• Bruce Lee, father of MMA
• Bruce Lee and Jeet Kune Do
• The myth of Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee, father of MMA

Never as today, in an era in which the fastest growing sport in the world is MMA or mixed martial arts, the figure of Bruce Lee is of great importance. 

In fact, many believe that in some way it was Bruce Lee who created the philosophy behind mixed martial martial arts, exploring a type of complete combat that incorporated as many styles as possible and that did not allow himself to be limited by the “dogmas” of martial traditionalism. . 

The same MMA glove is first found, albeit in a rudimentary form, in his film I 3 of Operation Dragon . It was he himself who conceived a new type of glove, based on the boxing one, but which left freedom to every single finger in order to allow the grappling phase.

Bruce Lee and Jeet Kune Do

This new martial philosophy took the specific form called Jeet Kune Do , or ” way of the intercepting fist “. The soul of Jeet Kune Do stems from the direct experience of Bruce Lee, who decides to publish his philosophy in 67, defining it as unorthodox, not based on any fixed position and based on not putting any limits on oneself and on expression. of itself, creating a true non-method. 

As a general principle Bruce Lee preferred to intercept the shots instead of blocking them , based on a continuous foot-work that manifests the concept of “ being like water ”, that is completely adaptable, in order to express efficiency, immediacy and simplicity.

The myth of Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee was born in Los Angeles’ Chinatown in 1940, to a father originally from Hong Kong. Between adventures and misadventures, he dedicated his whole life to the study of martial arts , being the first to create the concept of hybrid martial arts, thanks to which he practiced and applied at the same time principles of boxing, kung fu , fencing, wrestling. 

In addition, Bruce Lee was one of the true pioneers of physical fitness : he did not spend a day without improving himself and without training in a meticulous and scientific way, developing muscles and tendons in a way never conceived before his time. 

This has transformed him into a real pop icon , so much so that he is recognized among the 100 most influential people of the twentieth century. In fact, if the development of muscles as body care and the practice of martial arts have spread to the West, it is only thanks to Bruce Lee, martial artist, actor, philosopher and poet. 

His artistic career includes the publication of groundbreaking books on martial arts and acting in 31 films, 5 of which were released posthumously.