Bruce Lee was a martial arts pioneer. Lee mastered Wing Chun under the legendary Ip Man. However, he also studied other martial arts. After using Wing Chun as a base, he combined it with elements from various martial arts to create a hybrid style, Jeet Kun Do. Lee also approached his physical training with the same philosophy.

The martial arts legend studied athletes from different sports; trained and extracted what he thought would benefit him. Bruce also didn’t have qualms about who taught him. He was also open to learning from his students if they had something to offer.

Bruce Lee never squandered an opportunity to learn

Matthew Polly charts Bruce’s life in his book “Bruce Lee: A life”. In the book, Polly writes how Bruce Lee had lifted weights as a teenager but never took it seriously until his challenging fight with Wong Jack Man. “His students, James Yimm Lee and Allen Joe, were pioneers in the early era of bodybuilding,” wrote Matthew.

Bruce’s students showed him the form for basic lifts. However, unlike his students, Bruce had a different purpose behind incorporating weight training into his regime. “James and I were into heavy weight training… Bruce went with lighter weights with higher repetitions.” Allen Joe told Polly. Bruce molded weight training according to his needs.

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The martial arts icon saw how he could increase his strength by lifting weights. Matthew wrote Bruce realized “speed is more important to power than mass,” so he didn’t train like a bodybuilder. As Bruce progressed, he bought more equipment, turning his garage into a gym.

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The JKD founder bought equipment to optimize some movements. He bought a squat rack, a bench press, an isometric machine, some dumbbells, and a grip machine.

The necessity for conditioning

While Bruce knew increasing his strength would help him, he also knew he needed to work on his stamina. After the fight with Wong Jack Man, Bruce also began working on his cardio. As always, Bruce took an element out of a different sport. Bruce saw boxers develop immense stamina, training with a skipping rope and going on long runs. So he did the same.

“An out-of-condition athlete, when tired, cannot perform well,” said Bruce. Besides skipping, Bruce also ran five miles every morning.

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The martial arts legend had an immense understanding of various training philosophies. Bruce Lee trained like an MMA athlete even before MMA existed.