What types of martial arts did bruce lee know and master?

Question

What types of martial arts did bruce lee know and master?

Answer 1

Jeet Kune Do and Old School Boxing.  The latter was taught to him by a guy surnamed "DeMille," who was a former boxer.  Lee never boxed in Hong Kong, but from his training under DeMille he became a fully qualified boxer.  The two had a falling out because DeMille complained that Lee "held back" much of what he had learned from the various people he studied from.  Also DeMille criticized Lee for being a "user;" he would got someone who knew this martial art or that, learn a few techniques, but offer nothing in return in the form of some of his own knowledge of Wing Chung.  That of course isn't true; virtually all the martial artists and street fighters Lee took "lessons" from, he trained in what he felt were the most practical aspects of Wing Chung.  That is part of the reason the American Shotokan curriculum has Wing Chung like two person drills; that's Lee's influence there.

As to what martial arts he officially knew, they were boxing and wing chun, with bits and pieces from Judo, Catch Wrestling, and a kick he took from Savate.  Another "martial art" he knew, and I use quotes because its not really a martial art anymore its a sport, was fencing, which learned from his father.  Wait no, sorry; older brother who I believe was the champion at Hong Kong University, or the University of Hong Kong, or whatever "prestigious" school Hong Kong has that's a University.

We know he mastered Wing Chung and Boxing which is what he used in the majority of his actual street fights.  Because he was a critic of martial arts, and constantly talking martial arts this, martial arts that, he was frequently harassed by turds who called him a "fake."  What Lee seemed to fail to realize, is just how full of sociopaths the world of American martial arts is, and "back in the day" he got into fights with many of them, a lot of them racists.  Believe it or not one of his friend, Chuck Norris I think it was, was forced to use his martial art for real in a fight while accompanying Lee on a guy's night out.  Because he was so high profile, and sociopaths seem to take pleasure in making "talkers" look bad, he got into many, many fights, fearing for his family's safety, he hired a bodyguard to protect them.  Lee himself never walked around with one, but when he was with his family he did.

Did Lee NEED a bodyguard?  As far as this hemisphere in his time was concerned, no he didn't.  Part of the reason he moved his family to Hong Kong, until his untimely death, was because he did not feel his family was safe here in the U.S.  Something you need to know about sociopaths; if they can't hurt you physically, they will try to do it verbally.  If they can't do it verbally, they will try to get the teacher to do it and if that doesn't work they'll tag team you from finding other like minded sociopaths so that as a group they can have a good time at your expense.  And if that doesn't work, they will probably go to college and study Law, or become a Law enforcement officer.

See, while Lee had friends of virtually every color you can think of, most of them were black.  Little known fact about Bruce Lee, is that because of his hungre for knowledgre regarding "real fighting," many of the street fighters he befriended were black dudes.  In fact some of the people Lee brought home, his wife Linda did not feel comfortable around.  They weren't dangerous, but they were still "hoods."  Its a tragic thing really, but its true; Bruce Lee was bound to have black friends because many, living in poor neighborhoods likely have had their share of fights, even back in the 60's.  In the 1960's, black america was improving, but there were still isolated pockets of violence.

If street brawling is a "martial art," you can bet money Lee was a "master" of that one as well.

Hope that answered the question.

peace.

Answer 2

Actually bruce lee only studied Wing Chun for about 5-6years, which puts him far away from being a master. In fact he never mastered any art, o even learned a complete art. the closest he came was Jeet Kun do, the style he created.

Many people on here worship hm as a god, and if you told them he once beat 100 other martial arts masters, they would buy it. Unfortunatly much of what is written about him is all heresay. I do know by all accounts he was an excellent martial artist and a great teacher, but from the way he trained, pulling a little from here and a little from there, he was by no stretch of the imagination a master.

if it were not for his films, he would in no way be near as well known and popular as he is. I know I will get thumbs down from many of the Bruce worshipers, but that does not change facts, I admire him for what he was able to accomplish, but quite honestly there have been, still are, and will be many who were better. Many who idolize him on here don't even train.

Edit for captian feathersworth- I beg to differ with your opinion. the question was which martial arts did bruce lee know and master, and he did not master any of them. He may have ha dthe knowledge of a master, i don't know because I didn't know them, but condidering most styles take at a minumum of 25 years of training and in depth study to be considered a master, I highly dobt it. Sorry if that shatters your illusion of bruce lee, and my instructor is self taught on the drumms, and I seriously doubt that it is 1000X's harder then learning martial arts corretcly. I have facts on my side, not hero worship.

dmaud- Once agin you have the facts wrong.

Answer 3

Lee started learning Wing Chun Kung Fu  and was a high rank when started teaching it in the US, when he opened his second school in Oakland he was challenged for teaching it to people outside of the Chinese culture.  He won the right to teach but was seriously taken out afterwards are started to study many arts to form Jeet Kune Do (way of the intercepting fist) and started teaching students and study with other popular aritst of the age. Ed Parker Jr (Kenpo Karate), Chuck Norris (Tang Soo Do) among others.  Lee would study anything useful and put into his program.  A famous quote of his is "Absorb what is useful; reject what is useless"

Answer 4

the badass kind

Answer 5

Uh, wing chun, and some form of kung fu, and for the guy who answered first, Bruce Lee invinted Jeet Kune Do, just so you know that, and im not trying to be a smart *** or nothing.

Answer 6

Katana has it right

Answer 7

Bruce Lee studied Jeet Kun Do

Answer 8

Katana has faulty logic.

Just cause Bruce lee didn't study an art into ad nausea doesn't mean Bruce was NOT a Martial Art Master.

Most martial arts styles are full of ancient fluff and lee knew this and used what was useful.

BTW-----OT but Two of drumming's finest drummers(Buddy Rich(Henry Adler was a friend not Rich's teacher) and John Bonham never studied or had taken any formal drum lessons.Drumming is 1000x more difficult to master than most any martial art.

Answer 9

Maybe you're wondering what styles he "studied"?

HIs formal training, as mentioned was Wing Chun, which is what he taught when he first came to the US

however, there are many stories about how he saw the limitations of traditional arts and sought to create a sort of "formless form", which ended up being Jeet Kune Do

He made no secret that he studied as many things as he could, and, as is often said, keep what is useful, discard what is useless

I know in addition to training with Chuck Norris, he trained with Jhoon  Rhee, Tae Kwon Do grandmaster

It's also often been said he was influenced by studies in western fencing (especially on how to engage an opponant)

Bruce himself said if you wanted to defeat any traditional asian martial art, you only had to study western boxing and wrestling (a philosophy well supported in early MMA contests)