to his grave site, and I may just do that this weekend as his buried just about 30 minutes away from where I live "Lake View Cemetery" to be exact, heck, now that I think about it, just his grave alone can cause an effect on one.
Have a nice day.
Why did you say that there is no full blooded Asian guy that is doing things in MMA, there are lots if you totally review their profiles and history.
Yoshihiro Akiyama is pure Japanese and been came from Japan, you can even check his background, his residency and the place he born with.
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshihiro_Akiyama
Mark Monuz able to get his citizenship as American citizen but this guy been born in Japan with Filipino parents from the country of Philippines, both his father and mother.
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Mu%C3%B1oz
There are still lots around but it takes time to note here.
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Well, the reason you don’t see Asians succeed is that traditional MA against wrestling based fighters is not effective.
And to your question, yes Bruce Lee affected the MMA as he created the first s called hybrid fighting style that could be today’s mma minus ground fighting.
Westerners were learning Eastern martial arts about 70 years before Lee made it big. Judo, Jujitsu, karate, and to a lesser extent Taekwondo were already being taught in the Americas, Europe, the Soviet republics, and Australia before he came on the scene. Even then, Western boxing, Western wrestling, Savate/Boxe Francaise, and Sambo already existed as Western martial arts. So no, MMA does not owe its existence to Bruce Lee breaking down racial barriers. I do think Lee did a lot to popularize martial arts in mainstream culture and would infer that the talent pool for MMA might be smaller without his influence, but the roots of MMA have existed, in challenge matches all over the world (Vale Tudo in Brazil, Lei Tai in China, No Holds Barred in the US and UK, traveling Judoka who challenged local fighters) before and without Lee’s influence.
As I recall, there have been two full-blooded Asians in The Ultimate Fighter reality show: Andy Wang and Nam Phan. Wang embarrassed himself by not listening to his coaches and fighting badly, and Phan had a tremendous amount of talent but was ultimately eliminated from the tournament by a controversial (read: poor) judges decision.
The UFC draws its talent pool from other sources besides The Ultimate Fighter, which for talent purposes is a competition in which the eventual winner is awarded a contract. Other top fighters from a given season, usually two to five guys, are also often given a lesser contract.
The UFC employs a number of Asian fighters. In addition to the above-mention Phan, they have recently signed Cung Le, former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion. Yushin Okami is a staple at middleweight and recently lost a title match to the champ, Anderson Silva. Dong Hyun Kim is an excellent Judoka who is very close to a title shot; in fact, he lost the first match of his career to Carlos Condit, who is fighting for the Welterweight title next, indicating that Kim may only be a win or two away. Former Pride Lightweight champion Takanori Gomi has also fought in the UFC, although he’s lost more than he’s won; the same goes for Yoshihiro Akiyama, a very talented fighter who simply under-performs. Bantamweight Takeya Mizugaki was brought in when the UFC absorbed the WEC; he’s most noted for the spirited fight he gave then-WEC Bantamweight champ Miguel Torres. And Zhang Tiequan is a talented up-and-coming featherweight fighter from China who many believe will lead the way to popularizing the UFC in that country.
so has chuck norris (who taught bruce how to high kick) Jason Statham also impacted the MA community