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Bruce Lee was a Chinese-American movie star and martial artist who became one of the most iconic figures of the 20th century. Bruce Lee was born in SanFrancisco’s China town district and moved to Hong Kong at an early age. Bruce Lee started his martial arts training at the age of thirteen when he became immersed in the teachings of Wing Chun under master Yip Man in 1954. When it was later discovered that Bruce Lee was part caucasian the Chinese community frowned upon him learning the art of Wing Chun, but he continued on with his practice of the form.
Later on in life Bruce Lee opened up his own martial arts school in Seattle called the Lee Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute, where he taught Jun Fan Gung Fu (literally Bruce Lee’s Kung Fu). His teachings were based on his personal take on Wing Chun.
Jeet Kune Do originated in 1967. After filming one season of The Green Hornet, Lee found himself out of work and opened The Jun Fan Institute of Gung Fu. The controversial match with Wong Jack Man influenced Lee’s philosophy about martial arts. Lee concluded that the fight had lasted too long and that he had failed to live up to his potential using his Wing Chun techniques. He took the view that traditional martial arts techniques were too rigid and formalistic to be practical in scenarios of chaotic street fighting. Lee decided to develop a system with an emphasis on “practicality, flexibility, speed, and efficiency”. He started to use different methods of training such as weight trainingfor strength, running for endurance, stretching for flexibility, and many others which he constantly adapted, including fencing and basic boxing techniques.
Lee practiced what he called “the style of no style”. This consisted of getting rid of the formalised approach which Lee claimed was indicative of traditional styles. The idea of his martial art was to exist outside of parameters and limitations. Borrowing and implementing techniques and moves from other styles of martial arts and fighting to fit into the unpredictable nature of street fighting which has now been converted into the sport known as MMA or Mixed Martial Arts. Thanks to Bruce Lee’s revolutionary way of approaching martial arts and passing his teachings on to western society the world has benefited by paving the way for a new breed of athlete, the 21st century gladiator, the MMA FIGHTER.
(SOURCE: WIKI)
MIXED MARTIAL ARTS 