Most influential martial artist of the century

Discussion in 'General Martial Arts Discussion' started by SWC Sifu Ben, Sep 30, 2016.

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Most influential martial artist within about 100 years

  1. Bruce Lee

    42.3%
  2. Helio Gracie

    1.9%
  3. Royce Gracie

    5.8%
  4. Jigaro Kano

    26.9%
  5. Gichin Funakoshi

    5.8%
  6. Ip Man

    1.9%
  7. Ueshiba Morihei

    3.8%
  8. Choi Hong Hi

    1.9%
  9. Other

    9.6%
  1. SWC Sifu Ben

    SWC Sifu Ben I am the law

    Within 100 years who do you think gets top billing in terms of influence and why?
     
  2. Fish Of Doom

    Fish Of Doom Will : Mind : Motion Supporter

    From those choices, I have NO idea, honestly :p

    But I'm going to say Ueshiba, because that leads to Seagal, which leads to front kicks in MMA. Clearly, my logic is flawless.
     
  3. kuntaoer

    kuntaoer Valued Member

    Dan Inosanto and Ed Parker are what brought Bruce Lee to the limelight
     
  4. Kwajman

    Kwajman Penguin in paradise....

    Too many to call any one the 'most' influential. Might be easier to do it by art. A Gracie is a legend in BJJ but to a karate player he might mean nothing.
     
  5. bassai

    bassai onwards and upwards ! Moderator Supporter

    Bruce Lee , simply because he's the one person on that list that pretty much everyone , including non martial artists , would name/recognise.
     
  6. Aegis

    Aegis River Guardian Admin Supporter

    I picked Kano because he managed to turn a largely dying martial art into a new sport practised worldwide and included in the Olympics.
     
  7. CrowZer0

    CrowZer0 Assume formlessness.

    I also picked Kano, because of Judo and it's legacy and BJJ, MMA after and because of him.
     
  8. icefield

    icefield Valued Member

    If we are talking influence and not popularity im going with Helio Gracie

    Bruce is the name everyone knows but his effect on the martial arts hasn't been as extreme as Helio Gracie in my view, Bruce the martial artist actor had a huge impact on the general population in the 70s

    But Bruce the martial artist? He wanted an end to the classical mess, to the too deadly to spar mind set, but what he did was give a boom for a decade or so to classical chinese arts, his own art is still largely unknown and unpracticed especially compared to wing chun the art he left. But two decades after his death people still believed arts were too deadly to spar, that you could become a good fighter doing forms and one step sparring, etc all the stuff he got rid of. What Bruce gave rise to in the UK at least was a massive boom in TCMA i know of people that went from being doorman and cooks teaching 5 or 6 people to head of styles with hundreds of clubs teaching in sports halls to 400 people with more out side all wanting the kung fu experience. They wanted Bruce the film star not Bruce the martial artist. But this boom is largely over now and the number of kung fu clubs in falling .

    yet from Helio and his family we get three distinct sports now popular around the world: BJJ, no gi grappling and MMA and a shift in mindset as to how an art should be judged, what constitutes effective training and a shift in view point of all combat sports from being sports which wouldn't work on the street to being the standard to judge all arts effectiveness.

    And i cant see the popularity of the above three arts diminishing any time soon.

    BJJ has gone from a small art practiced in brazil and garages in California to a world wide art practiced in nearly every major city on most continents all in the space of what, two decades? has any other art grown that fast?

    All the above can directly be linked to helio and his kids, of course much like Bruce, and Kano whether what he got was what Helio actually wanted is another thing entirely I think he is probably turning in his grave at what BJJ has become, much like Kano would be if he saw modern Judo.
     
    Last edited: Sep 30, 2016
  9. Smitfire

    Smitfire Cactus Schlong

    I'd say Kano too. Mainly because of the belts and grading structure that even arts unrelated to Judo like Karate, Taekwondo, Thai (in some places), Savate, Capoiera, Kung Fu (of various flavours), etc have adopted something similar.
    Belts and grades have come to define martial arts to the wider public (even if that's not a true picture).
     
  10. bigreddog

    bigreddog Valued Member

    Kano because of judo in the Olympics, and because he brought pressure testing to the core of martial arts
     
  11. huoxingyang

    huoxingyang Valued Member

    I'm kinda torn between Kano, Funakoshi and Gen. Choi. All three men were instrumental in shaping the general view of martial arts for much of the past century - particularly in their contributions to bolting nationalism and organisational structure onto their arts in ways that have become so far-reaching as to still be expected as norms today. I voted for Choi Hong Hi in the end, as he was probably more directly involved in this with relation to TKD than Kano and Funakoshi were to Judo and Karate respectively.
     
  12. ap Oweyn

    ap Oweyn Ret. Supporter

    Honestly, I was going to say Bruce Lee. But I think I've been swayed by the previous posters. And now, frankly, I have no idea. I'm much clearer on who isn't the most influential. But Gracie, Kano, and Choi all have compelling cases, even though none are household names. They're all largely responsible for the baseline assumptions made by both martial artists and non-martial artists all over the world. Taekwondo, judo, and BJJ/MMA, between them, constitute so much of the public persona of martial arts.
     
  13. CrowZer0

    CrowZer0 Assume formlessness.

    Well the question was most "influential" if the question was most famous or iconic my answer would be different.
     
  14. Smitfire

    Smitfire Cactus Schlong

    Maybe the most influential is Anko Itosu? Although he died in 1915.
    He's basically the father of modern karate and so also, by extension, the grandfather of modern TKD, Tang So do and and all sorts of offshoots.
     
  15. John Titchen

    John Titchen Still Learning Supporter

    I'd go for Funakoshi, for the reasons Smitfire cited about Itosu.

    Although Itosu is often given the credit for getting karate into the Okinawan school system, this 'opening' came through the school teacher Funakoshi who was a student of his best friend Azato (and also cross trained with Itosu). It was also Funakoshi who led the demonstration karate team of instructors that toured Okinawa and 'sold' the product to the Education Board.

    Although other Okinawans also taught karate in Japan, Funakoshi was also the key figure in the Royal acceptance of karate and its broad spread across Japan, in particular in Universities. When we look at his influence and the influence of Shotokan, the number of styles it has spawned across the world and indeed the spread of oriental martial arts across the world, I find it difficult to think of a more influential figure. Other big fish exist in both karate and other arts (including the other choices), but I believe that it has been the example and trend setting of the international spread and success of Funakoshi's lineage systems (Shotokan, Shotokai, Wado, TKD, Tang So Do etc) that has created an ecosystem for the spread of other arts and indeed (foreign) martial arts training becoming a commonplace activity across the globe.
     
  16. raaeoh

    raaeoh never tell me the odds

    Once i would've said brue Lee. Even though David carradine in kung fu was my first exposure to martial arts. Everyone knows the name chuck norris. But this is all based on fame.

    A real influence would be a non player in the martial arts field. Dana white has brought more people to martial arts than anyone else in recent years. Most of all people who come to my gym want to learn mma? They don want to learn karate, boxing, our jujitsu. The want to learn mma.

    It is the same at at other gyms I visit. Maybe it is just a murica thing. But I doubt it.
     
  17. Hannibal

    Hannibal Cry HAVOC and let slip the Dogs of War!!! Supporter

    Obviously I picked Bruce,

    1) Fame - not the be all and end all, but everyone knows him martial artists and non martial artists alike. He also received his likeness in an MMA video game and has graced the cover of more magazines than any other martial artist or fighter in history

    2) Inspiration - Bruce influenced Bodybuilders, boxers and almost an entire generation of martial artists to start training...He is heralded (erroneously IMO, but never mind) by Dana White as the "Father of MMA"

    3) Films - Bruce probably single handedly launched the modern MA cinema as we know it (this is not necessarily a good thing of course, but that wasn't the question). He has yet another film about him out this year too (which incidentally looks crap)

    4) Legacy - Bruce left an art/system/philosophy behind,a long with a place in popular culture AND he gave us Guro Dan :)
     
  18. David Harrison

    David Harrison MAPper without portfolio

    I think it depends on the sphere of influence we're talking about.

    "Bruce Lee" is a synonym for a handy martial artist in popular culture, just as "ninja" is a synonym for sneaky, or even a verb "to sneak".

    The arguments for Kano in this thread have swayed me to think that he is probably the most influential in the martial arts though.

    Should Muhammad Ali be on the list?
     
    Last edited: Sep 30, 2016
  19. Giovanni

    Giovanni Well-Known Member Supporter

    i think it's no question that from that list it's kano--for me.

    he fundamentally changed the perception and execution of japanese "martial arts". i would even argue that he took it away from "martial arts" into actual fighting--the whole reason all of us got into this stuff in the first place. he made it a science not a conjecture.
     
  20. Unreal Combat

    Unreal Combat Valued Member

    Saenchai.

    No explanation needed. His fight record and skill level speaks for itself.
     

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