Bruce lee
... most ripped-off martial artist of the last 40 years. In 1959 Bruce moved back to the USA, earned his high school diploma, and in 1962 enrolled as a student at the University of Washington. He soon began to teach the martial arts, and developed what turned out to be some rather controversial opinions. Bruce is known as the founder of Jeet Kune Do, which isn’t really a martial arts style at all (or wasn’t, originally). Jeet Kune Do was more a method of approach, a way of looking at the martial arts with the intention of bringing them out of what Bruce saw as a rather hidebound and stale situation. The essence of the Jeet Kune Do philosophy can largely be brought down to one sentence: do what works, and know why it works. To this end, he looked further afield than his kung fu heritage, studying boxing and other styles, and incorporating what worked for him into his repertoire. He also trained fanatically, which explains the astounding physique he developed as well as his speed and reported power. It is interesting to note that the basis of the Jeet Kune Do philosophy – gathering what works – was not exactly an original idea when Bruce expounded it. Adaptation, borrowing, testing, and refining have long been one of the key things a fighter needs to do. One of the reasons that Bruce Lee’s views were so controversial may have been the way in which he stated them. It has been noted by some that Bruce was not exactly the shy retiring type. He chose to do his own thing and do it very publicly, and when someone does that they will almost always develop enemies, or at least detractors. It is on record that Bruce was challenged by Wong J...