East vs. West: in Search of New Bruce Lee

At the moment, there are active searches for the new Bruce Lee, who brought kung fu to the Western public in the seventies and became a world movie star, until he died suddenly at the age of 32.

The Quest for a New King

The popularity of his revolutionary mixture of combat styles became the basis for a modern boom in the field of mixed martial arts (MMA), and also allowed such fighters as Chuck Norris to become Hollywood stars. Victor Kui, the founder of One Championship, the franchise that should become the Asian answer to the Ultimate Fighting Championship, broadcast in more than a billion houses in 75 countries, believes that he can find a new king or even a queen.

Who will be the new Bruce Lee?

"Everyone who watches fights around the world wants to get an answer to one question - who will be the next Bruce Lee? Said Qui. "It's been 40 years since he left us, but still knows his name. We have people all over the world who are closely watching the One Championship and are looking for the next big star. Recently, Asia has not had a lot of big stars, except for Manny Pacquiao and Yao Ming, but we are capable of more. " According to Kui, every great expert in hand-to-hand fighting comes from Asia. In addition to Bruce Lee himself, he mentions Jackie Chan and Jet Li, who also spread glory about Asia in Hollywood films. "People from Asia are good at mixed martial arts - it's in their DNA," Kui said. - You do not have to start from scratch - everyone understands this. Every Asian country has its martial arts - karate, muay-tai, kung fu, silat, jiu-jitsu. "

Angela Lee is a new star

One of the fastest growing One Championship stars is Angela Lee, who is already making a fuss in the world of mixed martial arts. Like Bruce Lee, she has a mixture of American and Asian roots. She was born in Hawaii with the Singaporean parents, now she is 19 years old, and at the moment she has won all her three professional fights. Her father Ken, who works as her professional trainer, and her mother Jewels - are mixed martial arts champions in their weight classes, and her brother Christian will soon make his professional debut after repeated success in junior tournaments. Two other younger brothers Angela also train, but it will be a long time before they can talk about a professional career. When Angela grew up, she was almost always the only girl in the class - and that did not bother her. "I had to fight boys all the time - it was fun, I enjoyed it," Lee said. - I always wanted to be better when I was younger. I coped well with this. I was really strong for my age. At first the boys did not want to fight me, because I defeated them, and for them it was a shame. But it gave me confidence. I told myself that now I fight with these boys all the time, and this will make my meeting with those women in the ring much easier. "

Growth of female martial arts

The appearance of Angela Lee was at a good time for the rise of women's mixed martial arts, which is largely due to the successful performances of Ronda Rauzi. Rausi, who was unexpectedly defeated by Holly Holm in front of 56,000 spectators in Melbourne, made a real revolution in this area. What she does in the ring, attracted in this sport both impressive sponsorship contracts, and a large new audience, as well as a new generation of young girls-fighters. "Times are changing," said Lee, who became a professional fighter in May last year. "It's much easier when you have similar role models, and I hope that I can become such for young girls to attract them to mixed martial arts." They grow at a great pace. In Asia, the framework of women's mixed martial arts does expand. And I want to be a part of it. I really like fighting evenings. All these fans, all this energy, they make me happy, and every time I wait for the next fight with impatience. "

The Kurpny Tournament

In December 2015, a major tournament, The One: Spirit of Champions, gathered about 20 thousand fans, as well as great stars of martial arts. "Our television contracts guarantee that the tournament will be shown in many countries," said Victor Kui shortly before the start of the tournament. - People can watch and watch the largest Asian stars of mixed martial arts all over the world. This means that we can reach out to more people, attract more personalities to this sport. It is unlikely that the world will ever see a Cambodian golf champion or a Singaporean tennis champion, but you will definitely see mixed martial arts stars from these countries, fights without rules are what's in their blood. "