What does it take to make a fighter gain legendary status

well i think that a fighter becomes a legend by never being defeated .. by being strong in evey aspect .. by being as fast and powerful as bruce lee was .. and by never giving up ..... and having a good blessed mercyful heart !!!

Never being defeated??? Who the hell is that????
Bruce Lee???? How many fights has he had??????
95% of all k1 fighters would smash the living shit out of Bruce Lee!!!!
Great martial artist, but please don't hype it up like a girl off the street who is taking a guess! They are only movies! That goes for Van Damm, Segal, Chan ....how many fights have they had? 0!

K1 collectables include lagends of the event - I think they're made of plastic :)

Legends are fighters in and out of the ring Ernesto Hoost, Peter Aerts both have won K1 number of times,Andy Hug,Mark Hunt,Mike Bernado,Jerome Lebanner,Brako Cikatic,Rob Kaman,Ramon Dekker, Gilbert Balletine,
Alex Tui, Stan The Man, Maurice Smith,Benny The Jet,Adam Watt,there alot
of fighters out there who have earned there status as a legend .....There
would be some Thai fighters as well which I am unable to spell there names actors can be Legends also Bruce Lee,Jackie Chan,Vandame
depending on what area you mean,there are fighters who are Legends and actors who are Legends and many other sports people and actors..
What Legends are made of to me have to be good people who care for the human race....whether they are sports Legends,Actors etc.....
Regards
Lucy Tui

Mike Tyson is a legend without doing much for the human race. I think it is success in their chosen field that brings legendary status, humanity is a different ball game and should not be entwined within the same subject, in my opinion.

Didn't Rob Kaman do time for armed robbery?

yes i do believe he did

To be a legend you've got to be recognised worldwide. Respected for the talent you've shown. Inside kickboxing circles anyone who wins the K1 will become a legend, but worldwide kickboxing is still not getting enough media time to make them house hold names.
People like Van Damme and Jackie Chan become legends of hollywood, and do have the skills (and yes Mike they have fought for real, Van Damme was part of the US Karate team one year). Bruce Lee is THE legend, ask anyone on the street who is the most famous martial artist of all time and the majority will say Lee. And yes Mike he did also fight for real, having accepted challenges from several martial artists he was still unbeaten. As for the K1 stars beating Bruce Lee, if it was K1 rules then quite possibly, but in an open fight no one could come near to his skill.

As Lucy says above, they are all legend. Some more than others.

What made Muhamed Ali to the greatest fighter of all time? What made Bruce Lee to the biggest Kung Fhu actor in the world? What made Elvis to the king? What made Marilyn Monroe and James Dean to idols? (James Dean only made tree movies!!)Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy... The list never ends.

I guess that there is many answers and reason why a person becomes legends. The main reason in my eyes is being "the" first in your field. Being the first young actor, being the first black fighter or politician, being the first rock star or movie star etc... It is all about being a frontier.

Legend is nothing you just become, it is something people make you to be.

If we are talking about legends in the K-1, I will say that Hoost, Aerts and Andy are the biggest legends in the game.

why not ask the living legends on ax?
mr holt,the boy,jwp????

Oliver,

"James Dean only made tree movies!!" LOL!!

Glen,

In far away places like Pakistan and Bangladesh kids can be seen wearing 'Hulk Hogan' and 'The Rock' T-Shirts (not only that but the kids will tell you the WWF is for real) - so these guys are more legendary than even the K1 warriors. Kickboxing has along way to go but with an expanded line of K1 toys and some new commercials for dehydrated soup there's hope yet!

Muhammed Ali is often compared to Nelson Mandela, who was also a boxer.

??????

You seem to have a limited archive of pictures Dreadsden, but somehow they still make me laugh each time I see them :)

Dreadsen is just glad to link in that picture of David Ross (lkfmdc on AX, seen on the left on the photo) whenever he can, because he loves that photo since I first saw it and said 'it's like primary school students on a trip to a museum', and together with Matt- they can't quit ridiculing David whereever they can.

by the way, this picture is also favorite to me...ı liked too much...

thanks dread, otherwise we have been in a position "not getting sufficient clues,information about legends"...thanks,thanks,thanks again...

Is the chap on the left known to people then?

Glen, you will have to enlighten me about Bruce Lee! According to you, no human comes close to his real-life fighting abilities?! He beat countless fighters and never lost?! Please tell me about any competition fights he had that gave him this undefeatable status! I prefer PROVEN and DOCUMENTED fights, not word of mouth stories passed down through the years! Who did he fight that gives him the right to be compared to real-life fighters? And no, rickshaw drives and stoned stuntmen on the sets of his films don't count!
BTW, of course everyone on the street knows him! He was an ACTOR, people watch films! His films got him fame, not the martial arts! If he didn't make a film, who'd know him??

They caught him on film fighting Chuck Norris in Rome and Bob Wall on some secret island, and he beat them both!:)

The film with Bruce Lee fighting Chuck Norris in Rome, wasn’t that the film where Bruce also fought against Karim Abdul Jabar (How do you spell his name?:)

Bruce Lee's one of my fav ACTORS and there's not doubt he was a great martial artist but there's no evidence to suggest that he challenged anyone from any other arts and has "an unbeaten record".

I actually read that Bruce Lee didn't like the sparring side of things and prefered to work on his technique the majority of the time.

No, that was Game of Death, but Way of The Dragon (the Chuck Norris film) was featured in Game of Death as part of a film within a film, if you know what I mean! Its spelt Kareem Abdul Jabbar as well!

Thanks Phil!

"Jabbar" it sounds like a robot from Star Wars:)

The ultimate martial artist, 7ft tall with a laser gun :)

LOL!

I think to be a legend you have to be known and remembered.

Unbeaten-probably %99 of unbeaten fighters have bs records or they aren't fighting the best, or maybe they are just too big for anyone. :)

Yes Bruce Lee is known for doing movies, but also for writing numerous books, creating his own martial arts style and by showing his skills in demonstrations. Without the movies he might not have become as famous in public terms but would have still been a legend to the martial arts community.

And no Mike I'm not talking out my arse, he has fought numerous documented fights (in and out of the ring). Heres a cut from the official Bruce Lee website:

1954-1957
Studied Wing Chun under the instruction of Yip Man. Learned as far as the second hand form and part of the wooden dummy form. Didn't finish the wooden dummy form, learn the third hand form or weapons forms. With Wong Sheun-Leung, William Cheung, and others, made Wing Chun famous in Hong Kong by winning numerous challenge matches against other martial artists.

Or if you are after specific events:
These are a few of the fights that Bruce participated in the ring and out.

1958:
vs. Gary Elms in a tournament. (Won)
1958 or 1959:
Against Chung on a rooftop in Hong Kong. (Won in 2nd Round)
1960 - Seattle:
Bruce backfisted a guy and busted his nose after Bruce saw him harrassing a Chinese Girl. Bruce was taking a walk. This fight was witnessed by James DeMile.
1960 or 1961:
vs. Uechi. (Won in 10 seconds)

Anyone know these guys?

True. Bruce Lee was a great martial artist.

Bruce Lee doesn't fight like he did on camera, he used flashy moves on camera to make a good movie.

Bruce lee was an actor, not a fighter.

Correction ...
Bruce Lee "WAS INDEED" a fighter.....Far before being an Actor.
It's just that acting offered him much more as far as status.
From his movie career, far more people know who Bruce Lee was than they will ever know 95% of most fighting champions.
He still graces the covers of magazines today almost 30 years after his death. No one has ever done that and surly never will.
No one will ever replace him and to see him in "Actual fighting action" not movies, you would look at his ability in a different way...
He was kickboxing, MMA and much more.
It's easy to say he wasn't this and wasn' that now that he is dead, but ask those who did know him when he was alive and saw him in action, and they will verify...

"There will never be another Bruce Lee"....

Bruce Lee was definetly my legend,he inspired me into this sport of Martial Arts that is for sure,we can talk about him day and night he was surely a perfectionist to the max........
Muhamad Ali definetly my legend in the Boxing Industry.....
Ernesto,Aerts,Hug,Hunt my K1 Legends.....
Mas Oyama.. Karateka Legend
Ian Thorpe..Swimming Legend
Cathy Freeman..Athletics 2000 Olympics.
Jesse Owens.. Athletics Olympic Games
Carl Lewis..Athletics..Olympic Games
Martin Luther King..Politics
John F Kennedy..Politics
James B Irwin..1st Man on the moon
John Lennon...Music
Elvis Presley..Music
and the list goes on there have been many of legends in many walks of life......
Regards
Lucy Tui

Glen, I don't say you're talking out of your ass, I say his "official" record is a bunch of crap! Look at it! Rooftop fights, busting the nose of guys harassing chicks...is this serious?! This makes him a real competitive fighter?? hahaha! I know he was a great martial artist, but a fighter he was not! IKF KIckboxings asertion that he was a kickboxer?????????????? Worse than Van Damm's claim he was an undefeated world middleweight kickboxing champ!! Hee..hee!!!

Just thought to add this person.
Nelson Mandella definite Legend.....Politics
Regards
Lucy Tui

Lucy,

Nelson Mandela was also a boxer. I can't say much about it except that I read part of his biography wherer he was talking about training etc.

Just for kicks Mike,
You should read up on Lee's training with Joe Lewis. I believe you'll have a second opinion after you read what all took place in this training.
______________
In case you didn't want to research it, here's an example:
______________


1969
BRUCE LEE AND HIS INFLUENCE ON KICKBOXING PIONEER AND BLACK BELT HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE JOE LEWIS
In North America, the birth of "American Kickboxing" in it's earliest and roughest form had its first unsuccessful attempt at the limelight in 1969. American Martial Arts Legend Joe Lewis * was frustrated by the unrealistic nature of tournament Karate, in which blows are pulled short of contact. Famed Martial Artist and Movie Star Bruce Lee referred to this type of competition as "swimming on dry land". He felt Martial Arts relied to much on mystique and not enough on practicality. Pioneer Joe Lewis, was making a name for himself on the very young American Martial Arts Tournament circuit. Lewis also felt this type of competition was a game of tag. Lewis and Lee started working together formulating a new approach to the Martial Arts. Though Lee did not compete, it is universally felt, that Joe Lewis was his 'working laboratory'. Both gentlemen had graduated to using the Martial Arts in a full contact environment. Influenced by his training sessions in boxing with Joey Orbillo and 'Kickboxing' with Bruce Lee, Lewis started training in various boxing gyms in Los Angeles with the full intentions of becoming a professional boxer (Lewis has admitted to me if he would have had his way he would have preferred to become a professional wrestler). In late 1969, Los Angeles promoter Lee Faulkner contacted Lewis to compete in a major non contact team contest. Lewis only agreed if Faulkner would permit him to compete in a Kickboxing match. At first finding a suitable opponent was very difficult for both the promoter and the athlete.


*JOE LEWIS

In late 1969 Joe Lewis introduced Full Contact fighting. He called it Kickboxing but it was later changed to Professional Karate or Contact Karate. In 1972 Lewis quits Kickboxing. In his last fight against Jesse King, promoter Aaron Banks was supposed to pay a certain fee and does not. Banks holds the event in the middle of the week and has poor attendance for the event and blames it on Lewis stating "Lewis' name has no pull anymore." In 1973 Lewis states, "Thai kicking is less powerful (than Karate) and it's punching is relatively poor". In 1983 (at the age of 39), he made a courageous comeback to try and regain his World Heavyweight Full Contact Title, but he retired before regaining the title. Re-retired after 2 straight losses complaining of no money and no glory in fighting anymore.
Joe Lewis defended his title ten times with no opponent lasting through the second round.




From The History Of Kickboxing, MM

4 simple words from that story just verified what I have been saying for Gods sake!

".. Lee did not compete..."

bruce lee was not a ring fighter, he was just awesome,handsome ,respectful actrist...his films were fantastic..however, nobody can make me believe on it that he was a ring fighter or legend in this frame...when he was making some shows (like one inch punch etc)in the tournaments (like long beach) ,he had many times the opportunity to fight in those "tournament fight system", which may be recognized as the potential step for "american boxing ring system"...there have been names like joe lewis,billy wallace,urquidez always spelled...why didn't bruce fight ?...this was always strange to me...ı don't want to talk after a person who is not in life, but the exchagerations may only be accepted up to a certain level...

by the way, ı believed always ,if there wouldn't be "bruce lee's films ",then the kickboxing,muay thai,kyokushin ,ashihara, seidokaikan contact fighting systems could be famous ten years earlier in the world...there was a spread of kung fu,which lasted more than 10 years and prevented many things in favour of kb&mt especialy...

Mike and Ercan,
Bruce was a realist, his whole philosophy about fighting emerged from his need to excel in the practical application of martial arts, ie 'the street fight'
Bruce began street fighting as a youth in Hong Kong street gangs, after losing badly in one excursion he began formal training.
Very quickly outgrowing the system, Bruce set about modifying and adding new techniques to his arsenal all aimed at improving his vision of unarmed combat NOT ring fighting!
This is nowhere more evident than in his training methods and certain techniques, eg striking wooden slats fixed to a dummy thereby simulating contact with a persons jaw, thrusting hands into stones for conditioning, side kicking to opponents knee, spear thrust to eyes etc etc
Bruce was disdainful of wearing protective sparring gear as he felt it detracted from the desireable effect of 'real' fighting.
Eventually achieving super stardom ( at least in China ) Bruce was often challenged because of his departure from traditional forms and techniques of centuries old styles, witnesses report he was undefeated!
That he wasn't a ring fighter was because, for him, it would be taking a step back in the evoloution of his fighting experience.
Street fights are dangerous and uncontrolled kaotic moments, no rules, no bell, no doctors, no ref and thats the arena Bruce Lee chose to fight in. Mike, trying to hold Bruce up to your 'standards' is a little futile don't you think Champ?

Comparing someone who excelled in errr "streetfights" to legitimate, athletic contests (the prize ring) is also a little futile, is it not big fella?!
(as for Bruce never being beaten by another style, there was this one guy called Gene LeBell...)

Yeah! I don't like speculating and I can see your not giving up your position, so let's just say that Bruce was a fine martial artist and a movie star and leave him to rest in peace.

p.s I didn't see any Gene LeBell on Dragon! he can't be real then

Yeah! I don't like speculating and I can see your not giving up your position, so let's just say that Bruce was a fine martial artist and a movie star and leave him to rest in peace.

p.s I didn't see any Gene LeBell on Dragon! he can't be real then

Wabbit,


"Judo" Gene LeBell, the godfather of American grappling, submitted Lee in a contest. You will see a lot of stuff on Gene in Grapplers Monthly. But who really cares - does that make him any lesser a man? They both had great respect for each other. There is also a story that in writing the script for "The Big Boss" the original storyline called for Bruce to fight and beat a Muay Thai fighter however this was deemed to be too unbelievable and Bruce was worried that this would lead to challenges from MT fighters so it was written out. BTW the film is bollocks - i believe Bruce Lee did not fight at the Ed Parkers Long Beach Invitational but rather demo'ed his one inch punch.


My pick for legend - two. Ali and "The Guv'nor" Lenny Mclean (RIP).

Lucy:

..."James B Irwin..1st Man on the moon..."

There have never been humans on the moon - it is one big fake:)

haaha...good one

There are many legends, but mine one and only is the samurai with blue eyes, Andy-san.

R.I.P. Andy Hug!!!!

though bruce was a little guy i think he would of still kicked ass...street fighting that is.

with his speed and his explosive power, he would of put alot of guys away.

but street fighting is alot different from ring fighting. when u are on the street, though it is more dangerous, often u are only fighting untrained ppl. when in the ring, these competitors are fully trained to fight and are alot tougher.

like what UFC champion Bas Rutten said. He defeated over 300 opponents on the street but they are no professional.

James B Irwin..1st Man on the moon????


Where did you learn this... Star Trak? Comic book?
Or better yet... which moon...?

Irwin (1930-1991) was in Apollo 15... July 26-August 7, 1971. The first extended scientific expedition, also the first to use the Lunar Rover Vehicle.


FYI in History;
The "FIRST" man on the moon was American Neil A. Armstrong...Apollo 11.
Apollo 11, commanded by Michael Collins, became the first flight to the moon, touching the surface on July 20 at 39 seconds past 4:17 p.m. (July 21, 5:17:39 Japan time). Neil A. Armstrong, the first person to touch the moon, marked the occasion with the words: "One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."
Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin followed Armstrong.. Together they left equipment on the moon to measure tremors and sun rays and collected 21 kilograms of specimens of moon rocks and dust.


Hmmmm... as if this is kickboxing though.....


sorry about that...

James B Irwin..

James B Irwin..1st Man on the moon????


Where did you learn this... Star Trak? Comic book?
Or better yet... which moon...?


LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


(Blue moon of Kentucky)

Apollo 11 ?

1st Man on the moon????

There have never been humans on the moon..... I don’t buy it!

James B Irwin, Neil A. Armstrong or Jerry Springer, the moon "story" is one big consistent and the biggest fake ever made. (made with goverment money and support). You might laugh at me and think that this sounds crazy, but, there have never been humans on the moon!

It is simply not possible for humans to travel to the Moon, because of the Van Allen Belt. End of story!

Who currently holds that belt? Did the holder then threaten to fight anyone who wanted to go to the moon?

Elvis Presley holds the belt, as you can see on the photo above!

And he did a bit of Kung Fu training. It`s all starting to fit into place now.......

Not Kung Fu but karate.

I stand corrected

LOL!!!:)

Sorry guys I read the encylopedia wrong, a lunar rover was first used on the moon by Apollo 15 astronauts in July,1971.It carried James B Irwin and David R Scott over 17 miles on the moon....I did not have my glasses on when reading the World Book Encyclopedia. hehehehe..........
Regards
Lucy Tui

thats ok lucy everyone forgives you