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all 99 comments

[–]flipmosquad 69 points70 points ago

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I wrote it out for anyone who wants to add it to.. well.. anything really..

“Bruce had me up to three miles a day, really at a good pace. We'd run the three miles in twenty-one or twenty-two minutes. Just under eight minutes a mile. So this morning he said to me "we’re going to go five.” I said, “bruce, I can’t go five, I’m a helluva lot older than you are, and I can’t do five.” He Said, “when we get to three, we’ll shift gears and it’s only two more and you’ll do it.” I said “ okay, hell, I’ll go for it.” So we get to three , we go into the fourth mile and I’m okay for three or four minutes, and then I really begin to give out. I’m tired, my heart’s pounding, I can’t go any more and so I say to him, “Bruce if I run any more, “ – and we’re still running—“ if I run any more I’m liable to have a heart attack and die.” He said, “then Die.” It made me so mad that I went the full five miles. Aferward I went to the shower and then I wanted to talk to him about it. I said, you know, “ Why did you say that?” He said “because you might as well be dead. Seriously, if you always put limits on what you can do, physical or anything, it’ll spread over into the rest of your life. It’ll spread into your work, into your morality, into your entire being. There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you might go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level.”

[–]chudez 16 points17 points ago

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“Bruce if I run any more, “ – and we’re still running—“ if I run any more I’m liable to have a heart attack and die.” He said, “then Die.” It made me so mad that I went the full five miles...

I would imagine being mad at Bruce Fucking Lee is probably more hazardous than running an extra two miles.

[–]Cenobite 9 points10 points ago

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Thanks for the effort!

[–]Hodr 3 points4 points ago

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This story kind of bothered me when I read it. If he could run a 3 miles in 22 minutes, I have a hard time believing he would have so much trouble with the concept of running 5 miles. Hell, I run 6+ miles a couple of times a week and I cant run a 5k that fast.

Edit for Spelling.

[–]jsh 3 points4 points ago

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Lee could run that fast, but the author had trouble, and Lee was motivating him.

[–]wallychamp 0 points1 point ago

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I think it's all training, I started running distance first, so I could run 8 or 9 miles without stopping well before I could run a sub-22 minute 5k. I would imagine if you ran sprints or something and built up distance slowly that effectively doubling your distance would seem daunting.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

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The original pic was too big and I had a hard time reading it while scrolling my browser across so I checked the comments in hopes someone had done this. Thanks man.

[–]fistfullaberries 1 point2 points ago

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anytime brother

[–]culalem 20 points21 points ago

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I like this section from that book:

It is difficult to associate these horrors with the proud civilizations that created them. Sparta, Rome, the knights of Europe, the Samurai . .. all shared the lone ideal: the honor of strength, because it is strength that makes all other values possible. Nothing survives without it. Who knows what delicate wonders have died out of the world for want of the strength to survive?

Civilizations highest ideas-Justice-could not exist without strong men to enforce it. Indeed, what is civilization but simply the honor of strong men? Today, the young are taught nothing of honor. The sense of life as epic, of life as big, of life as something for which one learns to fight this is foolish to them. To them, grandeur is irrelevant. The young no longer dream.

[–]cooliehawk 2 points3 points ago

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I like it too, but that quote is actually from Enter the Dragon.

[–]raginBacon 0 points1 point ago

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The book compiles a lot of sources. It's a compendium on the wonder that was Lee's body.

[–]cdwillis 18 points19 points ago*

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I want lats like Bruce.

Check his stats:

Height: 5' 7?" (1.71m)

Weight: 135lbs (62kg)

Lowest Weight: 125lbs (57kg) (in 1973)

Waist size: high 30" (76cm); low 26" (66cm)

Measurements

Body Part Start After *based on a 1965 bodyweight of 140 lbs

  • Chest Relaxed 39" (99cm); expanded 41?" (105cm) Relaxed 43" (109cm); expanded 44?" (112cm)

  • Neck 15?" (38cm) 15?" (39cm)

  • Left Biceps 13" (33cm) 13?" (35cm)

  • Right Biceps 13?" (34cm) 14?" (36cm)

  • Left Forearm 11" (28cm) 11?" (30cm)

  • Right Forearm 11?" (30cm) 12?" (32cm)

  • Left Wrist 6?" (16cm) 6?" (17cm)

  • Right Wrist 6?" (16.5cm) 67/8" (17cm)

  • Left Thigh 21" (53cm) 22?" (57cm)

  • Right Thigh 21?" (54cm) 22?" (57cm)

  • Left Calf 12?" (31cm) 127/8" (32cm)

  • Right Calf 12?" (32cm) 13" (33cm)

[–]Caesar1313 17 points18 points ago

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Whenever I look at that pic I see a giant Kung Fu Cobra.

[–]reluctant_troll 16 points17 points ago

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I totally see that. The "face" of Bruce Lee is just an elaborate scale pattern to distract you while he removes your skeleton and reassembles it in front of your eyes.

[–][deleted] 6 points7 points ago

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He writes in one of his books that people would gasp when they saw him bust out that flex.

He also said that a woman who felt his muscles said they felt like "warm marble." Insanity.

[–]raginBacon 9 points10 points ago

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The "warm marble" is also in the The Art of Expressing the Human Body (where OPs pic is from). She was the wife of one of his costars, and she became entranced by his biceps.

I want to be able to entrance people with by biceps.

[–]rl41 2 points3 points ago

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That puts his body fat percentage at around (or below) 5%. Which is insane.

[–]cdwillis 4 points5 points ago

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Some fan site I was looking at earlier quoted some doctor was estimating his body fat at less than one percent when he died. That is completely unbelievable, but somewhere under 5% I could believe.

[–]PotentialApathy 2 points3 points ago

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Less than 1% is a stretch, but I can believe he was close. A friend of mine in University tested at 3% without any specific effort to get to that level. He was chinese, did lots of martial arts and ate everything in site. I think genetics was the key factor...

[–]xtc46Power Lifting (Competitive), Hulk Smash (Recreational) 2 points3 points ago

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ate everything in site

Unless he was blind...Id bet that test was wrong.

[–]KublaiKhan 2 points3 points ago

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World-class bodybuilders are able to hover at 3–5% for a few hours before and during competition. I would imagine that someone at 1% looks like a concentration camp inmate.

[–]bjarnia 0 points1 point ago

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http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75234&d=1071062790

This is said to be 3%. Have not seen any creepy pics like that of Bruce :P

[–]cdwillis 0 points1 point ago

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That is outrageous.

[–]Walls 34 points35 points ago

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Yeah, but he DID die, and far too young.

[–]flipmosquad 21 points22 points ago

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ya.. but it wasn't anything.. "fitness" related....

[–]Walls 3 points4 points ago

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There is that.

[–]berlinbrown 4 points5 points ago

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Are we sure about that? He died from a swollen brain? Was he training at the time?

[–]flipmosquad 15 points16 points ago

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I would say his line of work.. and career choice made him susceptible to that.. but his fitness, and pushing his plateaus weren't the cause.

[–]Jimeee 2 points3 points ago

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Actually, according to Dragon: The Bruce Lee story it was an evil Chinese demon. I'll go with that.

[–]Vile_Vampire 16 points17 points ago

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"allergic" reaction to a headache drug if I remember correctly. Although I'm pretty sure he was on a cocktail of steroids

[–]Walls 9 points10 points ago

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That is my view as well, that he was using steroids to keep himself going. I don't mean to cast any doubts about the man, I think he had amazing skill, talent and in my opinion, honour, but I can't agree with all he says.

[–]unloud 7 points8 points ago

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Except that there were no steroids in his system when he died....

[–]Walls 0 points1 point ago

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It is entirely possible that someone like me would placate their own lack of success to an insistence that success like his came on foot on something other than hard work or talent. I meant no disrespect, excuse me.

[–]rthomas6 -1 points0 points ago

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That doesn't mean he didn't take steroids. Anabolic steroids are just artificially produced chemicals found naturally in the body, if I'm not mistaken. Modern athletes get away with taking steroids all the time. It just couldn't have been really near his time of death.

[–]Liefx -1 points0 points ago

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He probably also had a better life than all of us.

[–]DigitalMindShadow[!] 8 points9 points ago

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Speak for yourself, my life is awesome.

[–]Dantai 5 points6 points ago

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Don't mistake popularity for a more fruitful life.

[–]cdwillis 13 points14 points ago

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He was popular, but by all accounts I've read of him (not that I'm an authority by any means) Bruce Lee was a pretty happy well balanced guy.

[–]Walls -1 points0 points ago

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Maybe.

[–]MongoAbides 5 points6 points ago

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Oldy but a goody.

[–]JiujitsuPlus 7 points8 points ago

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Yup, if there's anyone that embodies absolute physical fitness and functional strength, it's gotta be Bruce Lee.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have two finger pushups and v-sits to practice before I kill ninjas and take out a one-handed bad guy who offended my family and the shaolin temple...

[–]apexaviour 6 points7 points ago

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I prefer Dylan Moran's take: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU8C88UczmU

"Stay away from your potential. You'll mess it up, it's potential, leave it. Anyway, it's like your bank balance - you always have a lot less than you think."

[–]Skylarkin 2 points3 points ago

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Upvote for you sir!

"...if you gave it your all, if you harvested every screed of energy within you, and devoted yourself to improving yourself, that all you would get to, would be maybe eating less cheesy snacks."

Brilliant

[–]chemobrain 3 points4 points ago

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This image is not motivational for me, at least not in the intended manner. It's been theorized that Bruce Lee died from sudden unexpected death in epilepsy, which can be triggered by lack of sleep and stress. It is very, very plausible that Bruce Lee's early death was a direct result of the enormous physical strain he put on his body. Seeing this reminds me that, while I'm not there yet, some day I'll hit a plateau where I can say "You know what... That's good enough."

[–]MashedPeas 5 points6 points ago

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I prefer the middle path. Moderation!

[–][deleted] 14 points15 points ago

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Inspirational, but kind of insane. You can't just "do it"... you gotta work up to it. If you are ever concerned you might have a heart attack from going to hard... you know... take a break... you have to set limitations. Why stop at 5? Go to 7, to 9, to 11. The inspirations nice, but I'm not Bruce Lee so I'm going to take it with a grain of salt.

[–]ubersiren 17 points18 points ago

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I think what Lee meant was that you should never allow yourself to "plateau." The author of the story said that they had been doing the 3 mi. for some time when Lee suggested they bump it up. I imagine they worked up to the 3 to begin with, but when Lee noticed they were becoming too used to that distance, he noted that a push was necessary for further advancement.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point ago

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right, I understand the message. But you don't have to think of it as a "plateau". What if this were applied to weight training? I only want to get so big, so I would work up to a certain weight and then continue to work on my definition. If I just kept pumping it up because I didn't want to plateau, I could get huge. I understand the philosophical message, and I appreciate it even, but it's not applicable in all situations. I was specifically talking about what Lee was... I think that is kind of dangerous. A lot of overweight people try to lose weight fast and sometimes can end up hurting their heart by over doing it.

[–]pigvwu 4 points5 points ago

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If I just kept pumping it up because I didn't want to plateau, I could get huge.

Hahaha, good luck trying that. You're going to plateau in strength and size at some point anyways, and only nutrition and hard work will get you past it. It's impossible to get huge muscles on accident.

Also, even if you are limiting your weight with nutrition, you can still increase your percentage of lean mass, and there are a lot of neural gains to be had as well.

To me, it doesn't make any sense to limit yourself by purposely not lifting heavier weights.

In any case, it's not about overdoing it, but constantly surpassing the person that you were yesterday.

[–]ubersiren 0 points1 point ago

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Fair enough, although I'd say with weight training, it's a bit different because most people have an ultimate goal as you said. But I think, still, the point is being passed over a bit. Perhaps, keeping with the weight training theme, the idea would be that if you've reached your strength goals, then you would work on flexibility or something else. If you're not interested in doing something, like bulking up too much, or doing gymnastics, then there's no point. Just don't give up just because you don't think you can continue. If it's something you want, do it, and you'll be better for it, or dead. But you won't know until you attempt it.

[–]Nerdlinger 1 point2 points ago*

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Yeah. There's a huge difference between stopping due to physical limitations and stopping due to mental limitations. I also agree that going until failure can be a good thing from time to time, so long as that failure is exhaustion, and not heart attack or similar.

edit: Well, I see someone's a fan of inducing heart attack as a part of a training plan...

[–]MeridianJP 0 points1 point ago

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What about the Special Forces guy, David Goggins who got into long distance running? I think he "just did it" (but suffered a number of injuries initially according to his story.)

[–]legacy5k 2 points3 points ago

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Damn, look at that bicep!

[–]cdwillis 2 points3 points ago

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It's crazy to think that my arm is the same size, but the amount of body fat he had makes his physique look insane.

[–]OddSensation 2 points3 points ago

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Inspiring story, thanks for posting.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points ago

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No matter how many times I see this posted, I get an adrenaline rush every time.

[–]diggro 7 points8 points ago

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Cocaine is a hell of a drug

[–]raginBacon -2 points-1 points ago

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Do you think Lee did coke?

[–]DogFacedKillah 4 points5 points ago

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When I was seriously training to run a marathon, people would ask the best way to run long distances. My reply was always, run until you can't possibly run any more, then say fuck it and keep going.

BTW Bruce Lee is legit

[–]Nerdlinger 0 points1 point ago

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BTW Bruce Lee is legit

Was.

[–]DogFacedKillah 1 point2 points ago

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It has been posited in this thread that his ghost could kick some ones ass... I agree. So I stand by my is.

[–]filipothead 1 point2 points ago

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Was this Inosanto talking?

[–]TimFTWin 1 point2 points ago

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It was Stirling Silliphant, a friend of Mr. Lee's.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_Silliphant?wasRedirected=true

[–]vivomancer 1 point2 points ago

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a favorite story among martial arts teachers.

[–]n0c0ntr0l 1 point2 points ago

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[–]ComboFever 1 point2 points ago

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Desktop background. This should be in lifehack :)

[–]get_rhythm 1 point2 points ago

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I printed this out and put it on my wall after the first time I saw it on fittit.

[–]tomzilla 1 point2 points ago

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1.) Read picture 2.) Right click, set as background 3.) Open bag of Dorittos 4.) Insert chips into mouth 5.) Feel accomplished

[–]DSLJohn 1 point2 points ago*

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"There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you might go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you"

Bruce Lee, dead at 32

So, now I'm an asshole, but seriously, a little moderation may have kept him alive.

[–]stratocastification 4 points5 points ago

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well he didn't die from excess. Seems that his body happened to disagree with a headache medication.

[–]Nerdlinger 2 points3 points ago

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Of course he had cerebral edema before he was ever given that medication.

[–]stratocastification 0 points1 point ago

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the more you know..

[–]silveraw 0 points1 point ago

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or a five finger death punch, you never know.

[–]iamthelol 1 point2 points ago

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Then Bruce Lee died.

[–]neoterik 8 points9 points ago

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Everybody dies.

[–]iamthelol 4 points5 points ago

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[–]neoterik 8 points9 points ago

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He died, but He came back. That was kind of the point. Everybody dies.

If you were going to call me out, should've used... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elijah#Departure .

[–]iamthelol 1 point2 points ago

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If he's selling that whole eternal life deal, it's pretty difficult to argue that he died right? Unfortunately Elijah is a poor example, as he's more a mythological figure.

[–]neoterik 1 point2 points ago

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Eternal life of the soul/spirit/etc. Body is fleeting. He "conquered" death, but it was by virtue of coming back from being dead, not from never experiencing it. He couldn't be "human" if he just never died, doesn't fit the narrative.

And you're playing your religious cards very close to home if you're calling Jesus real but Elijah not on Reddit. I applaud you for that one.

[–]DSLJohn 3 points4 points ago

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He died at 32.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

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33.

[–]sheepman21 0 points1 point ago

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Nietzsche user to say the same thing, although he was sick and disturbed for a long part of his life. It's not only about fitness.

[–]thousandfoldthoughtWeightlifting, Personal Trainer 0 points1 point ago

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To do for this week: level up.

[–]kungfu1 0 points1 point ago

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Thanks for this. I am a martial artist of over 10 years and Mr. Lee never fails to inspire.

[–]Falufalump 0 points1 point ago

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"A man must constantly exceed his level." Proof reality is a video game and Bruce Lee was a fitness server moderator.

[–]opticLens 0 points1 point ago

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Is the there a subreddit for fitness for skinny men who want to bulk up? :)

[–]MissedTheToilet 0 points1 point ago

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[–]hawaiianrule -5 points-4 points ago

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And hence why he is dead and I'm still alive.

[–]dgafuan 12 points13 points ago

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His ghost would still kick your ass

[–][deleted] -2 points-1 points ago

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If Bruce said that shit to me, I totally would have kicked his ass.

[–]flipmosquad -1 points0 points ago

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God damn.. I like. That's going into my.. inspirational quotes.

[–]FakePlasticShrimp -1 points0 points ago

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I wonder if, bruce was in his prime now... Would he be the best MMA fighter ever, and would never loose? Or would he be shown up as a celebrity and movie star? We'll never know...

[–]FakePlasticShrimp -1 points0 points ago

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I wonder if, bruce was in his prime now... Would he be the best MMA fighter ever, and would never loose? Or would he be shown up as a celebrity and movie star? We'll never know...

[–]darbish -3 points-2 points ago

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It killed him.