Mixed Martial Arts

[Pekka]

I watched yesterday some early UFC and there was a JKD fighter as well. I think he had to abandon all his arsenal right from the beginning . It was straight to the ground and headbutting from there on. He lost.

[Saint Marcus]

One of the most experienced and best JKD fighters of the past few years, John Lober, got his ass handed to him by Frank Shamrock.

Lober? he's no JKD master! not even close! Ditto for Todd Medina, Peter Khmelev, and any other Pride/UFC fighter who claims to be a JKD fighter. Most of them don't even use Lee's version of JKD, and if they did they certainly never mastered it.

but I can always say that if Bruce Lee's opponents in the 60s were trained according to today's standards in Valetudo, BJJ, whatever, they would wipe the floor with HIM.

If Lee used present day JKD techniques, he's win 90% of all fights against Valetudo, BJJ, whatever fighters you throw at him. Back in his day there wasn't anyone who could match him. If Lee lived in our time, the same would have applied. Note that Lee hasn't lost a single fight, tournament or street fight, since he learned martial arts. And he has been in loads of fights, against streetfighters as well as renowned martial artists.

JKD isn't a traditional martial arts. It's a streetfighting style, and if mastered, an extremely succesful one. Since Pride has pretty much a streetfighting only tournament nowadays, it stands to reason that a JKD master (and Lee in particular) would do extremely well in there. Also note that JKD isn't a fixed style, like Kung Fu. JKD is highly adaptive, and good fighters borrow the most effective moves from other styles to suit their needs.

And no, that doesn't mean that Lee would win all fights over a long period of time. He's still human after all. But he would be the best fighter in his weight class, without a doubt.

[MRT144]

i think if james bond was in UFC he would never lose. he is bond for gods sake!

[Saint Marcus]

yeah, but Bond would be cheating with exploding wristwatches, and stuff like that.

[Pekka]

Saint Marcus, ok now we can agree with something. I would have to agree with some of that too. Bruce Lee was an awesome athlete. Rare piece of work.. If he was born later and would be in his prime today, training as hard as he did, he would definitely be a force to reckon in his weight class, no doubt. And as for other fighters, well they are all about adapting too, use good techniques from various styles. Some have developed their own styles (pat miletich for example), borrowing stuff from other styles and making it a powerful combination. With todays knowledge about fighting, Lee could do very well..
Maybe we could argue more about what is JKD..Maybe it would be different if Lee was here today, because it would have developed more into what the sport is now.

[Jaakko]

Damn you people, all this macho talk and now you've made me tape the K-1 event tonight.

[Pekka]

Yeah, there you go! I have to go to the supermarket soon, to buy some potato chips and soda .
K-1 isn't mixed martial arts exactly, but it's a great event too!

[MOBIUS]

I'm really looking forward to seeing some real, live, Muay Thai when I get to Bangkok in a few weeks!

[Pekka]

Mobius, Oh man I'm so jealous.. My friend was in Bangkok few years ago and he got to see some local Muay Thai fights, they were supposed to be good. Good atmosphere and all that. I hope you get to see good fights.

Anyone with Eurosport, Sapp is fighting in K-1, and he's what? Over 300 pounds easily anyway. Now that's fun to watch when he takes on 200 pounds guy. He's not so skilled yet, but he's not that fat, he has muscles like no one else.

[MOBIUS]

Originally posted by Pekka
Mobius, Oh man I'm so jealous.. My friend was in Bangkok few years ago and he got to see some local Muay Thai fights, they were supposed to be good. Good atmosphere and all that. I hope you get to see good fights.

Yeah, I'm really looking forward to it! A friend of mine was a semi pro and we used to see quite a few in London - but it's not the same as the real thing...

[Pekka]

Oh, so you know the business and can really appreciate it .. nice . Now I really am jealous to you.
I have never seen live Muay Thai fight. Just from tv and some guys training in the gym. I can only imagine being there when the music plays and guys go at it.

[Pekka]

There's something weird in that traditional music. I always get that feeling when I hear it. It's great! It's kind of spooky too.

[Wraith]

This really has nothing to do with the main topic here, but seeing as how both Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan have been mentioned, I can't resist...

This is from a show called Azumanga Daioh. Three high school girls are trying to study for their mid-terms. Note that three are known for being pretty dense; collectively they've earned the nickname "the Bonklers" (Idiot Team, basically). In addition, the one nicknamed Osaka is known for going off on wild tangets for no particular reason.

(Words in quotes are spoken in English)

Osaka: Hey...
Kagura: Hm?
Osaka: Is "Bruce Lee"'s last name "Blue"? (Note that saying "Bruce Lee" with a Japanese accent sounds like saying "Blue Three" in English with a Japanese accent)
Kagura: That was pretty random.
Tomo: (laughs) What are you talking about? "Bruce Lee" is a foreigner right?
Osaka: Yeah.
Tomo: Then "Three" has got to be his last name!
Osaka and Kagura: (pause) Oh!
Kagura: So that's how it is... Tomo, you're pretty smart!
Tomo: Of course!
Osaka: Then... What happened to "One" and "Two"?
Osaka: Then should "Blue Five" be... "Jackie Chan" or something?
Kagura and Tomo: (pause) Ah!

Wraith
"Let's say that Santa doesn't exist. But... do reindeer exist?"
-- Kagura ("Azumanga Daioh")

[David Floyd]

Here's the thing about Bruce Lee. You could and did argue that he'd be one of the greatest fighters in the world IN HIS WEIGHT CLASS.

I have less of a problem with that, although I still don't think that Lee would do that well because of the fact that he never had to face the cross trained fighters of today.

However, Royce Gracie consistently beat people way above his weight class, as have various other BJJ/Valetudo/Muay Thai fighters. If it comes down to a fight between Royce in his prime and Lee in his prime, Royce wins without a doubt.

[MRT144]

then some heroic dork comes in and liberates them all of their virginity