One of our most popular posts here at Manlihood.com was written by Michael Miller.
The post chronicles the legendary fight between Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris.
Many have said it never happened, but Mike believes it did. Check out his post for the whole story.
I came across this video with Chuck Norris discussing a movie fight between them.
So I googled that movie fight scene, It may not be as exciting as an epic battle of Chuck Norris vs Bruce Lee in real life, but it’s still fun to watch!
When learning self-defense it’s important to understand the three types of weapons – natural, environmental, and manmade. Keep in mind that just about anything can be used as a weapon. Also, it’s important to note that your entire body is a target, and your entire body is a weapon. Let’s briefly touch upon each category of weapons:
Natural:
Natural weapons are any part of your body that you can use as a weapon: fist, palm, fingers, elbows, knees, head, shin, foot, etc. Some natural weapons are meant for soft tissue strikes (such as eyes, throat, neck and groin), while others are better for hard tissue (such as any part of the head, kidneys and ribs). For instance, let’s talk about the fingers. They are meant for soft tissue striking, such as poking, whipping, slicing, or hooking someone in the eye, or clawing any part of the skin (preferably on the attackers face), and grabbing/squeezing the groin. Although some natural weapons, such as the fingers, are meant for soft tissue striking only, any weapon that can be used on hard tissue can also be used on soft tissue – such as the fist. You can punch someone in the jaw (hard tissue) or you could punch the groin (soft tissue). Keep in mind, however, that I don’t advise punching someone in the head or jaw, because you can easily injure your hand. It’s best to use this rule – open hand to face (jaw, ear, nose, eyes), punch to the body (ribs, kidneys, solar plexus), and kick the legs (knees, side of leg). Keep in mind you can obviously kick the body or the groin. I don’t advise head kicks – too risky and not that practical.
Environmental:
Environmental weapons are anything in your natural environment you could use as a weapon. This could include a car door, rock, brick, rake, picture frame, telephone, fork, shoe, chair, pool stick, hot coffee (throw it in the attacker’s face), book, belt, pencil, screw driver, tire iron, crow bar, keys, stick, pile of dirt (thrown at the attacker’s eyes), etc. You must also understand environmental awareness, and you must exercise this at every moment. Environmental awareness means knowing what’s in you, on you, and around you at all times. What is IN you means your mood. How are you feeling? If you are upset, angry, depressed, or sick, it will affect they way you respond. What is ON you means what you are wearing. Do you have rings on? Earrings? Flip flops? Cockroach killers? Tight jeans? A neck tie? Knowing what is around you is just that – the people who are present (knowing exactly where all people in your immediate surroundings are), the things that are around you (buildings, vehicles, trees, etc.), the terrain (pavement, grass, ice, etc.), the weather (sunny and hot, rainy, snowy, etc.), the time of day (night, dark – day, light), etc. The more aware you are, the better you will be and the easier it will be to spot a threat before it escalates.
Manmade:
These are the kind of weapons everybody thinks about when somebody says “weapon” such as knives, guns, grenades, missile launchers, etc. They were manmade and their purpose was to be used as a weapon. People could argue that a hammer is manmade so it should be in the manmade category. It’s not in that category, because the intent of a hammer is to pound in a nail. The intent was not for it to be a weapon. That is why a hammer would be an environmental weapon. The most common manmade weapons one could be faced with in a self-defense situation are knives and guns, however. As for guns, primarily pistols are what you would be faced with. The reality is that you need to do anything and everything you can to escape without fighting. If you try to be a hero, you will be dead. It’s that simple. Don’t mess around. I strongly suggest getting some self-defense training from a qualified expert (I don’t mean any martial arts instructor – many of them couldn’t fight if their lives depended on it. I mean a real self-defense expert. Many martial arts instructors don’t have a clue about reality. They can teach you how to win a trophy and that is about it. There are those martial arts instructors out there who actually know how to teach you what’s real, so do your research and if you have any questions e-mail me at michael.miller@millersdojo.com).
I remember being around ten year’s old watching martial arts movies with my best friend Marc. He was a huge Bruce Lee fan, and I idolized Chuck Norris. We used to argue all the time about who would have won in a “real” fight. I say “would have” because this was in 1990 and Bruce died in 1973.Who would have thought that I’d find that answer out years later from those who knew both of these gentlemen?
Many people base their opinion about these two martial arts icons off of the movie Return of the Dragon where they fought each other at the end of the movie, and Bruce ended up killing Chuck. Because of that movie some people feel Bruce was superior. They forget that it was only a movie. Bruce was abnormally gifted. He was a little guy at 5’7” and 146 pounds who hit like a heavyweight and was arguably the fastest striker this planet has ever seen. He certainly was nobody to mess with, but neither was Chuck. Chuck was the first American to ever receive a black belt in a Korean style (Tae Kwon Do), which was an amazing feat.
Bruce was phenomenal and certainly the most iconic person in martial arts history, and he has done the most for the industry in my opinion. Joe Lewis, the greatest heavyweight kickboxer of all time (and one of my instructors) trained with Bruce many times. Joe was a world champion Karate fighter before he even met Bruce. Bruce asked him to become a student under him. Joe liked what Bruce had to offer so he did. He learned from Bruce for around two years. There have been times where Bruce took credit for Joe Lewis’s success. Joe was already a champion before he started training with Bruce. Joe mentioned in an article one time that the image of Bruce was much different than the reality of Bruce. He never fought in the ring, but many of those who knew him say he would have done well. He was phenomenal, but he never proved himself the way Chuck Norris, Joe Lewis and Bill “Superfoot” Wallace have. “Bruce was not a fighter,” Lewis said in one interview. “He was an actor and a teacher. He was a great teacher.”
According to Chuck Norris, he and Bruce “sparred.” If you are not familiar with that term, it simply means that they fought each other in a friendly fashion outside of a sanctioned tournament or match. Usually you go about 80 percent or so and if you daze your sparring partner you back off and let him regroup. In a real bout you go 100 percent, and if you daze him, you do whatever you can to finish him within the context of the rules.
Bruce never believed in high kicks. Chuck was a black belt in a Korean style (known for high kicking) and he educated Bruce that if he learned to kick high it would make his lower kicks a lot better. Bruce ended up loving high kicks after that. During the sparring session Chuck got the best of Bruce and kept hitting him with a certain kick. Bruce got frustrated and said, “You keep kicking me. How can I stop you from doing that?” Chuck replied with, “You could move.” The old adage, “The best defense is to not be there” comes into play here, which means that if someone is firing a punch or kick at you, just simply moving out of the line of fire is the best response.
My professional opinion comes from three of my instructors who actually knew Bruce Lee and worked out with him (Joe Lewis and two others). My one instructor did very well against Bruce. The other instructor actually sparred Bruce, and then ended up fighting Chuck in a tournament. I remember one day I was with this instructor and a commercial came on that Chuck Norris was in. He looked at the television and said, “He kicked my ass.” Then he proceeded to say that Chuck Norris would have ruined Bruce Lee in a fight. This instructor said that when he sparred Bruce it was a pretty even match. Bruce caught him with a good punch and then he kicked Bruce right in the balls and dropped him. He then said when he fought Chuck, it wasn’t pretty. Chuck kicked his butt. By the way, this instructor of mine is certainly no slouch. He was one of Elvis Presley’s bodyguards.
So, according to a man who fought both of them, Chuck Norris would have beaten the tar out of Bruce Lee. Some others will disagree, but what really matters is that both of these fine men have done more for the martial arts industry than anybody else (primarily because of their movies) and both have learned from each other. With all that being said, let us never forget that Chuck Norris was an only child…eventually.
