Who Would Win in a Fight: Bruce Lee or Chuck Norris?

For decades men (and some women) have pondered the question, "Who Would Win in a Fight: Bruce Lee or Chuck Norris?" For the most part, this question has remained a quandary that has sparked many bar fights and philosophic debates. I can't think of many other questions that lead to such vitriolic quarrels as this one does. In their younger days, Chuck Norris was winning tournaments and Bruce Lee was winning street fights - but which one was a better fighter? Who would actually win a fight, Chuck Norris or Bruce Lee? To begin the quest to find a victor in this final face-off, let's start by learning a little bit about who each of these martial artists are.

Bruce Lee is a Chinese martial artist and actor who founded Jeet Kune Do, a fighting style that emphasized extreme speed. His fighting style is often called a "style without a style" because it stressed "the art of fighting without fighting." One of the key techniques in this fighting style was to intercept an attack from an opponent and use it against him. This is contrary to many other styles which focused almost solely on developing kicking and punching techniques. Bruce Lee is also known for his special move sometimes called the "one-inch punch." The one-inch punch is a skill which uses explosive power to generate tremendous amounts of impact force at extremely close distances.

Chuck Norris is an American martial artist and actor who found Chun Kuk Do, a fighting style that incorporates some of the best moves from a variety of styles around the world. His fighting style is very well rounded as it emphasizes such things as self defense, competition, weapons, grappling, and even fitness. In addition to is fighting style and movie career, he made history in 1990 when he was the first Westerner in the documented history of Tae Kwon Do to be given the rank of 8th Degree Black Belt Grand Master. Chuck Norris is also known for his powerful, sometimes devastating, roundhouse kick.

The table below compares each fighter side-by-side and is based upon information found around the internet. The 1972 movie Return of the Dragon starred both Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris. This is one of the few times these great fighters were actually together in real life. That's why this year will be used to help normalize the comparison.

Both fighters are of similar age and experience but Chuck clearly has a size advantage. Bruce is much faster than Chuck is and likely has an endurance advantage as well. Essentially this becomes an argument of speed versus strength & brute force.

Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris were both true martial artists but Bruce was on another level. In the scene below from Return of the Dragon you can see what I mean.

In the movie, Bruce is the victor of the fight. You may say that this fight was scripted (it was) however, Chuck Norris was once quoted as saying that Bruce would win in a real fight too. See the video below:

Considering Bruce's positive attributes, and Chuck's admission, I conclude the Bruce Lee would be the winner in a real fight against Chuck Norris..