Bruce Lee

Without a doubt there has been no bigger sporting icon in the twentieth century than the late great Bruce Lee. Anyone who grew up in the 70s and dreamed about being an action hero dreamed about having the unbelievable fighting skills, muscular body and superhuman fitness that he possessed.

I can think of no one else who has had more influence on physical training, martial arts or sport in general. For example the legendary boxer Sugar Ray Leonard said he developed his amazing speed by emulating the fight scenes of Bruce Lee’s films as a child. The bodybuilder Dorian Yates said he was first inspired to lift weights because of his admiration for Lee and the list goes on. In fact if you spend anytime reading about sporting legends as I do (I know it’s very sad) you will find that Lee is mentioned as a childhood influence more than anybody else.

Anyone who watched Enter the Dragon when it first came out would have sat there in total awe of the talents Lee displayed. So different was his skill from anything that had been seen before that it was almost like watching a real life superhero in action and the thought that this man’s superpowers were real was all that was needed for a generation of young men to try their hand at copying him.

The talents of Bruce Lee

His speed.

The speed Lee showed in his films was something that has never been seen before or since. Nobody else has ever managed to move like he could and in some of his movies you have to watch a scene over and over again to actually see what he did such was his talent. What is even more amazing is he was actually as fast or even faster in real life as anyone who has seen the punching display he did for an audition will know.

His body.

When Lee first came to our attention bodybuilding was not the huge sport it is now and most people very rarely saw the amazing bodies of the stars it produced. Anyone who watched Bruce do his now famous Lat pose for the first time was left dumbfounded at how this little man could develop a pair of wings in front of your eyes. Not only did he seem to have wings but also none of us had ever seen the truly amazing definition he possessed

His fitness.

Everything about Bruce Lee from the way he moved when fighting to how he performed his warm up exercises suggested we were watching a master of physical fitness at work. The man seemed to have everything from unbelievable strength to total flexibility and even now I have never seen anyone who had such control over his body as Lee did.

The mental qualities of Bruce Lee.

Although Bruce had the physical gifts mentioned and then some, it is his mental strengths that have made him the biggest icon in the world for it is them that led him on a path no one else had walked before. The Bruce Lee we see in films and demonstrations was the result of talents that we sometimes forget he had such as

His original thinking.

To achieve what he did is only possible by those who are original thinkers and refuse to follow the crowd. His concept of taking the best from any martial art and using it to his advantage as well as his pioneering ideas on the importance of physical training were unheard of at the time but can be seen today in the evolution of the popular ultimate fighting.

His intelligence.

I first realized just how intelligent Lee was when I was 18 and bought a copy of his book Tao of Jeet kune do. What impressed me so much was his total understanding of fighting systems, anatomy and psychology, it seemed to me that he had thought of and addressed every single aspect of fighting and to this day I have never read a book on Martial Arts that contains the high quality theories of Lee’s.

His Dedication.

It is well know to anyone who has studied Lee that he lived and breathed his beloved Martial Art. Many of the friends and colleges describe a man who was so totally absorbed in his quest for perfection that he could watch TV whilst sitting in the side splits, reading the latest fitness magazine and exercising with a dumbbell all at the same time. Such dedication is both mind blowing and inspirational.

I am sure everyone reading this has heard and possibly been inspired by Bruce Lee. If you ever get the chance read his book Tao of Jeet Kune Do and you will get a better idea of how it is possible for a man to understand his field of expertise to such a level. If you have never seen Enter the Dragon before watch it and see for yourself why he inspired so many, even if you have seen it, have another look and get some new inspiration for your training.

Good Luck.

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