"BLUE" JIMMY: MARTIAL ARTIST
BLIND DOG OZZY: NEUROTIC CHIHUAHUA
"BLUE" JIMMY: I read an article in a martial arts magazine recently where some steroid-injected thick-neck muscle-head was shooting off his mouth and had the stupidity to say that in his opinion, Bruce Lee would have not been able to keep up with today's UFC fighters because he wouldn't have the right physical training or ground fighting techniques or Brazilian Jujitsu moves or whatever to compete in today's mixed martial arts competitions. Oh, son! you're lucky The Great Bruce Lee isn't alive today or you'd have an elegant silk, Chinese kung fu slipper stuck deep up your ass right now. What a lot of these young, competitive fighters nowadays don't realize is that Bruce Lee was the first mixed martial artist.
BD OZZY: They watch the movies he made and figure it's all Hollywood but they don't know the history of the real martial artist known as "The Little Dragon." Lee broke all the rules when it came to the martial arts. When he came to the United States, he practiced kung fu at a time when most people thought it was an item on a Chinese takeout menu, he taught non-asians, and he broke tradition by inventing his own martial art. Lee scoured the world in search of the best fighting techniques from all cultures and fighting methods: kung fu; tai chi; karate; judo; jujitsu; aikido; taekwondo; hapkido; kenpo; bando; muay thai; pencak silat; eskrima; sambo; savate; capoeira; boxing; wrestling and anything that worked.
"BLUE" JIMMY: Lee took all these martial arts and boiled them down into the martial art he called Jeet Kune Do, which he described as a "style without a style." One of the basic tenets of Lee's fighting system was that you should take what you need and discard the rest, which he taught, should apply to everything he taught you as well. Many people have applied this not only to the martial arts, but to their entire lives as well with great success. In the case of Jeet Kune Do, it created a fighting system which can be all things and anything, thus, there are no rigid rules, forms or techniques. In a JDK school, you learn how to punch, kick, trap (block) grapple and use your bodily weapons but how you use them is up to your fighting instincts after you have practiced well.
BD OZZY: If anyone doubts that Lee could have competed in the ring and fought on the ground in today's contests, (although he would have probably knocked you out by then) check out the various throws, holds, joint locks, and chokes he uses in his films, showing that he was a master of these techniques long before they became trendy for non-skilled brawlers to use when they got too tired to stand up and fight like men in MMA contests.
"BLUE" JIMMY: Too tired was not in Lee's lexicon brother, his conditioning was legendary. From one arm pushups on two fingers to the "dragon flag" ab exercise to impossible calisthenics and advanced gymnastic moves, Lee did it all. And he trained for combat! A few decades ago, when muay thai boxers came to this country and started battering "karate experts" to the ground with their fighting skills, people wanted to know what their secret was. Their secret was that they trained for real combat, throwing hundreds of punches, elbows, knees and kicks against hard objects and real opponents at full strength until they became fighting machines. This knowledge was not lost on Lee, who trained as though hand-to-hand war was imminent. Combine this with inhuman speed, flexibility, agility, knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine, and a gentle warrior philosophy of life and you have the ultimate martial artist. So, Mr. bench 400 pounds, buns-of-steel weightlifter guy who starts fights to impress his girlfriend, be aware that when a peaceful person crushes your adam's apple and hyper-extends your knee backwards in a fight, it was the spirit of the "Little Dragon " that moved through them.
BD OZZY: And left a beautiful Chinese calligraphy painting for you in the hospital!
"BLUE" JIMMY: Sake's Alive!
BD OZZY: Wow! Wow!
bluejames61@hotmail.com
bluejames61@hotmail.com
