Bruce Lee vs Chuck Norris: FIGHT!!!

Both guys were tough in their own, amazing ways, but which one was truly the toughest fighter of all time? You can learn a lot about a man by the manner in which he fights, so one should probably start there.

Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris both developed their own style of martial arts. Jeet Kune Do and Chun Kuk Do respectively.


Norris' style, Chun Kuk Do, traslates in Korean into "The Universal Way" and is taken heavily from his original training in the Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan, a Korean style which ephasizes heavily on kicking techniques. He then trained with many of the most respected masters in the world, in various forms of karate, judo, and jui-jitsu, and incorporated them into his Chun Kuk Do to create a very impressive fighting style. Chun Kuk Do does take heavily from it's Korean originator, focusing heavily on kicks. It is a very rigid and structured fighting style, which exahlts the strength of strength in many ways, pressing it's students to press themselves to the limit of their potential. The philosophy of this style is constant improvement and strength both in body and character. A good man is a strong man. "Give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you will have no time to criticize others."

Jeet Kune Do, the famous style of Bruce Lee, translates into "Way of the Intercepting Fist", although some mistranslate it into the (perhaps more approprate) title, "No Way at All" (a phrase which does appear on the JKD logo). More a fighting philosophy then a style, Bruce Lee developed Jeet Kune Do through the study of many other styles (even fencing), stripping away what he felt was unnecissary, and utilizing only what was. Cenered around "Combat realism", Jeet Kune Do is all based upon efficiency, directness, and simplicity. It contains no flowery techniques or fancy showmanship. It does not teach forms or set ways to counter certain techniques, since in a true street fight, they will not likely be of any use. It is all about defeating your enemy in the most effective and efficient way possible. Jeet Kune Do practitioners are advised to seek out opponents of every style they can, fight them, and learn what they can from the experience, win or lose. Bruce Lee claimed that JKD was a forever changing concept and thus was extremely flexible. "Absorb that which is useful; Discard that which is useless; Add what is specifically your own."

Both Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris have created well rounded and increadibly useful systems of martial arts. I think that the best way to compare them would be to say that Lee's philosophy is like water, where as Chuck's is like Earth. Jeet Kune Do is flowing and ever changing, constanting improving and decovering new things. It has no structure or way. That is why it is called the "Style of no Style". Lee even once spoke about his fighting philosophy, saying that one must be like water, taking on the appropriate form for whatever task is at hand. Chuck Norris, on the other hand, is strong and unwavering. Like a mountain, immovable and good. Mighty both in body and heart with an endless pool of unwavering determination.

Both Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris have accomplished amazing feats of physical prowess and combat skill, proving that they are indeed two of the greatest Martial Arts masters who have ever lived. Here are some of those feats.

Bruce Lee:

Once was challenged by another martial arts master named Wong Jack Man, who claimed that he had no right to teach martial arts to Caucasians and others of non-Asian descent. Though this man was a respected master in and of himself, witnesses of the fight claim that Bruce defeated him in under 3 minutes, beating him so badly that the man actually turned and ran at one point, forcing Lee to chase after him.

His punching speed was once clocked at going from totally relaxed at his side to fully extended punch in only 5/100ths of a second. Similarly, in his movies, the choreographers not only requested that he slow down so as that a normal person could comprehend his motions, but they also had to use a special camera that worked at 32 frames per second, rather then the typical 24 that was used at that time time. Also, in a demonstration of speed, Bruce Lee proved capable of grabbing a dime from a man's open palm and replacing it with a penny before the man could close his hand.

Bruce Lee's infamous "one-inch punch" was demonstrated one time in a special set up, where a man by the name of Bob Baker, who volunteered to be puched in the chest, placing a chair behind himself to catch him when he fell. Lee positioned his fist an inch from Bob's chest and, from such a short distance, and without any noticable change to his posture, delivered a puch that held such force that Mr. Baker actually fell over the chair and onto his back. According to Baker himself, he had to call in sick the next day at work because the pain in his chest was unbareable.

Demonstrated his "unstoppable puch" against World Karate Champoin Vic Moore, challenging him to block an increadibly fast, straight punch to Vic Moore's face. Although Bruce Lee purposefully stopped his puch centimeters before he actually hit the man, after 8 tries Mr. Moore proved that he was not capable of reacting to the punch in time, and could not deflect or block it if Bruce were to actually attempt to puch him.

Perhaps most impressively, Bruce Lee knocked out a Japanese Black Belt, a man named Uechi, in a mere 11 seconds during a Full-Contact match in Seattle. According to Ed Harts, the referee who timed the match, Lee hit the man somthing like 15 times and then kicked him once, defeating him before the Black Belt even had time to react, and ending the fight with a kick that knocked the man across the length of the entire gymnasium. Many of the stunned witnesses thought that Lee had killed the Uechi, though this was not the case and the man made a full recovery.

Chuck Norris:

Often stated to be the first westerner in the documented history of Tae Kwon Do to be given the rank of 8th degree Black Belt Grand Master. Although this is false, as at least two other westerners were known to have recieved the title before him, it is still a tribute to his great skill that he was able to achive this in a time when westerners were not usually accepted in these areas.

Was the undefeated middleweight karate champion for six years running, defeating some of the greatest names in martial arts history, including the same Vic Moore that could not deflect a single attack by Bruce Lee, gaining the title of Fighter or the year in 1969, having won more matches then anyone else. His win-loss record stands at 183-12, along with two draws. However all of his losses and both draws came either very early in his career, or very late, (he is now 70 years old). He retired from the tournament as the undefeated champion.

In 1967, Chuck Norris defeated 11 opponents in elimination matches at the All-American Karate Championships in Madision Square Garden in New York City, a feat which he repeated later that year, again defeating 11 people in an elimination match at the Grand Champion Internationals. Then, in 1968 he won the All-American Karate Championships in New York by defeating no less then 13 seperate opponents.

Chuck Norris was matched up against a man by the name of Lewis "Skipper" Mullins no less then eight times in both of their fighting carrers. Skipper Mullins was a very well reknowned fighter, often described as the greatest kicker in the history of the U.S. Karate scene. However great he was however, he proved to be no match for Chuck Norris, losing every one of their fights, even though Chuck Norris fought one with a broken nose.

Any great warrior knows that without intelligence and clarity of mind, they are nothing more then a brute. Both of these men were increadibly intelligent and could inspire people with words just as well as they could their fists. Here are some words taken right out of the mouth of Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris.

"If I tell you that I am good, you will think that I am bragging, but if I tell you that I am no good, then you know that I am lying." - Lee

"A lot of people give up just before they're about to make it. You know you never know when that next obstacle is going to be the last one." - Norris

"Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless - like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup, you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend." - Lee

"I've always found that anything worth achieving will always have obstacles in the way and you've got to have that drive and determination to overcome those obstacles on route to whatever it is that you want to accomplish." - Norris

"Jeet Kune Do favors formlessness so that it can assume all forms and since Jeet Kune Do has no style, it can fit in with all styles. As a result, Jeet Kune Do utilizes all ways and is bound by none and, likewise, uses any techniques which serve its end" - Lee

"Men are like steel. When they lose their temper, they lose their worth." - Norris

"A fight is not won by one punch or kick. Either learn to endure or hire a bodyguard.

Forget about winning and losing; forget about pride and pain. Let your opponent graze your skin and you smash into his flesh; let him smash into your flesh and you fracture his bones; let him fracture your bones and you take his life. Do not be concerned with escaping safely - lay your life before him." - Lee

"Violence is my last option." - Norris

"Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable." - Lee

I would not want to be a politician... Let me tell you this: If I was campaigning, and I go against my opponent and he started attacking my character, and I leap over the table and choke him unconscious, would that help my campaign? - Norris

"Man, the living creature, the creating individual, is always more important than any established style or system." - Lee

I definitely feel I do have God in my corner. - Norris