“Most People Aren’t Able to…”: American Martial Artist Once Revealed Bruce Lee’s Most Important Lesson

A few months back, Beerdy- Bruce Lee Central rediscovered an old video from their archives. In the aforementioned video, a legend from the world of martial arts and karate revealed the greatest lesson he learned from the great Bruce Lee. The entity in question was none other than Joe Lewis, who used to take private training lessons from Lee.

Back in 1967, Joe Lewis began training with Bruce Lee for martial arts, as well as with Joe Orbillo for heavyweight boxing. Due to his exceptional skills, Lewis eventually came to be known as “the Muhammad Ali of Karate.” Despite his massive success, Lewis never forgot the three lessons he learned from the Little Phoenix, a.k.a. Bruce Lee.

Bruce Lee: The teacher

Bruce Lee is arguably one of the best martial artists the world ever got to see. Even decades after his untimely demise, one just cannot forget his name when talking about martial arts. Naturally, when the legend was still alive, many wanted to learn from him. However, only a few got the chance. Among those handfuls of people was Joe Lewis. In one of his interviews with Beerdy – Bruce Lee Central, Lewis shed light on the three important fighting lessons he learned from Lee.

The first one, Lewis recalled, relayed that to begin a fight, one must have a good technique as it will help one start a fight in their favor. Secondly, one should have the “guts” to fight. One would need “physical conditioning” to stay strong throughout the fight.

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Talking about the third and the most important philosophy, Lewis said, “You need heart. The most important thing about a fight is not winning and losing but being able to finish the fight and to be able to finish the fight…Most people aren’t able to finish the fight because they lack heart…Bruce Lee always taught me, ‘always put your heart into it.'”

Although Lewis respected Lee and treasured his lessons all his life, this wasn’t the case from the get-go.

The rocky start to a lifelong friendship

1967 was also the year, Joe Lewis met Lee for the first time. The encounter took place in the parking lot of the Black Belt Magazine’s office in Washington. Lewis recalled how Lee approached him and started discussing the various martial arts techniques and styles. Unbeknownst to Lee, Lewis wasn’t aware of his identity at that time.

Therefore, being approached by someone just to talk about martial arts, left the Karate king confused. Moreover, Lewis admitted that during those days he did not have much respect for “little guys.” Lee considered anyone shorter than 5’8″ or lighter than 150lbs as a little guy. Additionally, Lewis wasn’t fond of the techniques used by Chinese fighters. Therefore, he did not have a great first impression of Bruce Lee.

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However, with time, not only did Lewis grow to like Lee, but he also learned, from some of the most important lessons of the legend.