bruce lee feats

[Ian Myers]

I read on bruce lees wiki page that sources credit him as being able.to.do 50 oacs, and having held a 30 minute v-sit. I think when they say v-sit they meant on his butt, which is feasible, but the 50 oacs seems outlandish. Any opinions? (Bruce lees biographical sources do seem to be inconsistent at best when describing some of the things he did)

[Quick Start Test Smith]

I have some of his books and I've never heard or read anything about those. It could still be valid, but IMO, it's probably just more Bruce Lee worship.

[Ian Myers]

Yeah 25 oac per arm let alone 50 seems almost impossible, yet he did have some of the biggest lats I've seen on his incredibly light body.

[Quick Start Test Smith]

Yeah, 50 oac is insane! I doubt it's true, tho. Unfortunately, much of the Bruce Lee hype isn't even true and many of the people who consider him practically a demi-god haven't even read his books! There are many reasons why he was and still is fairly amazing, but people are bound to be disappointed when they discover they have made him into something he was not. The man should be taken for his on value not on the value of a fictional character based on him.

[Nic Branson]

I've seen references of people who had been on set with him saying they witnessed 30 OAC throughout the day. Still impressive and feasible I would say being spread out across the day.

[MCem222]

I've seen references of people who had been on set with him saying they witnessed 30 OAC throughout the day. Still impressive and feasible I would say being spread out across the day.

Thats certainly possible and a lot more feasible than 30 or 50 straight OACs. However, making the original claim of doing 30 or 50 one armed chins because he did it during the day is the same as if I were to say "I can do 100 pullups" because I can do them in the span of a day

My favorite strength feat from the wikipedia article is "Lee could cause a 300-lb (136.08 kg) bag to fly towards and thump the ceiling with a sidekick.[83]"

I wonder if the person who wrote this has ever lifted a sandbag. Imagine lifting a 10 pound medicine ball, then trying to kick it toward the ceiling. Now imagine lifting a 300 pound sandbag, and then imagine kicking that. It wouldn't budge, let alone fly toward the ceiling

[FREDERIC DUPONT]

(...) "Lee could cause a 300-lb (136.08 kg) bag to fly towards and thump the ceiling with a sidekick.[83]" (...)

LOL... must be this chi thing!

I don't think the NZ rugby pack could collectively hit a 300 pounds bag & send it swinging it to the ceiling from a dead hang!

[Brian Li]

I also wanted to make a thread on this discussing Bruce Lee's feats. I heard he could hold a barbell + weights equal to his bodyweight out in front of him (arms extended and parallel to the ground) :shock:. I've seen a picture of Bruce Lee doing a good gymnastics V-sit, but I think him holding it for 30 minutes is a myth though. I've also heard his punches were super fast and he had to slow down his strikes for the video recorders/cameras to capture and the footages I've seen of him fighting were freaking fast already.

Anyways I think some of his feats were exaggerated or made up, but if the aforementioned feats were real than he can most likely destroy even the best heavyweight fighters in the UFC or other pro leagues. I'm pretty sure Bruce Lee was very strong and powerful in reality regardless. I remember reading that Bolo Yeung said Bruce Lee was a freak of nature and it would take another 200 years for another one like him to appear (or something along those lines).

[Rik de Kort]

I also wanted to make a thread on this discussing Bruce Lee's feats. I heard he could hold a barbell + weights equal to his bodyweight out in front of him (arms extended and parallel to the ground) :shock:.

If that were true, he'd be able to do an inverse CTI. I doubt that.

[Zac Rhyne]

quote

[MCem222]

Am I reading this wrong? I always thought/imagined that was a Heavy Bag hanging from the ceiling that he would side kick it most likely coming at it with a run or something. And while 300 lbs seems heavy I have seen intermediate marital artist do something similar to 200 lbs bags. Given Master Bruce Lee was elite, very elite I am ASSUMING that was not outside of his range of training.

A standard barometer in some fighting sports is training to man handle double bodyweight. And given Naim Süleymanoğlu's ability at 132 lbs to C&J 419 lbs and snatch 335 lbs (which can be suggested to throwing around 2.5 and 3 times bodyweight) it seems within an elite sportsman's ability to man handle double bodyweight. BUT I am speaking only by assuming here.

I mean - being able to move double body weight - is where it is at. Look at the Planche, iron cross, one arm chin all exist around some kind of a 2x bodyweight expression.

I didn't convey this in my post, but I imagined the bag would be attached to the ceiling, and he would do a standing side kick at the bag while it was still and not already swaying. I didn't realize he could also run into it

Still, theres a difference between lifting double your bodyweight and making a double-bodyweight bag fly to the ceiling. If we are talking about a standing kick, a person simplly couldnt generate that sort of power. Even with a running kick, I'd be surprised if anyone could get a bag that big to move any significant distance

[FREDERIC DUPONT]

(...) I'd be surprised if anyone could get a bag that big to move any significant distance

To get a very heavy bag moving quite a bit from a standstill, you need to push it (think a Muay Thai Teep type of kick); an impact kick will not swing the bag, it will "jerk" it if you are powerful and skilled enough.

If you don't know the difference between a jerk and a swing, go hit a heavy bag; at first you will swing it - a pendulum movement that keeps the bag aligned with the chains, the chains remain tense and silent. When you develop better technique and power, the bag will be lifted sideways & a bit upwards (depending on the vector of attack), generating a loss of alignment and an erratic movement that will ring the chains... The bag will tell you when you are doing it right!

There is no way anyone can "jerk" a bag that heavy to the ceiling, period!

Even a 50 pound bag would be very hard to impact and project in this manner without a fair amount of pushing: try it with your feet, your knees, head first (don't kill yourself! & make sure to post a video ), your full body, then with your full body and a run to gain momentum...

This ought to be an eye opening experience.

[Joshua Naterman]

That's one of the interesting things about Bruce's kicks, they are both snapping and pushing. He believed that you needed both a powerful snap and a full bodyweight follow-through to deliver the ultimate kick. He only did this with the side kick because it was the only kick he believed one could throw this way and not be completely vulnerable afterwards if one missed. His entire body is in motion in a hopping skip forward, and you can see how he both snaps with the kicking leg and pushes forward with the support leg in order to get the absolute most power out of it.

There is a very, very loud POP! when Bruce hits the bag in videos, and the bag makes it to maybe 60 degrees above vertical, which is pretty insane for a 300 lb bag. His foot also moves completely through the bag's original position...That would completely kill you, it would be like hitting a naked steering column at something like 30-40mph. Maybe more. You'd have internal cardiac bruising and probably multiple separated ribs with probable flail chest *shudder*... quite possible collapsed lungs as well.

He sent people flying over 10 feet backwards IN THE AIR! OMG. :shock: :twisted:

Check the beginning at 0:20 and 1:40 for side kicks.

[Quick Start Test Smith]

Josh

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He was certainly amazing but I don't think that he would "own" everyone in professional fighting these days. Fighting in real life is different than fighting in the movies and a LOT of it is mental. I wouldn't be surprised if he could become a top fighter in a much shorter time than you would expect, but it WOULD take some time IMO. Fantastic tho, to see how fast he is.

[FREDERIC DUPONT]

(...) I don't think that he would "own" everyone in professional fighting (...)

BL was a very gifted athlete and an actor...

He was not a fighter!

[Quick Start Test Smith]

I agree Fred, but in my experience, the majority of people who are dominating professional and non-professional fighting are not dominating because their physical skills are way ahead of everyone elses, but because they understand fighting better. In one of Competitive Edge's mental toughness articles, it says:

• "Getting good as a fighter in practice is 95% physical and 5% mental. Translation: You have to work hard on your conditioning and “physical game†to make it happen. However, once you step onto that floor for a match, the percentages flip flop. Being successful is 95% mental and 5% physical. You have the conditioning, technique and fight strategy, now you have to make sure that you stay calm under pressure and keep yourself focused on the right things."
  

I agree one-hundred percent with that statement. I think Bruce Lee DEFINITELY had the physical capacity to wreck many, many professional fighters that I see. I don't know if he would have been able to develop the mental strength or not but I think he would have.

At any rate, he was waaaaaaaay stronger than I am right now and waaaaaaay faster than I am right now. Therefore I will continue to train like a madman and work towards being able to do 50 CONSECUTIVE OAC's, the body lever (Dragon fly, I think), and see how fast and powerful I am then

[FREDERIC DUPONT]

hehehe, good on you Patrick; I'll be cheering you on the way to the 50th OAC

[Joshua Naterman]

(...) I don't think that he would "own" everyone in professional fighting (...)

BL was a very gifted athlete and an actor...

He was not a fighter!

he wasn't a prize fighter. He fought street fights, by street rules... which is that there are no rules. He says as much, and I believe it. I don't remember if it's in the Tao of Jeet Kun Do or if it was in one of the four books in a series of Bruce Lee training books released by the Bruce Lee Foundation, but somewhere he wrote that if he can kick you in the balls, he will. If he can throw dirt in your eyes, he will. A fight is not a contest, every fight is to be approached as the life and death event that it is.

Obviously, that isn't how you fight in MMA. He would be very good in the ring, just look at Anderson Silva if you want a preview of what Bruce would have looked like. Stylistically things would be different, but the patience, speed, and split-second timing are identical.

In a ring, nothing is 100% for sure... there's a lot more room for mistakes, bad nights, and great nights for both fighters. In the street things are nearly always decided by who initiates first and who is the most vicious. First person to bite the other's ear off or finger off, or jam something into their eyes or arms, or stomp in the other's kneecap is generally going to win. These things are usually trademarks of the very nastiest street people, and they never lose because very few of us are crazy enough to immediately go there. in the ring things are more civilized, and even Bruce would certainly have much more opportunity for loss.

[FREDERIC DUPONT]

Indeed, BL has the stuff that makes all great legends

[Brian Li]

Bruce Lee was not a prize fighter like what Joshua said, but he was certainly a fighter who also happened to be an actor. He started out with Wing Chun and probably learned or mastered many other different fighting styles which probably helped him create his own martial arts style called Jeet Kune Do which was supposed to counter all or many other styles.