The transcript below is from the video “Bruce Lee vs Donnie Yen | Jeet Kune Do vs Wing Chun” by KNSTV Sports Martial Arts.
Tanzer Kaye (KNSTV Sports Martial Arts):
You’ve totally seen his movies and they never fail to impress. It’s not surprising why Bruce Lee is crowned by many as the king of martial arts. Nonetheless, Donnie Yen is yet a promising martial artist. He may seem humble which, contrary to Bruce Lee’s character, Donnie Yen is not a pushover if we talk about martial arts. But who would win if these two great martial artists faced off? Who’s better, faster, stronger? Will the lightning kicks and punches of Bruce Lee beat Donnie Yen’s impenetrable defense? Can Donnie Yen defeat the well-known martial arts dragon?
Tanzer Kaye (KNSTV Sports Martial Arts):
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Bruce Lee vs Donnie Yen – Who will win in the street fight? Make sure you watch till the end to find out. Before the actual fight, let’s find out more about the contenders. Do they really know martial arts or is the whole thing we’ve seen on the screen made up? If yes, what martial arts do Bruce Lee and Donnie Yen know? Who are their respective masters? How did they train to become acknowledged martial artists? What are their achievements?
Bruce Lee:
So every Kung Fu man is trying to do that, to be soft like water and flexible.
Tanzer Kaye (KNSTV Sports Martial Arts):
Bruce Lee’s first martial arts tutor was his father, Lee Hoi-chuen. The technique he learned was the Wu-style t’ai chi ch’uan. However, Bruce Lee felt the need to advance his skills after being beaten by a Hong Kong street gang in 1954. After that incident, he came to Sifu Ip Man to learn Wing Chun Kung Fu. He was taught by Ip’s top student, Wong Shun-leung. The training continued until Bruce Lee reached the age of 18.
Tanzer Kaye (KNSTV Sports Martial Arts):
He ultimately developed Jeet Kune Do which made him legendary in the world of martial arts. Probably the primary strength of Bruce Lee lies in his speed. His lightning kick can get anyone off guard. Besides landing a punch or kick to him seems unmanageable due to his superhuman agility, actually he even needs to lighten up his moves while shooting a film as old cameras just can’t catch up to him. Most of us believe that he was born to be a great martial artist. Yet he consistently insists he could reach the top through hard work and determination. He trains severely and pushes his body to the limit. Yet no one is ideal. The only visible weakness that we can see is his height and reach. While it won’t matter that much, these factors could determine if he faces a much taller enemy with the same pace and agility as him.
Donnie Yen:
In martial arts, it’s called Tai Chi. It’s you who defects the power.
Tanzer Kaye (KNSTV Sports Martial Arts):
Donnie Yen’s first martial arts tutor is his mother, a renowned Wushu and Tai Chi master. His mother was amazed to see that Donnie mastered the basic principles of these martial arts styles at a young age. Like most youth in his time, Yen was fond of watching martial arts movies. His role models are Ti Lung, Fu Sheng, Jackie Chan and no surprise, Bruce Lee. However, he’s not a usual martial arts fanatic since he eventually memorizes all the moves and practices them afterward.
Tanzer Kaye (KNSTV Sports Martial Arts):
Donnie Yen is trained in various martial arts schools to improve his knowledge and to be known in martial arts like his idols. The major strength of Donnie Yen is his vast love for martial arts. He’s willing to study every style to add to his arsenal. He can accommodate any enemy by merely changing his fighting approach. Besides, his buffed body lets him overpower an enemy. He’s also very flexible to do any kind of martial arts move. It’s hard to find any weakness of Donnie Yen other than his predictability. He manages to do the usual styles of martial arts and even copy moves from known martial artists. A wise enemy who does brief research about him before the fight could easily counter all of his blows.
Tanzer Kaye (KNSTV Sports Martial Arts):
This is an exciting matchup but who will win? There can be only two opinions. For example, Arun M. Kumar from Quora says that Donnie Yen might be the logical choice here just because of his extensive years of actual martial arts competing background in different disciplines. He could prove a formidable challenger to any martial artist. That being said, even though Bruce didn’t have as much competition background, he had a much better street fighting and real-life fighting experience. Getting trained for completions is tremendous but getting honed action in the real world outside of the ring is an entirely different monster. Plus, Bruce Lee’s indomitable willpower is legendary. And don’t forget, he actually was trained by the real Ip Man, no less. Bruce all the way. In contrast, David Hoang from Quora puts his bet on Donnie Yen.
Tanzer Kaye (KNSTV Sports Martial Arts):
A Malaysian actress and martial arts master, Michelle Yeoh, has said Donnie is the fastest fighter she’s worked with. Also Jet Li and Jackie Chan have said that Donnie may be the best fighter in cinematics in terms of practical combat. We can’t say about Bruce Lee’s grappling and groundwork but if Bruce and Donnie were to fight and they got on the ground, Donnie could actually win. Additionally, Donnie Yen was a street brawler and joined gangs as a youngster. So he’s no stranger to street fights. In a pure ground fight, Donnie would win. But Bruce Lee would not allow it to be strictly a ground fight. But what if we asked Donnie Yen himself?
Tanzer Kaye (KNSTV Sports Martial Arts):
In fact, one Hong Kong TV host already did our job and asked Donnie if he could beat Bruce Lee but master Yen was humble with his answer. He said that Bruce Lee was a great fighter. If anyone doubts that Bruce could fight for real out of the movies, they would be dramatically wrong. In a real fight, getting into it would be like in the movies. Of course, I’d lose to him, said Donnie, but I never considered it because he’s my elder and idol and he’s an idol for lots of people. His contribution to Kung Fu films is unprecedented. He was a martial artist and filmmaker worthy of admiration.
Of course, being a gentleman Donnie would never dare to compare his idol with himself. It would be fair to state, with respect for both legends, that it’s a tie. But what do you think? Who wins this? Share your opinion in the comments section. Don’t forget to like, share and subscribe so you don’t miss an upload and you can enjoy the excellent content we send your way.
