Quotes from Bruce Lee's friends

Quotes from Bruce Lee's friends

These are some quotes from Bruce Lee's friends about his feats of strength:[10]

* Kwame Safo
o "Bruce, undoubtedly could do amazing things, things that would be deemed alien to you and I."
* Chuck Norris
o "Lee, pound for pound, might well have been one of the strongest men in the world, and certainly one of the

quickest."
* Doug Palmer
o "Bruce was like the Michael Jordan or Muhammad Ali in his prime, somebody who stood above everyone else. It's not

that the other martial artists weren't good. It's just that this guy was great."
* Herb Jackson
o "The biggest problem in designing equipment for Bruce was that he'd go through it so damn fast. I had to reinforce

his wooden dummy with automobile parts so he could train on it without breaking it. I had started to build him a mobile

dummy that could actually attack and retreat to better simulate "Live" combat, sadly Bruce died before the machine was

built. It would have been strung up by big high-tension cables that I was going to connect between two posts, one on either

side of his backyard. The reason for the machine was simply because no one could stand up to his full force punches and

kicks, Bruce's strength and skill had evolved to point where he had to fight machines."
o "He never trained in a gym, he thought he could concentrate better at home, so he worked out on his patio. He had a

small weight set, something like a standard 100lb cast-iron set. In addition, he had a 310lb Olympic barbell set, a bench

press and some dumbbells, both solid and adjustable."
o "Bruce used to beat all other comers at this type of wrist wrestling and even joked that he wanted to be world

champion at it."
* James Coburn
o "Bruce and I were training out on my patio one day, we were using this giant bag for side kicks, I guess it weighed

about 150lbs. Bruce looked at it and just went Bang, it shot up out into the lawn about 15ft in the air, it then busted in the

middle. It was filled with little bits and pieces of rag, we were picking up bits of rag for months."
* Jesse Glover
o "When he could do push ups on his thumbs and push ups with 250lbs on his back, he moved on to other exercises."
o "The power that Lee was capable of instantly generating was absolutely frightening to his fellow martial artists,

especially his sparring partners, and his speed was equally intimidating. We timed him with an electric timer once, and

Bruce's quickest movements were around five hundredths of a second, his slowest were around eight hundredths. This was

punching from a relaxed position with his hands down at his sides from a distance between 18-24 inches. Not only was he

amazingly quick, but he could read you too. He could pick up on small subtle things that you were getting ready to do and

then he'd just shut you down."
o "Bruce was gravitating more and more toward weight training as he would use the weighted wall pulleys and do

series upon series with them. He'd also grab one of the old rusty barbells that littered the floor at the YMCA and would roll

it up and down his forearms, which is no small feat when you consider that the barbell weighed 70lbs."
* Jim Kelly
o "Bruce, well I can basically say this. I have been around a lot of great martial arts fighters. Worked out with them.

Fought them in tournaments. In my opinion Bruce Lee was the greatest martial artist who ever lived. To me thats my opinion. I

think Bruce Lee is the greatest martial artist ever. I don't think anybody is in his class."
* Joe Lewis
o "Bruce was incredibly strong for his size. He could take a 75lb barbell and from a standing position with the barbell

held flush against his chest, he could slowly stick his arms out, lock them and hold the barbell there for 20 seconds, that's

pretty damn tough for a guy who at the time only weighed 138lbs. I know 200lb weight lifters who can't do that."
o " I never stood in front of another human who was as quick as him. He not only had the quickness but he had the

inner confidence to muster the conviction to do so. I've seen others who had the speed but lack conviction or vice versa. He

was like Ali, he had both. I stood before both of these men, so I know."
o "If Bruce Lee wasn´t the greatest martial artist of all time, then certainly he is the number one candidate." (Source)
* Leo Fong
o "Yes, I was on the receiving end of his side kick. It was like getting hit with a truck."
* Mito Uhera
o "Bruce always felt that if your stomach wasn't developed, then you had no business doing any hard sparring."
* James Rage
o "I think its important for people to realize that he was not only one of history's greatest martial artists, but also one

of the finest athletes period. His devotion to physical exercise and healthy lifestyle was mind-boggling."