for the people that says bruce lee was a actor not a fighter.
Interviewer: We know Bruce was an excellent screen fighter, but he could REALLY fight?
Bob Wall: "Let's get something straight, Bruce Lee was the real deal. I know alot of people think he was only good on the screen but they are wrong. Dead wrong! Many people have already had found out the hard way just how wrong they were!"
Interviewer: How did he train to be such a competent fighter?
Bob Wall: "You have got to remember where Bruce came from. He fought constantly as a teenager in Hong Kong. He used to be in a gang, so he was quite used to fighting. I remember talking to his family when we were filming Enter the Dragon in Hong Kong, and they said Bruce would sometimes come home all bloody, and they thought he was going to die, only to find out the blood came from the guy he had just beat up! Oh, Bruce lost his share of fights too, and this is one reason he became so intent on taking up a martial art. Because if you can't fight well, it could get you killed. One day he wondered what would happen if he was caught without his gang, and his parents took him to Yip Man, a well known Wing Chun instructor in Hong Kong. A few years later, Bruce's parents were being contacted by the Hong Kong police so often for fighting, they said if he gets caught one more time, he's going to jail.
This caused his parents to send him to America and start a new life here.
Moving ahead many years later, Bruce came up with the idea to spar full contact making the training as real as possible.
He fought with anyone that was willing. I've fought with Bruce myself a number of times, and had witnessed or had heard of many sparring sessions not just with other martial artists, but with champion Karate fighters, such as Louis Delgado, Skipper Mullins, Jim Kelly, Pat Burleson, Chuck Norris, Allen Steen and a few others. You have got to understand where these guys had come from in terms of practical self defense. While some came from the streets as Mullins and Steen had, most of these guys were used to fighting within the confines of a ring, so what Bruce was doing was a real wake up call for them."
Interviewer: What do you mean wake up call?
Bob Wall: "Well, it's like this...all great fighters have the same make-up in terms of intensity, commitment, will, drive and of course talent. Now, you have to remember that the type of fighting most Karate champions were used to, had rules and restrictions. It was SUPPOSED to be no contact to light contact, but people were always getting hurt, some quite badly, so they were used to contact. And even though many of these guys were really tough, I mean REALLY tough, and could take it as well as dish it out, they weren't prepared for Bruce.
Just the look on their faces was a sight to behold when Bruce would just move in and shut them down. They were used to trading punches and kicks with other fast and powerful opponents, and scoring on them frequently. You know, more evenly matched. I know it was hard for me to deal with the frustration when sparring with Bruce, and I know it was exceptionally hard for alot of them.
Especially since Bruce never fought professionally."
Interviewer: It must have been embarrassing for some of these guys.
Bob Wall: "Think about it this way...many of these guys were WORLD CHAMPIONS. They had faced and defeated the best in the business accross the globe. They are proud fighters. Who wouldn't be humiliated losing to a guy who has not fought professionally, and has no rank or certification to boot? It is my opinion that losing to Bruce in some ways was more devastating than losing a title fight. At least in a title fight, you know your opponent worked his butt off to get there, and it took a great deal of time. Many years of hard work, and paying your dues. Then you fight this little 140 pound guy and he just cleans your clock."
Interviewer: Can you really call them fights? I mean, sparring isn't really fighting is it?
Wall: "YOU tell these guys they weren't real fights. It was damn brutal!
In fact, most of these guys have never taken that kind of punishment before, but they sure learned the difference between what they were used to, and what they were learning from Bruce!
Interviewer: Were there any rules, or did you really try and hurt each other?
Bob Wall: "Well, we certainly didn't want to see anyone get hurt, that's just an inevitability sometimes. And no, the only rule was no following through with joint locks. If we did follow through, reconstructive surgery would be needed.
Interviewer So Bruce fought with grapplers too?
Bob Wall: "Bruce fought with EVERYBODY! Anyone who wanted to spar was welcome. We had people from every type of combat imaginable from punchers and kickers, to wrestlers, boxers, and everyone in between. Bruce loved to train, and we loved to train too. The list of people who worked with Bruce at one point in his life or another, reads like a who's who in the martial arts community.
I want you to understand that it wasn't like Bruce came in and kicked everyone's butt, and was all high and mighty. It's just that Bruce could pick things up very quickly, and adapt what he learned into his personal way of fighting almost immediately. Now, don't get me wrong, Bruce was learning right along with the rest of us, and I'm sure he would be the first to admit that.
He once told me that if you ever think you've learned everything, your dead in the water. It just seemed to us that Bruce was alot farther down the path to self mastery than any of the other people in the martial arts at that time.
James Worley said he couldnt get anywhere near Bruce Lee let alone beat him!
He was one in a billion!
Interviewer: We know Bruce was an excellent screen fighter, but he could REALLY fight?
Bob Wall: "Let's get something straight, Bruce Lee was the real deal. I know alot of people think he was only good on the screen but they are wrong. Dead wrong! Many people have already had found out the hard way just how wrong they were!"
Interviewer: How did he train to be such a competent fighter?
Bob Wall: "You have got to remember where Bruce came from. He fought constantly as a teenager in Hong Kong. He used to be in a gang, so he was quite used to fighting. I remember talking to his family when we were filming Enter the Dragon in Hong Kong, and they said Bruce would sometimes come home all bloody, and they thought he was going to die, only to find out the blood came from the guy he had just beat up! Oh, Bruce lost his share of fights too, and this is one reason he became so intent on taking up a martial art. Because if you can't fight well, it could get you killed. One day he wondered what would happen if he was caught without his gang, and his parents took him to Yip Man, a well known Wing Chun instructor in Hong Kong. A few years later, Bruce's parents were being contacted by the Hong Kong police so often for fighting, they said if he gets caught one more time, he's going to jail.
This caused his parents to send him to America and start a new life here.
Moving ahead many years later, Bruce came up with the idea to spar full contact making the training as real as possible.
He fought with anyone that was willing. I've fought with Bruce myself a number of times, and had witnessed or had heard of many sparring sessions not just with other martial artists, but with champion Karate fighters, such as Louis Delgado, Skipper Mullins, Jim Kelly, Pat Burleson, Chuck Norris, Allen Steen and a few others. You have got to understand where these guys had come from in terms of practical self defense. While some came from the streets as Mullins and Steen had, most of these guys were used to fighting within the confines of a ring, so what Bruce was doing was a real wake up call for them."
Interviewer: What do you mean wake up call?
Bob Wall: "Well, it's like this...all great fighters have the same make-up in terms of intensity, commitment, will, drive and of course talent. Now, you have to remember that the type of fighting most Karate champions were used to, had rules and restrictions. It was SUPPOSED to be no contact to light contact, but people were always getting hurt, some quite badly, so they were used to contact. And even though many of these guys were really tough, I mean REALLY tough, and could take it as well as dish it out, they weren't prepared for Bruce.
Just the look on their faces was a sight to behold when Bruce would just move in and shut them down. They were used to trading punches and kicks with other fast and powerful opponents, and scoring on them frequently. You know, more evenly matched. I know it was hard for me to deal with the frustration when sparring with Bruce, and I know it was exceptionally hard for alot of them.
Especially since Bruce never fought professionally."
Interviewer: It must have been embarrassing for some of these guys.
Bob Wall: "Think about it this way...many of these guys were WORLD CHAMPIONS. They had faced and defeated the best in the business accross the globe. They are proud fighters. Who wouldn't be humiliated losing to a guy who has not fought professionally, and has no rank or certification to boot? It is my opinion that losing to Bruce in some ways was more devastating than losing a title fight. At least in a title fight, you know your opponent worked his butt off to get there, and it took a great deal of time. Many years of hard work, and paying your dues. Then you fight this little 140 pound guy and he just cleans your clock."
Interviewer: Can you really call them fights? I mean, sparring isn't really fighting is it?
Wall: "YOU tell these guys they weren't real fights. It was damn brutal!
In fact, most of these guys have never taken that kind of punishment before, but they sure learned the difference between what they were used to, and what they were learning from Bruce!
Interviewer: Were there any rules, or did you really try and hurt each other?
Bob Wall: "Well, we certainly didn't want to see anyone get hurt, that's just an inevitability sometimes. And no, the only rule was no following through with joint locks. If we did follow through, reconstructive surgery would be needed.
Interviewer So Bruce fought with grapplers too?
Bob Wall: "Bruce fought with EVERYBODY! Anyone who wanted to spar was welcome. We had people from every type of combat imaginable from punchers and kickers, to wrestlers, boxers, and everyone in between. Bruce loved to train, and we loved to train too. The list of people who worked with Bruce at one point in his life or another, reads like a who's who in the martial arts community.
I want you to understand that it wasn't like Bruce came in and kicked everyone's butt, and was all high and mighty. It's just that Bruce could pick things up very quickly, and adapt what he learned into his personal way of fighting almost immediately. Now, don't get me wrong, Bruce was learning right along with the rest of us, and I'm sure he would be the first to admit that.
He once told me that if you ever think you've learned everything, your dead in the water. It just seemed to us that Bruce was alot farther down the path to self mastery than any of the other people in the martial arts at that time.
James Worley said he couldnt get anywhere near Bruce Lee let alone beat him!
He was one in a billion!
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