Bruce Lee vs. Jackie Chan

#1 Jackie Chan has numerous times admitted that Bruce Lee was faster and a much better fighter than him in interviews, but at the same token, Bruce Lee was still only human, which Bruce Lee knew very well. Bruce Lee was fighting and learning martial arts before learning the Cha Cha and the fact is using film footage is rediculous. Cameras today run at a much faster speed allowing the fighter to move much faster than when they were in the 70's. Infact Bruce Lee used something he called "movie" martial art, which he purposely over exaggerated movements to get a good shot. He doesn't even fight the way he does in movies. As stated Bruce Lee was just human, but he was a capable fighter. Was he the best ever. That can be debated for years, but unless a person fights everyone in the world without a single loss than I don't believe anyone could claim who is the greatest in the world. Another thing I think post like this is irrelevent, because it demeans the mannerism of all martial arts and martial artist. What happened to the respect?

This is complete b.s. Jackie has never aknowledged Lee as a better fighter. In his typical modest manner, Jackie has however said of Lee that he was "the greatest"; but this refers more to his onscreen personna than to his fighting ability...

Jackie is a modest understated man who usually finds some positives to commend in people. He is however clearly a quicker, more powerful and more agile fighter than Lee ever was.

I have been involved in martial arts for over 20 years. As a kid I started as a Greco-roman wrestler & was Greek national champion. I then progressed on to kick boxing and won a european belt, and I have since collected the highest distinctions in ten different schools of fighting.

It is clear to me (from his films, but more importantly from his books) that Lee is little more than a showman, and that he would not hold his own in a street fight. What's more, I also get the impression the man was despicable...

Compared to Lee, Jackie Chan does not seem to have any pretentions as a fighter, and he seems comfortable with his on-screen persona of a stunt-man and showman. However, as several apparently knowledgeable people have already pointed out on this thread, Jackie Chan's understated manner actually hides an excellent background in various disciplines. From working with him as an extra in 'police story' I have also witnessed -other than his evident athleticism- a punching and kicking power that far exceeds that of Lee's.

Jackie is an actor, and does not pretend otherwise. He would not have reached the heights he has in the movies as a tournament fighter, but he is however a quicker, more powerful, more knowledgeable, and overall overwhelmingly better fighter than Lee ever was.

i've been into karate (Shorin-ryu)seriously from grade school to college.

i've seen plenty of bruce lee's and jackie chan's movies, but i can not honestly judge how fast or strong they are. i can't comprehend how any of you can do that.

if it was a full contact competition, i might get a clue. but in a movie???

What I don't like about Lee is his total lack of a sense of humour, his pretentiousness, and generally how far up his own arse he was. Not unlike a lot of the posters here then... To me, these are the signs of a mediocre fighter (and actor!) looking for self-validation.

On the other hand, you couldn't find a nicer, more understated guy than Jackie and- in many respects- he is a bit the 'Gebresselassie' of the martial arts movie.

What's often overlooked though is that behind Jackie's training as a stuntman in the chinese opera, hides a very proficient and dangerous fighter. Equally, people tend to overlook that Lee's formal training is as a chacha dancer (little known fact: he was the Honk Kong champion, something which he tried to hide in later life as it seemed to damage his career), and that his fighting method is too untidy and flashy to be of any real use other than on the silver screen.

actually his reply in an inteview on Oprah when she asked who was a better fighter was that he thought bruce lee was a better martial artist and that he strived to be as good as him. But as I said this discussion is flawed. Number one some one mentioned how he paid people to say how good he was. If you get people to tell everyone how good you are you will have to be able to back it up to atleast an extent. Was Bruce Lee the greatest though I can't answer that, was he good, yes, even Wong Shun Leung acknowledge that Bruce Lee was a skilled fighter. He never acknowledges that he was the greatest, because he's only human. We should respect him for his accomplishments. It's the same with Jackie Chan and Jet Li. Yes, Jackie Chan is an actor and a martial artist. He too has been in at least one confirmed confrontation, but he isn't nearly as out-spoken. Jet Li is also a martial artist who is skilled at what he does. All three of them are skilled and there is no way to know who would win in a fight so why have this discussion?

That said, I am quite inclined to think Chan is the better of the two...

Jet was a five time All-Around National Wushu Champion of China. I give him the nod.

Yep, of the three, Jet Li is uncontestably the better fighter. Then Chan. Then Lee.

go see ONG BAC, Thai warrior. you'll see who the best ever is

I suppose you mean Ong-Bak,and his name is Tony Jaa (Phanom Yeerum)style:thai-boxing,who curiously has recognised to be wholly influenced by Jackie Chan,even copying a lot of his action techniques,and by the way,compared with Chan or Lee this guy would be The Master of Cheese Poofs!And cannot be considered as a fighter as Jackie,Bruce or Jet.

So,don't let you impress by any new guy making some new old stuff,and yes he is good,but please,let's separate well amateur sissy brats from the real masters!

Any one seen the new movie Ong-Bak The Thai Warrior? The main character in it (Tony Ja) I think can kick Bruce Lee's ass.

One single word:

BULLSHIT!

agreed, he would kick Lee's ass....

But Lee was not a fighter: he was a chacha dancer.

mastertae wrote:Jackie Chan is an actor and a martial artist. He too has been in at least one confirmed confrontation,

What confrontation was that? Details?

OK! This thread is freaking me out. So may things are said about this hypthesis. I must admit that some facts on all these martial-artist-actors and well structured opinion I find interesting. But there is so much things said that seem to me obscuring the issue that I still fell I have to say more:

IF YOU WANT A LEGETIMATE OPINION ON THE DISCUSSION:

1. You are a serious eye witness or friend of Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan. Or maybe you are Jackie Chan, because of course Bruce passed away.

2. You are a martial artist... at least with a minimum experience and opened mindness to different forms and style of martial arts. What is there to say if you do not practice the art. It is like a sport commentator giving opinions on techniques that he never practiced himself, for him it is mostly theory or fantasy ... should it be on boxing or car racing. These people get paid because they love the sport like the fans... but there are not professionnal nor coatches in the matter.

3. If you want a real opinion on Lee's expertise, read and understand Tao of Jeet Kune Do ( basically a series of personnal notes written by Bruce Lee, but assembled by his friend after he passed away)

4. Have a genral look on both Jackie and Bruce'S physical condition and abilities.

Then we can get down to the point : Who would most probably win in a martial art contest between these two man : Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee.

It is because I did alot of sparing with different type of men due to my 18 years of martial art practice that believe Bruce and more chances to win.

This not because he his a better martial artist then Chan... this is not the point. And there is no doubt that Jet Li is a better stylist then Lee having won 5 Wushu championship in China. One could not either neglect the immense knowledge of Jackie Chan who practice different styles over 40 years now and his physical prouesse speed and agility.

The point his that Bruce Lee devoted the last per say eleven years of his life in perfecting a style of fighting that would make him win any combat in most situation. You have to dissociate the actor from the martial art practionner he was. A winning combination in a challenge is not necessary beautiful nor spectacular.

Bruce also trained his body according so, only wanting one thing : more efficiency in this line of thinking: Improve ones chance of winning. Thing of the strenght of his punch in some home training video footage you can see the power of his blows. Look at an interview and you can sense the speed of his kicks and punches. These are not movies, but few little footages you can probably still download on Kazaa.

Of course Bruce Lee was human, and he could have lost a fight. Butin any case I still believe he has brought much to martial art especially leaving a legacy like the tao of Jeet Kune Do. His style was alot physical compared to lets say Aikido. I do not believe the tao of Jeet Kune do is end of the world in martial arts, but it is an asset in body and philosophical development for a certain aspect of a martial artist. Like all the masters who have contributed to the world and science of martial arts.

I also believe that Bruce Lee still had some work to do on himself... has to is bullyness approach to fighting, but seemingly I think he was on the right track and most probably has he aged and matured we would have had a more ZEN Bruce. Less wanting to win but more wanting to express ones self in harmony. Well I hope so ;o)

Sorry for my many typing errors, I wrote the last message real fast and you should read Legitimate ;o) Hey never went to english school LOL

If you ask yourself that stupid question,that just show your deep ignorance in Jackie Chan,so look for information in books and documentaries,that s all pal...

Now some facts given are in correct, Bruce Lee wasn't trying to hide that he was a Cha CHa Champion, which was after he started learning martial arts. He was learning martial arts before he started doing the Cha Cha, which William Cheuong (not sure if I spelled it right) and Wong Sheong Leung both mention in articles they have written. Linda Lee talked about how much he enjoyed dancing and was proud of his dancing. Infact she mentioned that he was almost as cocky about his dancing skills as he was to his "fighting" skills, I write down fighting, because martial arts is the art form of fighting, thus a person doesn't have to be a great fighter to be a great martial artist. Another area of concern was a post in another forum, which said Bruce Lee couldn't even beat the senior students of Yip-man. This is also false as both Wong Shun Leung and William Cheong also mention that Yip-man was forced to stop teaching Bruce, because he did beat up some of the people who were his seniors so that he could continue practicing, but they also mention that many of the senior students were not training nearly as hard as Bruce Lee. Both also mentioned how many of the senior students were becomeing jealous, because Bruce was becoming good so fast. Now another post, mentions that Bruce ran away from alot of his fights as a youth, this is correct, but most of the fights were not going to be one-on-one confrontations. He did run away from one confrontation, before he learned Wing Chun (he had learned Tai Chi from his father, but found it insufficient), but according to Wong Shun Leuong, later on hw would come back and beat the kid. It should also be understood that Bruce Lee always talked about how good Wong Shun Leung are and as well as William Cheuong. You can look up these articles as there were not many on the internet, but I'll try and get the title. It should be noted that Wong Shun Leuong actually regreted the way Bruce Lee train and he actually believes that the harsh work outs and he could have been implying other things was the cause of his death. As for Bruce Lee's human factor. He was a man. Infact, he ironically started to buy alot of insurance before his death. Bruce Lee in other words new he was human.

Now Jackie Chan, He has lived a very interesting life, but already much of his life is becoming a myth as will any movie star, including Bruce Lee. One such myth is that he does all his own stunts. This is incorrect as Jackie Chan mention in the same Oprah interview where he mentioned he strived to be as good a martial artist as Bruce Lee, that the American media said he did all his own stunts. He goes on to say that he does almost all his own stunt, but he doesn't do all his stunts. April 7, 1954 was when he was born and lived a much different life than Bruce Lee. Jackie Chan lived in a very poor home, (Bruce Lee had a grandfather who was German and an ambassodor as well as a father who was an actor),"Along with 6 more of the Opera Master's pupils, Chan (renamed Yuen Lou) was part of the sensational Seven Little Fortunes, after performing in an Opera of the same name. The Opera Master lent the septet as stuntmen in Chinese films, which is how Chan earned a reputation as an incredible stuntman." (Jackie About Who Am I?)"After his introduction to the film company Golden Harvest, Chan began his stunt magic in the 1971 Bruce Lee films Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon (he also made Asian film history as the only one to successfully complete an extremely high fall)." (same website) Also it should be noted that the extremely high fall was caused by Bruce Lee kicking him, although it was not as hard as he could the kick still had alot of power.

Jet Li: I haven't read much on Jet Li so I can't say much on Jet Li, but I like his movies.

I won't bother saying who the greatest fighter is, because I don't know. Unless they fight eacho ther and Bruce Lee comes to life, I won't try to say who is the better fighter. As for who is the better Martial Artist. I will give it a tie to all three. Bruce Lee for paving a path that brought change, Jackie Chan for showing that movies with fighting doesn't have to be serious, and Jet Li for his great Choreograpy. With that said lets get some pizza ; )