Bruce Lee, Father Of Mixed Martial Arts MMA Jeet Kune Do

Mixed martial arts or MMA as this popular fighting sport is commonly known is a combination of different martial arts combat styles including kickboxing, jiujitsu, wrestling, boxing and others.  The MMA fighters are basically using the most effective fighting techniques from different styles of martial arts in the ring.  Interestingly enough, there is a Bruce Lee connection to MMA.

So instead of training in just one discipline like wrestling or boxing, MMA fighters must train in a variety of techniques from different martial arts which make them better rounded fighters.  Although it may seem like a novel or revolutionary concept, this idea of using the best of different martial arts styles is not new.

In fact, the martial arts legend and action movie star Bruce Lee, is considered by many in the martial arts world to be the father of mixed martial arts.  He was the first to publicly advocate training in a variety of martial arts styles including western boxing and wrestling.

Bruce Lee moved away from being a traditional martial artist utilizing classical forms, stances and techniques.  He created his own style of martial arts called Jeet June Do which is pretty well his style of mixed martial arts.  He even compiled his ideas of mixed martial arts in his book called Tao of Jeet Kune Do.

This caused some controversy among some of the traditionalists in martial arts back in his time, especially before he became famous through his movies.  But as time went on, even after his death, his concepts became more accepted by modern martial artists around the world.  He has influenced countless numbers of martial artists to train with a variety of martial arts techniques.

History now suggests that Bruce Lee was way ahead of his time with his early ideas of mixed martial arts.  If he can only see what he has started now with the explosion of MMA as a popular sport.  He would be certainly be proud.  The mixed martial arts MMA world definitely owes a lot to Bruce Lee for having the ingenuity and courage to go against the traditionalists to develop the mixed martial arts concept so many years ago.