Bassplyr
Hey snoopy or whatever. I do know exactly how the damage to the ears happens and I know plenty of people who don't have it and have been in much more serious situations than an MMA fighter bar a few. Your talking to a guy who has been doing martial arts for over well over 20 years. I've even gone to the hospital to get reconstructive surgery on my left eye socket after a street fight. I've been there I know what really happens. so why don't you shove off. I know why people get culiflower ear and why they don't too. a lot of very good guys never seem to get it. You are going on one hell of an assumption to think I don't know about culiflower ear. why don't we trade injuries sometime. bet I've got plenty more scars than you and from fighting. You know some people consider culiflower ear to be a bragging right but an example of misdirected training and execution. Plenty of exceptional warriors never seem to get it. its from the type of training they do. Not every body will waste time wrestling with someone on a mat. there are more effiicent ways to defend your self than that. Also I know plenty about training every day. but not on a stupid mat. I train outdoors on concrete. I do the ground work and the the striking. I know what it's like to train for real and for sport. Heres a clue if your training for real you WILL be so injured after each session that it's not possible to "be on the Mat" every day. Hyperextended elbows and dislocated fingers and sever bruising are the norm and they take a few days to heal. I know plenty. If you think I'm some armchair warrior than thats fine but man are you way off.

I don't care how hard you are. I don't care how long you have been doing martial arts for. culiflower ears is not caused by getting punched in the ears lol. Tell me this, why do many rugby players have culiflower ears? Do you think its because they get punched in the ears lol

Just so you know I never said anything about culiflower ear and getting punched in the ears. I just don't think it's a badge of honor in martial arts. in wrestling yes. and I've had run in with sore ears too. and usually it's from getting choked. But never taken it as far as getting culiflower ear.

Can we please get off the culiflower ear subject. it's a subjective point.

As for bruce lee. He was a good martial artist, a fantastic philosopher. but not everything that glitters is gold. he also had a dark side. I too admire him but common he was just another human being with many, many faults. That being said I love his movies and I enjoy his books. but if you do research and dive into his life story a little deeper you will learn things about the guy that will make you think.

As far as gene labelle. I was't the guy who said he was some lowly stunt actor. stunt men are hardcore. I've worked with them on sets before. their pretty tough dudes.

As for Mauy Thai in MMA> bet if you took a MMA fighter and asked him to do strictly Muay thai moves it won't resemble mauy thai too much. I feel that that is slightly disrespectful to muay thai culture. At least the gracies had enough respect of traditional japanese jujitsu to change the name to brazilian jujitsu. Respect for the culture is extremly important to the asians. not saying thats why MMA is now banned in thailand. Its obvious it's about money. but the culture aspect is also a factor thats maybe more important to them than MMA culture believes.

As for not knowing what the term Budo means and the whole comment of "look it up" is just lame. Most martial artists know what budo is all about. now if your really that cool than you'd also know about the dude known as Fudo. Fudo had major Budo.

Not knocking MMA as a sport, but to call it the ultimate or the pinnacle of martial theory is just ignorant. there are lots of martial arts out there that are much more violent and brutal. they just will never become sports. like I said if you want to get into the "science" of destroying another human being. MMA is actually pretty benign.

Do I enjoy MMA hell yes. it's great to watch. but it's just sport. it's like saying an olympic shooter or competition shooter can do what a SF operator does. no way in hell the technique for shooting for sport and for combat are very, very different.

Also. I wouldn't make fun of the death touch/dim mak. I've met a few old timers in china on my trips there who can demonstrate it. it's a unique to physically experience believe me. It's nothing magical but it does exist. it's just another set of techniques. I could go into how it all works and site documented historical guys that actually used it plenty of time but we are getting waaaay off topic already.

If you ever want to meet some really scary martial artists that come close to the "ultimate" go to malaysia and hang out around the villages and watch the guys who do cimandie. They're very friendly and I strongly feel you will come out of it much more competant. at least more competant than my horrible spelling.

final point and then I'll shut up. It's possible to get culiflower ear from getting punched . but man if your getting it from being punched you are really doing something wrong. have a crappy coach or teacher, and probably aren't learning the lessons very well about proper defense and angling. I've noticed a lot of MMA guys stand off with their opponent. because it's sport. thats what you are supposed to do. If you work the angles and keep a decent defensive guard and you won't be getting punched in the face that much. like I said it's technique. Also, if your getting punched in the face too much than I suggest working on your footwork a little more too.

As for taking a punch to the face like the previous poster said. I understand his point. You have got to be willing to take a hit sometimes to put your self into a position to absolutely F the F-ers. so learning to take a hit even to the face is important. most people get hit in the face for real once and the freeze up. so you need to experience it at least once or twice but not to the point you mangle your ears.

ALso the same poster had a very good point about being 100 lbs heavier than the little bantam weight that is going to dance around him the entire fight. I weigh about 220. I've sparred the lighter guys and boy are they fast and man can they go evasive. they can dance all they like but eventually they are going to have to commit to a strike and when they do they will learn that they just don't have the strength to do any real damage with a body shot to a bigger bulky guy. That being said if the guy has great technique and can hit you in the face than you are screwed. I've been able to muscle my way out of most jujitsu except usually for chimeara shoulder manipulation. If the guy trains right and knows the right material he is extremely dangerous regardless of size or weight. the Most lethal guy I've ever trained with or sparred against was 6'2" and only 145 lbs. Damn was that a humbling experience. His technique and experience was just that good.

Hey I'm not trashing Bruce lee. I'm saying he wasn't all that everybody was making him out to be. ANd yes. he was beaten by gene labelle. thats not BS. thats a fact. even bruce lee admitted it. it was such a humbling experience for bruce that he started training with him. when you watch the beginning of enter the dragon. that whole opening scene where he makes the other guy tap out was added halfway through production to reflect his learnings from gene labelle. the stunt man. Many many people give gene labelle a s load of respect. you should look into the guys history. he also became good friends with bruce afterwards.

I've never noticed that it was popular to trash bruce as of late. everyone respects what he accomplished. I'm just looking at who he was objectively. he wasn't perfect. he was good to excellent. but not the top of the top, but to look to bob wall and chuck norris (both decent martial artists but mediocre in the end) as the authority is just ignorant.

Hey people grow up idolizing people. thats cool. I have my heros too. but I don't put them on a alter to worship. they contributed to martial arts. thats it. they aren't the living (or in this case deceased) embodyment of martial arts.

Bruce did tons to bring asian martial arts and philosophy to light in western culture and media. and as far as sticking it racism. he was the man. he gets mucho credit for that. he was a minority to shed a road of light for other minorities in a racist time of america and western culture. he did a lot for the disenfranchised. but he wasn't the greatest anything.

Bruce had many many faults. would he have done great in the ring. who knows. he had the will to win thats for sure. but he grew up loosing a lot according to people who grew up with him. the loosing was intolerable for his ego. In some senses he let it get the better of him. he had an issue with that and trained like crazy to be the best that he could so he would never suffer the humiliation of defeat. but the fact was he was beaten a lot as he grew up. So would he be the boss in the ring. maybe, maybe not. even he didn't know. But there were plenty of martial artists of his time that could have slapped him around for sure with little fear of him getting the better of them. it's not like he was the master of kung fu and martial arts in china. china is a big place and there were plenty of other people who took their martial arts much more seriously than him. if they didn't then they would be making movies too instead of focusing on their art. bruce's greatest asset was that he was a great philosopher.

I've got nothing against him. just keeping it real. would like to see how bruce would have done against chung lai chuen. now that guy was hardcore. sadly they didn't live in the same era. lai chuen was a few decades older than him.

There are plenty of legit heros in the martial arts. especially chinese martial arts. Bruce was just a small part of the big picture.