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Who is your favourite Martial Arts star between Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan?
Posted by humanbeing1940 • 9/04/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: actors, favourites, martial arts, movies
I just posted a piece on my blog about learning personal growth from Bruce Lee's philosophical concept Jeet Kune Do which can be read here:
www.knowledgereform.com/2009/09/04/code-of-conduct-to-living-4-rules-you-mu...
I was wondering who you like more between Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan?
Did you like Bruce's seriousness, realism, philosophical wisdom, dynamism and charisma on screen?
Or do you rather like Jackie's comedic value, action stunts, versatility and affable character?
Personally for me, Bruce is the man and if he were alive today I don't think Jackie would have been as big a star as he is in Hong Kong and Hollywood.
User Comments
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I guess there ain't many kung-fu fans here...you guys must like watching the likes of "The Sound of Music"...not a bad film, mind you.
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Okay okay...so you all like to watch "Mary Poppins" - I'm sure I'll get a response to that. Everyone loves Disney movies.
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Try Tom and Jerry.. :-)
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Brandon Lee and the late Bruce Lee. I still watch his chops -
BTW it's a bit of apples to oranges .. or like Sun and the Moon.. The sun was shining, and when it set, the moon appeared and gave some light. And why not admire the moon while it is there?
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I can see why they call you crazyTsu...
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The late Brandon Lee was always in the shadow of his father, but he was about to emerge from out of it after "The Crow" - but he was tragically struck down in his prime, just like his father. No conpiracy theorists here please.
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Should we throw in Jet Li, Jean Claude Van Damme and Jason Statham into the mix?
The above are all for the modern-day kung-fu fans brought up on nothing more than the same old fight choreography and wires.-
I told you try Tom n Jerry
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Going by the popularity of this thread I may take your advice...what is it with new kids on the block and people not wanting to talk to them?
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Don't get your knickers in a twist
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A quick lesson in nothing in particular.
Discussions » 39 comments from user 'humanbeing1940'
Discussions » 11,804 comments from user 'crpitt'
Time my friend, be patient and they will come.
Or they think you are rubbish. -
I maybe rubbish but at least it doesn't take me 11,804 comments for them to ascertain that...see, I am making some progress.
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Or they just don't know who you are and can't be bothered.
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Bruce Lee by a mile.
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Hip hip hooray! I've got one on my side.
Thanks crpitt, but why Bruce rather than Jackie?-
Bruce because of his charisma and basically everything you wrote. My mother absolutely adores/adored him and that also may have influenced my decision.
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I wonder if your mother would adore him as much off the screen?
Bruce was known to be a arrogant, pushy b*****d with a murderous temper. -
Then why didn't you get it when Isaid BL=Sun and JC=moon?
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I like Jackie Chan-- adding the comedic element to the martial arts captures my interest.
I also have enjoyed Stephen Chow films like Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer.-
See I told you...these modern day fans brought up on nothing but wires and special effects.
I'm of the traditional old skool martial arts. -
You asked. I gave my answer.
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Kung fu hustle was hilarious.
I like older Jackie Chan, like 'Legend of the Drunken Master.'
But, besides 'Enter the Dragon' I haven't seen much Bruce Lee.
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@crpitt
If my Mrs ever caught me wearing her knickers I'd be done for...-
You could buy your own.
Lesson number 2 hit the 'reply' by the comment you want to respond to, therefore creating a more Zen like flow.
Fast learner -
Thank you, Grasshopper! You may become a zen master yet.
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I still watch The Crow every halloween and still burn candles for Brandon. Yeah I am a dork
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Don't forget my picture right here
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Jackie Chan is funny and has awesome martial art skills, but Bruce Lee's charisma does it for me -
Jet Li, Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan have such different approaches to their martial arts that it's a bit hard to compare them, at least in their latest shapes.
Bruce Lee was a talented and great martial artist, he was actually a "real" fighter who first studied Wing Chun with Yip Man and then moved on to developing his own style, Jeet Kune Do, wich he sadly never completed. His movies are quite inspiring wo watch, since what you see is in a way "real" kung fu, and he was every bit capable of using it.
Jackie Chan's early movies were in my opinion pretty silly (like most Hong Kong kung fu movies in the 70's) because of the lame choreography and clockwork fighting. You could almost put on some music and watch the actors move in time with it throughout the whole fight sequence. Punch-stop-kick-stop-punch-stop-block-stop, etc. But later on he found his thing with the martial arts/comedy mix. The choreography and speed of the action scenes is breathtaking, and along with the whacky comedy and ludicrous "weapons" that he uses, it's thoroughly entertaining to watch. From a puritan point of view, Chan's kung fu isn't quite as "real", though, since he learned about acting and martial arts at the Chinese opera school in Beijin, if I'm not mistaken. His martial arts, the same as Jet Li's, are more of the wushu kind, i.e. a style that looks really impressive and is practised and competed in for it's spectacular acrobatics and form, rather than used to actually fight.
Jet Li's earlier movies were in my opinion much better than his most recent ones. The stuff he did while he was still back in China, like "Tai-Chi master", his Fong-Sai Yuk and Wong Fey-Hung movies, were excellent! They were in a way similar to Jackie Chan's movies, as there was usually quite a bit of comedy involved, and the action scenes were well choreographed and executed. After he went to Hollywood, his movies lost all sense of humor, though, and his roles seem to be the same one in all of them: stone-faced and emotionless fighter who is nearly invincible and speaks very little. The choreography is cool, but often he makes the fighting look too effortless. An army of bad guys run at him, and he fights them off all at once with one hand in his pocket, it kind of takes the excitement out of it. That, along with the roles devoid of any expression, makes the movies a whole lot more boring to watch than the earlier ones.-
Great. Finally a good martial arts thread to geek out in, and I kill it...
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You know your stuff in regards Eastern Heroes.
Bruce was a one off and was was successful in so many facets.
Who here knew that Bruce was an excellent dancer and even won the local Cha Cha championships when aged 17?
Jet Li's best movie in my opinion was his first, "Shaolin Temple". He made a few more decent movies as you mentioned, and a particular favourite "Fist of Legend", which was remake of none other than Bruce Lee's "Fist of Fury".
Jet's career has gone downhill ever since he went Hollywood.
Jackie was groomed to be the next Bruce Lee, even making a remake of, again, "Fist of Fury". But he was never comfortable trying to be somebody that he wasn't. His biggest heroes was in fact Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd, both silent movie comedic stunt-men. Hence, Jackie choosing that niche to show of his acrobatic background (grew up in a Chinese Opera Circus). -
Cool, I didn't know Bruce danced too.
A fun detail about Jackie Chan's background is that he learned all kinds of stuff at the Opera Circus where he grew up, not just martial arts. He sings quite well too and sings the main theme himself in a lot of his movies.
I may be wrong, but I think Jet Li's first part in a Hollywood movie was in Lethal Weapon 4 against Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, and strangely, his role in that movie was pretty much a stereotype that all his roles in Hollywood were based on after that. Ruthless and expressionless fighter who doesn't speak much. Maybe his success in that part led to directors just wanting him to repeat that exact role in other movies after that? -
Yeah, you're right. Jet's first Hollywood role was in Lethal Weapon 4.
I think Jet's silence in many of the US movies is down to the fact that his English is not the best - he's trying to improve his English so to appeal to a western audience but to no avail. He's been in America for more than several years but he still can't manage to put together a decent sentence.
If you can remember, it was the same for Jackie when he first crossed over to hollywood, but he has improved a lot in speaking terms since then. -
Could be, but he actually does a decent amount of talking in Cradle 2 the grave, and it doesn't sound bad. He actually has less of an accent in that movie than Jackie Chan usually has. But maybe he just memorized the lines phonetically without actually understanding all of it? No clue.
Anyways, there are some cool martial arts actresses too. One of my favourites is Michelle Yeoh, who never actually learned any martial arts. She was a ballet dancer, studied in London, and uses her dancing skills to fake the martial arts moves in her movies. Zhang Ziyi does the same.
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Hey guys some trivia for you...
Can you name the films that featured both Bruce and Jackie?
In all of the movies Jackie got his ass kicked by Bruce big time, although in one of the them it was an indirect kicking, if you get my drift. -
Bruce Lee's fight scenes look better for some reason.-
Yeah, he was a realist and a real martial artist, as opposed to Jackie's acrobatic upbringing.
I still maintain that the best fight scene in movie history is the one with Bruce Lee vs. Chuck Norris in "Way of the Dragon" Nothing can touch the realism, techniques and atmosphere of that scene even today.
And that hairy body of Chuck...that's what you call a real man!
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I like Jackie Chan and Jet Li -
Yip Man-
He's awesome! Tiny guy, but he practised a cool style.
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By the way guys, have you seen the "Yip Man" movie starring Donnie Yen playing the lead?
Decent movie with Donnie doing a good job with the Wing Chun style...well, he did have Sammo Hung to teach him.
The movie will be in three parts - part two will be out later this year with a young Bruce Lee making an entrance. -
I didn't know they made one about him, I'll have to check that out.
Donnie Yen is usually pretty good. I didn't see that many of his movies, but he did a good job in Drunken Tai Chi and the Wing Chun movie. -
Yeah guys, this movie was released last year. Good mix of action and drama - worth a watch despite wires being used in a few scenes.
If you guys like the Wing Chun style you must love Sammo Hung who I rate a better martial artist than Jackie.
The best Wing Chun movie by far is Sammo's "Prodigal Son". Great film with fantastic techniques - no wire effects also. Lam Ching Ying puts in the perfomance of a lifetime with the traditional Wing Chun.
Another Sammo Wing Chun directed movie is "Warriors Two". I do love my classic kung-fu movies than the modern stuff. -
I just watched the movie. It was pretty good, I think. Donnie Yen did indeed do well with the style. There was definitely some cheating going on, but then again, there usually is in martial arts movies.
The movie takes some pretty big liberties with the story, so it's pretty far from a biopic, but just seen for what it is, a martial arts movie based on Ip Man and Wing Chun, it's quite good. I like it. -
Rainhat, have you practiced any martial arts?
I use to practice Kateda which is a style to do with breathing and chi power...and of course I also use to do Wing Chun.
I love Wing Chun, a beautiful style being both at once scientific and economical...even a woman can be a master of it.
In fact, the style was created by a woman...she was a Nun. -
Yup, I tried a couple of different styles, though I'm far from an expert in any of them. Kendo and Wushu only for about six months each and Tai Chi for about 5 years. I did Wing Chun for about a year, but then I moved to Canada and they didn't have a Wing Chun club where I lived, unfortunately. I'm moving back to the place where I practised Wing Chun in December, though, so I think I'm gonna take it up again if I have the money for it. It's a fun style to practise, but unfortunately it's also one of the most expensive ones, at least here. And all the politics and squabbling between the different branches I could definitely do without as well...
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No I didn't get to see Ip Man yet, will get around to it now that i know it's out ther. Thanks
You have to love Bruce for his intense fighting style and determination. Jackie, was great at improvisation, the way he used anything at hand to even the odds.
One of my favorite Fu Movies was the 5 Deadly Venoms
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkjL78bYvXQ -
Jackie Chan is silly and makes people laught xD But Bruce Lee was a true professional of martial arts -
Bruce Lee. Pretty much self-explanatory. -
Considering Bruce and Jackie, it is probably not fair to compare them due to their different backgrounds. Jackie was brought up mostly trained for stage show acrobatics and had no formal training in the martial arts.
However, Bruce was also brought up for the stage early on his life due to his dad being an actor in a chinese opera and being around the showbusiness scene in general - Bruce did his first stint on a show aged 3 months, and appeared in many childhood movies before going into the martial arts. -
Bruce Lee is my choice. Jackie Chan is talented for sure but Bruce Rules. -
I think Bruce Lee has two sides that he wants to show to the people, the side of his kung fu and his dedication to that, and the other, the movie star. Jackie Chan is more movie star than martial artist, he is famous for been an actor.
Remember we water my friend ha ha. A hug.
Mario. -
1 bruce lee
2 jackie chan
3 jet lee -
jackie chan, though bruce lee was fantastic but too violent.-
That is why Bruce Lee was realist. He wanted to show that fighting was a serious matter, and yes violent, not just for the sake of it.
Bruce was a martial artist who wanted to educate the masses with realism in regerds chinese kung-fu...and if one actually ever got into a real fight not to mess around with all the flashy moves seen in other movies that don't actually work in real life.
Wing Chun (which Bruce first studied)is one such style which teaches you to finish a fight in seconds - pull no punches! -
He actually moved away from Chinese Kung Fu because of the flashy wasted movements. His Jeet Kun Do style was formless. Basically it was whatever got the job done at the moment. If you watch his last movie, the one where he died before they finished it, you will understand his philosophy. -
Yes , I know about Jeet Kune Do...I was mostly referring to Wing Chun which is a branch of Chinese Kung-fu and is one style which get's the job done...believe me.
The film in question that seemed to have escaped you was "Game of Death". Bruce's actual last film was "Enter The Dragon"
As for understanding the philosophy of Jeet Kune Do, I wrote a recent post on just that. Peruse if you're interested:
www.knowledgereform.com/2009/09/04/code-of-conduct-to-living-4-rules-you-mu...
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I liked David Carradine above these 2-
Hahahaha...You're joking right?
The only thing that looked good on Carradine was his bald head in "Kung-fu"
That particular series was actually made for Bruce Lee but they overlooked him because of his race...something about him not appealing to the American audiance. Racism in Hollywood was rife in those days.
So they gave it to David who knew nothing about martial arts never mind Shaolin kung-fu. I didn't know that being the right colour qualified someone to be a kung-fu grand master? -
Bruce lee would kick you through a wall for your lack of a sense of humor.
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Oh, and by the way I do have a sense of humor thank you very much, but not all of the time. I was just filling him in with some background info.
Lucky for me Bruce is not alive today to kick my butt, eh. -
You cant compare the Kungfu Series to Martial Arts movies ?,Its a whole diffrent kind of genre,And Yes I knew Bruce Lee was in the running for the show and Yes DC did know about Martial Arts..
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Carradine did know something about martial arts, but he only started studying it after he got the role in Kung Fu.
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Steven Seagal. His fight scenes are amazing. How many people can kick more ass by just waving their hands in the air?
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And make dozens of movies without ever changing his facial expression! That has got to be some kind of record.
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How about without changing his clothes? Black jacket, black shirt, black pants, black shoes. I think playing the same character in every single movie is a record also.
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But sometimes he has a black leather jacket and sometimes a chinese kungfu style shirt.
But apart from being a rather um... 'stolid' actor, he's actually very good at Aikido. He lived and practised in Japan for a while, has 7th dan and was an instructor in Los Angeles before he started "acting". -
Who has the other 6 Dans?
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Why does he walk around like he has something up his rear. It's probably Bruce's foot. -
And don't forget that ponytail...pure inspiration.
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I'd rather watch Jackie Chan to see how he utilizes everything around him not depending on blocks and reactions with his own body. Jackie Chan is more real where Bruce Lee is like some kind of superman and harder to feel inspired with.
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You got a point there Loriworks. Jackie's fighting style within a given environment is perhaps more realistic in terms of streetfighting. I was really looking at the two at a more martial arts technique perspective.
Maybe both are equal to what they could achieve in fighting terms. As long as it works, huh.
Good observation
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C'mon that is not even a question. Bruce lee was a philosopher, he made his own technique, he formulated Jeet Kune Do from studying different kinds of Martial Arts. He was a genius. Jeet Kune Do is a combination of both, Western boxing and Fencing. If done properly, Jeet Kune Do can be a tremendous force to be used against an enemy. No offense to Jackie Chan fans, I like Jackie Chan, I like his movies, but Jackie is Jackie, he is a great actor, great acrobat, he is a perfectionist in his own ways, him and Bruce are too much too different from each other. I give respects to both of them for being in the entertainment industry and for sharing what they have to people. And that makes them great at what they do. I am techie guy, I have a techie blog, but I just got to comment. : ) -
Wing Chun, is created by a person named Yip Man, which is Bruce Lee's mentor. And Bruce used some part of Wing Chun and developed it further for his own technique which is Jeet Kune Do.
And I just got to comment about Jackie being good at utilizing everything in his environment, well, those stunts are only seen in his movies, and it's a movie, movies are choreographed. -
Bruce Lee is about the coolest of all time. Followed closely by Abdullah The Butcher. -
Bruce's last finished film was "Enter The Dragon", but at the time of Bruce's death, he was filming what was supposed to be 'The Game of Death" but due to some unforeseen disaster Bruce died due to "misadventure" and it's not because of cardiac arrest. So Bruce's unfinished movie was "The Game of Death".
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Who is Abdullah the butcher?
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Wing Chun's History - The Popular Version
In the late 1600's and early 1700's Kung Fu became very popular at the Siu Lam (Shaolin) monastery in Honan Province, China. The Kung Fu exercises were designed to help keep the monks and abbots awake during long periods of mental training and meditation. By exercising their bodies as well as their minds they developed even further in their spiritual training. The Manchu (non-Chinese) government in the North at the time were deeply suspicious of such activities, believing the monastery to be training an army. They eventually attacked the monastery, burning it to the ground and killing many of the monks and disciples.
A few escaped the attack though, and they are thought to have been Buddhist nun Ng Moi, Abbot Chi Shin, Abbot Pak Mei, Fung To Tak and Master Miu Hin.
Ng Moi hid on Mt Tai Leung and it was there that she met Yim Yee and his daughter Wing Chun. Wing Chun was a beautiful teenager who had attracted the unwanted attention of a local man. Ng Moi liked Wing Chun and agreed to teach her Kung Fu to defend herself. After training Wing Chun eventually challenged her persistent admirer and beat him in a fight.
Wing Chun carried on training in Kung Fu and taught her husband when she married - Leung Bok Chau. He named the system after his wife and passed it on to Leung Lan Kwai. Leung LAN Kwai in turn passed the Kung Fu techniques to Wong Wah Bo who taught a man named Leung Yee Tai. Leung Yee Tai had already learnt a pole form from escaped Abbot Chi Shin, and thus the pole form was incorporated into the system. Leung Yee Tai passed the system to Leung Jan, a doctor of Fatshan, China. Leung Jan became an absolute Master of Wing Chun and defeated many challengers from other styles of Kung Fu. He taught everything he knew to Chan Wah Shun.
1950's and Yip Man To The Present Day
Chan Wah Shun taught the system to a man named Yip Man, who attained the highest level of skill within Wing Chun and taught many people, including Bruce Lee in the 1950's in Hong Kong. Yip Man simplified the system, particularly removing the long and complicated names and is mainly responsible for the Wing Chun system as we know it today. He was a superb teacher and taught according to the individual's own skill and knowledge, adapting his approach where necessary. Wing Chun flourished in Hong Kong and Yip Man also passed his knowledge to his two sons, Yip Chun and Yip Ching. They continue the tradition and have themselves many students and instructors under them. Sifu Shaun Rawcliffe, Chief Instructor of the Midlands Wing Chun Kuen, is a representative of GrandMaster Yip Chun. Today, both Yip Chun and Yip Ching continue to teach and pass on their wealth of knowledge through seminars, and their health and vitality is an example to us all.
wing-chun.gungfu.com/ -
Wow, that really is a great info. Thanks man. You have enlightened me.
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Stephen Chow is good too, although his movies are comedic and funny, it's really obvious that he is following Bruce Lee's teachings.
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Bruce Lee. Why? Visit: nanovio.blogspot.com/2009/04/come-alive.html -
I always looking for entertainment when going to movie. So it must be Jacky - he's funnier and more of an entertainer. -
@Halconite, if you have noticed on both of his movies, Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle, both of which are my favorites. In those movies he seemed to promote bruce lee's Jeet Kune Do. All the moves that he used in those movies are famous Jeet Kune Do moves, even the philosophy of jeet kune do was applied in some part of the movie. But, that is only my observation.
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Stephen Chow's are fantasy movies though,- as you have said, employing Jet Kune Do moves or stances, or discipline as a whole. Chow's target audience are children and youngsters while Lee's are the mature ones. I also go for Stephen Chow as an artist...
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The only thing i agree about is that if Bruce was still alive then Jacky would not have been as big a star today (he would most likely have been a huge stunt star though)
as a whole i do prefer Jackie Chan though
The point about Jackie chans style not being 'real' is completely missing the point.
His style was never meant to be 'real' he wanted to do something completely different and succeeded in doing so.
Some of his early movies were actually serious kung fu flicks - with some great action but as was usually the case in those days (outside of the shaw movies) the stories were pretty poor.
Jackie Chans style was never about martial arts per se - its more about using the environment around him and boy does he do that well!
Bruce Lee on the other hand was a 'real' kung fu star - a man who lived and breathed martial arts. He walked, talked and backed it up 9 times out of 10.
Although i'm still interested to know the real story about the underground fight he had...
On another note - I'm really dissappointed with how Yuen Biaos career ended up - he was one of the most talented artists but he couldnt really sustain his career :-( a real shame if you ask me (I'm planning to write a article on him to look at the reasons why his career never took off the way Sammos, Jet Li and Jackies did)
Another surpise ... Donnie Yen ! Huge interest in Donnie Yen now but for me outside of Jackie Chan he was always one of my favourites, even in the films in which he played a supporting role (Once upon a time in china, Hero, Shanghai, Wing Chun, Twins Mission) he usually outshone his rivals. A true screen fighter but sadly nearing the twilight of his career in front of the camera. -
o how about we throw a poll into the mix....
www.proprofs.com/polls/poll/?title=who-is-your-favourite-ever-martial-arts-... -
Is this question real? Does anyone have any doubt when answering this?
"Water can flow and water can crash... be water my friend" - Bruce Lee
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