During the 1960's, the main martial art that people were practicing was Karate, and the international tournaments were nothing more than games of shadow sparring. Lee's view on fighting prompted him to change the way people competed in martial arts. Lee felt that to be a good fighter, a person had to know what was most effective for themselves. Lee later developed the theory that there was no real style to fighting, that styles hinder a fighters true ability, and renounced his own style of Jeet Kune Do. Lee also did takedowns, like when he fought an extra on the set of Enter the Dragon where he swept his opponent off of his feet and then delivering devastating knees and punches to his opponents face. In a couple of fights, Lee has been said to actually have performed a ground and pound, like in his controversial match against Wong Jack Man. These same techniques are seen today in MMA rings around the world.ĭana White has said that Bruce Lee was the father of Mixed Martial Arts in 2004. With this new found idea, Bruce Lee fought many times not following any style, but he was fighting for what he felt were the most effective moves. Taking a step back, and looking at fighting from a purely scientific point of view, he developed what is now called Jeet Kune Do.

In 1965, Bruce felt that martial arts were too riddled with tradition to be of any use in a real fight.

Bruce Lee by Bruce Lee