Sonny Chiba vs Bruce Lee: The Debate Finally Put to Rest

“He’s the cat they call The Street Fighter! Yeah he’s pretty cool. He’s no Bruce Lee, but who in the hell is?”(Phillips)

It’s the Asian cinema equivalent of Batman versus Superman, of Ali versus Tyson, of Schwarzenegger versus Stallone. The divisive debate offers endless speculation and an opportunity for fans to show off their depth of knowledge on the actors. Of course, a dispute once limited to fan circles and conventions has been given a new dynamic thanks to the world wide web.

Bruce Lee burst onto the international movie scene in the 1970s and his hit, The Big Boss (Fists of Fury in the US) led to a string of movies that showcased Lee’s martial arts skills and philosophies. His definitive film, [Enter the Dragon](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070034/?ref=fnal_tt_1) would serve as an exclamation point to his untimely death at 32 years of age.

Meanwhile in Japan, another superstar’s career bloomed. Sadaho Maeda shocked audiences with the graphic violence of [The Bodyguard](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0164699/?ref=nmflmg_act_95) and [The Street Fighter](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073756/?ref=fnal_tt_2). Better known as Sonny Chiba, some would declare the budding action star Japan’s answer to Bruce Lee. Others would label him a blatant rip-off.

The debate continues today, fueled by Lee’s growing legend and Chiba’s ongoing career. Who had better movies? Who was the more accomplished martial artist? Who would win in a fight to the death (or, less dramatically, an exhibition match)?

Please read on as Tofugu throws its hat into the ring and puts the debate to rest once and for all… or just adds fuel to the action-packed fire.

The Man Called Sonny

Born in Fukuoka, Japan in 1939, Sonny Chiba had dreams of becoming an Olympic gymnast. After his high school graduation, Chiba enrolled in Nihon Taiku University’s physical education program and began the rigorous training to fulfill his ambitious goal (Ragone). Taking aim at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Chiba remained a serious candidate for the team until an injury sustained while doing part-time construction work forced him to change course. (Interview 2004)

Chiba would take up bodybuilding and martial arts, learning karate from World Karate Grand Master and Kyokushinken Karate founder, Masutatsu Oyama. “In his senior year, he was given the honor of coaching (karate) at the university”(Ragone). Martial arts became a mainstay in Chiba’s life and a key ingredient in his acting career.

Though athletics and acting may seem worlds apart, Chiba bridged the two. As a fan of Hollywood films, Chiba found inspiration in an unlikely source: James Dean.

If it weren’t for James Dean, I would have never become an actor… His acting rings with truth… Movies are all lies. The point is whether or not we can make the audience believe… to have them think what they’re seeing is the truth. And that’s exactly what James Dean’s work brought home to me so powerfully. (Interview 2004)

Thanks to James Dean and the influence of Hollywood films, Chiba hoped to change the Japanese movie industry from within. But first he would have to become an actor.

“Chiba auditioned and won the Toei Studios’ 1960 New Faces Contest, and he began traveling down the road of acting.” (Ragone) Japan’s studio system, which pumped out films with industrial efficiency, worked Chiba hard, casting him in roles that ranged from war dramas to sci-fi adventures. The exposure paid off and his popularity grew.

Thanks to his success, Chiba would be cast in roles outside the movie industry. In fact, Chiba earned his international nickname through an advertising campaign for the Toyota Sunny-S. “The ads were successful, and the name stuck with him – especially with Toei’s overseas advertising department, who started to bill him as Sonny Chiba.”(Ragone)

Enter the Dragon’s Shadow

Bruce Lee’s success sent shockwaves throughout Asia. His fame and fortune fueled a worldwide kung-fu boom as studios around the world scrambled to exploit the genre’s sudden popularity.

In 1973, Lee’s death would inspire a flood of knock-offs and look-a-likes. The phenomenon gave birth to a whole genre of Bruceploitation films, with studios clambering to cash in on the actor’s likeness and image at any cost.

Lee’s onscreen passion and intensity inspired Sonny Chiba as an actor. Lee’s marketability and Enter the Dragon‘s enormous profits inspired Toei and the studio attempted to cash-in by reviving the martial arts genre for Japanese audiences.

It’s no coincidence that Chiba’s roles in karate-themed action films boomed following Lee’s death, from 1973 onward. With his muscular build and hard-boiled attitude, Chiba would be the man to herald a new wave of Japanese action films.

In the slew of karate films that followed, Chiba became the prototypical karate master, mixing Bruce Lee’s martial arts action with Charles Bronson’s hard-hitting style. The Street Fighter and The Bodyguard garnered the most fame, thanks in part to Japan’s gritty 70s cinematic style.

Since Chiba emulated Bruce Lee’s trademark coos, caws, body-tension and crazy-eyes during the peak of his karate-action movie era, many accuse him of being a Bruce Lee copycat. Although those moments were undoubtedly Lee inspired, Chiba lent his own flavor to these action films, using brute violence and blunt force where Lee would have used grace and finesse.

Furthermore, while Lee’s characters walked a moral high ground, Chiba’s characters could be ambiguous and self-serving. He admitted, “For me the most enjoyable role to play is the bad-guy” (Ross).

During that time in Japan (1970s), there was no action movie character like the main character in The Street Fighter. There was no precedent, so everyone greeted the character, and myself, with great applause and pride in Japan during that time.(Yamasato)

The Street Fighter took everyone, including the US ratings board, by surprise.

The Street Fighter was such a shock to the American rating board… that it became the first action film to get an “X” rating for violence… including throats ripped, eyes gouged, testicles torn asunder” (Donovan).

Thanks to his own personality and the style of Japanese films at the time, Chiba never entered the ranks of shameless Bruce Lee rip-offs like Bruce Li, Bruce Lai, Bruce Le, Lee Bruce or Dragon Lee. Slick choreography, a blunt hard-hitting technique and trendsetting, graphic violence earned Chiba a worldwide fan-base. Chiba’s later roles would only feed his popularity, as he cast off Lee’s shadow and exhibited his own unique talents and style.

Unique Aspirations

Sonny Chiba owes his fame, in part, to his hard work ethic. His career has spanned over five decades and includes over 130 movies. Thanks to the studio system he sometimes starred in two to three movies a year! He also earned fame for his television roles, particularly the ninja master Hattori Hanzo (more on that later).

Yet Sonny Chiba didn’t focus on acting alone. The Hollywood-influenced independent thinker hoped to change the Japanese film industry.

First, Chiba took it upon himself to improve the quality of Japan’s stuntmen and physical actors, creating The Japan Action Club in 1969. The JAC brought a standard and professionalism to Japan’s action movie production “providing able-bodied stuntmen and martial artists for any studio who was able to hire them”(Ragone). Chiba did his best to help promote young stars and propel the Japanese film industry into a new era.

The members of JAC became popular idols with the Japanese public with a huge merchandise-chewing fanbase. This following helped Sonny Chiba Enterprises to swell into a powerful company, which not only offered a huge line of goods, but spawned mountains of magazine articles and photo books. (Ragone)

But Chiba’s ambitions didn’t end there. Chiba explained, “I… believe that the dramatic story, or the natural story, is very important… (A movie) can’t be mere spectacle”(Yamasato). Chiba looked to Hollywood’s film industry to provide the blueprint for improving Japanese film.

But Chiba felt stifled by Japanese studios and production teams. “American movies are more open to actor’s ideas,” he said (Interview 2004). Chiba believed an actor’s job didn’t lay in speaking lines alone, but in contributing to the shaping of the picture. An actor’s ideas, particularly those of one with Chiba’s experience and know-how, could make a film more realistic, more compelling (Interview 2004).

Chiba believed that Japan’s films would have more global appeal if they incorporated Hollywood sensibility, style and techniques. Japanese film could then expose a world audience to Japanese culture.

True to his ambition, Chiba would abandon Hong Kong inspired action films and their contemporary settings for historical, Japanese-centric roles.

The Karate Master Goes Samurai and Ninja

One of Sonny Chiba’s most celebrated roles came after both The Street Fighter and _The Bodyguard, _as the charismatic sword swinging historical legend Yagyu Jubei. Still revered today, Jubei gained the reputation as a rebel thinker and “champion of the masses.” A tragic figure whose mysterious causes of death range from assassination to heart-attack, Chiba declared Jubei his favorite role, a complicated character who “had no choice but to kill.”

As the historical figure and war hero Hattori Hanzo, Chiba helped create some of Japan’s most famous ninja imagery. The popular television series and movie fueled a renewed interest in one of Japan’s most mysterious historical archetypes. The spillover is thought to have helped spur the Western ninja craze as well. Chiba would once again take the Hanzo name as Okinawa’s resident master sword smith in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Vol 1.

Although he played hundreds of roles over the span of his career, Chiba didn’t bat an eye when asked his favorite director or character to play. “I feel that my best characters were in director Kinji Fukasaku’s work.” (Yamasato) Chiba calls Fukusasaku “a master of tempo.” The men complimented each other’s styles, creating a unique breed of potent, sordid films. Chiba’s most notable, charismatic works would come under Fukasaku’s unique direction.

It comes as no surprise that Chiba’s favorite role as Yagyu Jubei was with Fukusatsu’s direction in Yagyu Ichizoku no Inbo, _or _The Yagyu Conspiracy (Yamasato).

A Very Sonny Filmography

Although he starred in countless action-packed roles, Chiba never considered himself an action star. “I do not believe I am an action star,” he explained, “but an actor in action movies”(Yamasato). The following is a mixed selection of Chiba’s most notable roles, with a couple of wildcards thrown in for good measure.

With over 130 films to his credit and several television series, picking just a handful proves a challenge. Here are some of Chiba’s most noteworthy films and performances. If you’re looking for notoriety, watch The Bodyguard or Shogun’s Samurai. If you want to get crazy, watch Soul of Chiba. However, my personal favorite is Karate Warriors.

• The Bodyguard (1973) Also known as Karate Kiba, The Bodyguard‘s brutal violence made it an instant cult classic. When Chiba offers to protect anyone willing to offer information on Japan’s dangerous drug cartels, a mysterious woman steps forward and Chiba’s life spiral’s into violence; as if he’d have it any other way.


• The Street Fighter (1974): When gangsters attempt to kidnap the heiress of an oil empire, karate tough-man Tsurugi (Sonny Chiba) jumps at the opportunity to protect the girl and take the baddies out as violently as possible. The Street Fighter is one of Chiba’s most well-paced action films and it lies somewhere between Hong Kong and Hollywood styled action.


• The Executioner II: Karate Inferno (1974): When a jewel heist proves too much for the police to handle, they hire a professional criminal to get the job done. In the vein of films like The Dirty Dozen and Wild 7, and with a touch of Lupin III for good measure, Chiba and company must go beyond the law to aid the law. Karate Inferno delivers with campy lowbrow humor and intense karate action.


• The Bullet Train (1975): Known as Shinkansen Daibakuha in Japan, The Bullet Train features two superstars, Ken Takakura and Sonny Chiba, in a high-octane thriller about a train armed with a bomb set to explode if the train slows down. Sound familiar? Many cite The Bullet Train as the inspiration for for 1994 Hollywood blockbuster, Speed.


• Karate Warriors (1976): Inspired by Kurosawa’s Yojimbo, Kozure Satsujin Ken features a badass street fighter, played by Chiba, versus a samurai and son, à la Lone Wolf and Cub. _Surprisingly, the movie-influenced mishmash blends into one of Chiba’s best works. Although its outstanding fight scenes featuring a mix of karate blows and samurai sword play will please action fans, _Karate Warrior’s well conceived story makes it a stand out among Chiba’s other action films.


• Soul of Chiba (1977): Also known as Violent Death! Way of the Evil Fist, this “Japanese-Hong Kong co-production set in Thailand” costars Bolo Yueng of Enter the Dragon fame in an as-crazy-as-they-come, low budget kung-fu flick(coolasscinema). Chiba plays a kung-fu master searching for his master’s killer. Fans of cheesy kung-fu movies with equally cheesy dubbing should love this unique Hong Kong and Japanese collaboration.


• Shogun’s Samurai (1978): Better known as The Yagyu Conspiracy in Japan, this movie marks Chiba’s most notable adventure as the sword swinging, eye-patched badass Yagyu Jubei. When the ruling Tokugawa shogunate dies, intrigue and violence abound as a conspiracy is uncovered and his sons battle for the throne. Shogun’s Samurai sees Chiba teaming with his favorite director Kinji Fukasaku for a stylized jidai (samurai period) action classic.


• Shadow Warriors (1980): In the long-lived television series also known as Kage no Gundan, Chiba played various members of the legendary ninja lineage Hattori Hanzo. Made famous in Kill Bill Vol 1, this television series and movie popularized ninja and ninja tropes in Japanese culture.


• Samurai Reincarnation (1981): Makai Tensh? marked the return of Yagyu Jubei, this time in a fantasy setting that allowed for two fan-service showdowns: Yagyu Jubei vs. Miyomoto Musashi and Yagyu Jubei vs. his father.


• The Stormriders (1998): Sonny Chiba gained popularity in China for his roles in the martial arts fantasy epics based on the Chinese comic book series.


• Kill Bill Vol 1(2003): Quentin Tarantino considers Sonny Chiba one of his favorite action stars. In fact, Jules Winnfield’s bible quote in Pulp Fiction is a homage to the opening sequence of the American version of Chiba’s The __Bodyguard. Despite his string of cult hits in the US, Chiba would get his biggest western exposure when he reprised his role as Hattori Hanzo for Tarantino in Kill Bill Vol 1, this time as the legendary sword-smith living in Okinawa.

Sonny Chiba versus Bruce Lee

Round 1: Film Career

Bruce Lee became famous thanks to his films. But his biggest notoriety came off screen, as a philosopher and demonstrator. Sonny Chiba’s career spans over five decades, with over 130 roles spanning various genres. Chiba also created his own production company, directed two movies, and created the JAC to better the standard of action movies, whether he was in them or not. From a pure career standpoint, it’s hard to top Sonny Chiba.

Winner: Sonny Chiba

Round 2: Philosophy

Chiba took hard-hitting roles but often played characters of questionable morality. He admits it’s more fun to play the bad-guy. Although Chiba cultivates a positive philosophy offscreen, promoting karate and work ethic, onscreen Chiba’s characters didn’t always practice what he preached.

On the other hand, from The Big Boss to the unfinished Game of Death, Lee infused his movies with ideology. His legend lives on thanks to his approach to fitness and unique philosophy which is embodied in his unique fighting style, Jeet Kune Do. Want to know more? Watch his famous interviews, or read Striking Thoughts or Tao of Jeet Kune Do.

Winner: Bruce Lee

Round 3: Unique Image

Since, at one point in his career, Chiba emulated Lee it would be easy to give this round to Lee. But we cannot deny Chiba’s influence in Japan. His representations of Hanzo and Jubei planted the seeds of the ninja boom that would inspire characters and imagery both at home and abroad.

Yet Bruce Lee inspired his own genre of Bruceploitation films. His yellow and black jumpsuit from Game of Death became iconic and was even worn by Bride when she slayed countless enemies with Hanzo’s blade in Kill Bill Vol 1‘s climax. Bruce Lee’s image is, without a doubt, more recognizable than Sonny Chiba’s.

Winner: Bruce Lee

Round 4: Martial Artist

The founder of Jeet Kune Do became famous for his speed and power put on display in movies and demonstrations. On the surface, it’s hard to argue against Bruce Lee in this category. But legend has blurred reality and the lack of concrete fact, video or competitive accomplishments make Lee’s accomplishments as a “real” fighter questionable legends at best.

Bruce’s own students and friends offer no confirmation on his true fighting ability. When asked about reports of bursting 700-pound punching bags and throwing seven punches in a second, Lee’s student and famed kickboxer Joe Lewis responded:

Please, drop all the stuff you’ve heard. Martial arts is full of nonsense. Only believe what you have seen or can prove… Bruce was not a fighter. He was an actor and a teacher. He was a great teacher… Bruce Lee was a wealth of knowledge. (Divinewind)

Lee’s friend, actor and karate legend Chuck Norris offered similar doubts, “Would I have beaten Bruce Lee in a real competition, or not? You’ll forgive me for answering with another Bruceism: Showing off is the fool’s idea of glory” (Sattler).

Lee’s most famous confrontation, with martial artist Wong Jack Man remains shrouded in mystery. Lee bragged that he beat Man, who turned tail and fled. But Man contended that Lee fought dirty: “According to Wong, the battle began with him bowing and offering his hand to Lee in the traditional manner of opening a match. Lee… pretended to extend a friendly hand only to transform the hand into a four-pronged spear aimed at Wong’s eyes” (Dorgan, Hayes)

What isn’t questionable is Lee’s multi-styled legacy. Lee explored styles ranging from kung-fu to fencing and this philisophical legacy lives on today in the booming sport of mixed martial arts (as seen in the UFC and One Championship).

When it comes to martial arts, Sonny Chiba is no slouch. The athlete turned actor holds high rankings in kyokushin karate, ninjutsu, gojuryu karate, shorinji kempo, judo and kendo. Chiba helped spread the benefits of karate to the masses by providing an alternative hero; a karate master in the midst of kung-fu overload.

Both men mastered and promoted multiple fighting arts. Although neither touts a tangible fighting legacy, their films and fame inspired fans around the world take up martial arts.

Winner: Tie

Round 5: World Stardom

Both stars conquered box offices around the world. Lee’s popularity extends into Japan while Chiba made a name for himself in China, even taking roles in Chinese movies. Both men made inroads in the west and lent their talents to western films. Based on these accomplishments alone, discounting notoriety (next round), it’s hard to declare a true winner.

Winner: Tie

Round 6: Notoriety

Lee wins this round, no question. Robert Downey’s Bruce Lee shirt in the latest Avengers film proves that Bruce Lee’s place as an influential icon hasn’t faded in the slightest.

Even in the West, Bruce Lee is a household name. T-shirts bearing his image, his books, his movies are all readily available. In contrast, although you might come across a few of his movies, you’d be hard-pressed to find a Sonny Chiba t-shirt or book at the mall, even in Japan. In The Asian Influence on Hollywood Action Films, Barna Donovan explains, “Although Chiba earned a sudden cult fan following (in the US) he did not have the sort of staying power in American popular memory as Bruce Lee did”(96).

Winner: Bruce Lee

Round 7: Cultural Ambassador

Although Lee took kung-fu too new heights of popularity, in reality he wasn’t a kung-fu man. Lee’s art was Jeet-kun Do, as influenced by western boxing and fencing as it was Chinese kung-fu. In fact, Lee left China where where he could freely make movies and explore his philosophy.

In On the Warrior’s Path, Daniele Bolelli gives an in-depth examination of Lee’s deviation from mainstream Chinese thinking:

Lee stood in firm opposition to the most dogmatic aspects of Chinese tradition cherished by Confucianism. By rejecting Confucianism and choosing to embrace the antiauthoritarian viewpoint of philosophical Taoism, Lee allied himself with the fringe-dwellers… the misfits of Chinese culture. (161)

Although Lee provided all Asian men with a powerful role-model and representative, he never became a clear ambassador of Chinese culture. I didn’t learn anything about Chinese history or traditions from his films.

Barna Donovan agrees, “Lee always looked at kung fu films as a way of introducing the world to the far east… Hong Kong studios, however, hardly had such an ambitious cultural agenda”(96).

Chiba embraced Japanese culture and made spreading Japanese culture one of his main goals. His roles as Hattori Hanzo and Yagyu Jubei are steeped in Japanese history and culture. These movies helped fuel the karate and ninja booms that flourished in the 80’s.

Winner: Chiba

And the winner is…

Bruce Lee by an inch.

While Chiba is a legend in his own right, Lee’s legend and influence crosses cultures, race and sport like no other. World audiences respect Chiba, but want to be Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee has received countless homages, from Hokuto no Ken’s Kenshiro to the Street Fighter gaming series’s Fei Long. MMA fighters cite his influence. Former UFC champion Anderson Silva embraces Lee’s words as if they were his own. Silva’s personal documentary Like Water starts off with archival Bruce Lee footage.

Without a doubt Bruce Lee occupies a special place in the global consciousness. All of these accomplishments come despite his early death and Lee belongs in the ranks of immortal legends like guitar god Jimi Hendrix, worldwide sports and humanitarian icon Muhammad Ali, or Chiba’s own influence, James Dean.

Place Your Bets!

The big, unanswerable question remains: who would have won in a fight?

Lee is the fan favorite. His speed and power need to be seen to be believed. His style, Jeet Kune Do, embraced an amalgamation of styles and “effective” techniques. Lee’s battles with challengers in the street and on movie sets are legendary.

But Chiba makes a worthy dark-horse. The master of many styles trained under_ _Masutatsu Oyama, a man who fought hundreds of men, battled bears and killed bulls with his bare hands. Like Lee, Oyama created a unique style then discarded techniques he deemed ineffective. In many ways Oyama is the prototypical Bruce Lee.

Chiba’s judo, a powerful grappling art, spices things up. Grapplers like jiujitsu and wrestling practitioners ruled the early mixed martial arts era. Even muay thai practitioners, a style known for destructive striking, succeeded thanks to grappling techniques in the clinch.

If I had to place a bet, I’d put my money on Lee. Fact or fiction, Lee had a fighting reputation Chiba lacks. Plus Lee possessed impressive reflexes and power. And his aim to intercept oncoming opponents is proving effective in today’s mixed martial arts’ scene.

Peas In a Kickass Pod

Watch any Bruce Lee movie and you’ll note his morality, fluid grace and skillful execution. On the other hand, Sonny Chiba often played morally ambiguous characters and relied on brute, blunt power.

While Bruce Lee’s gift to the world is his philosophy, Sonny Chiba focused on the Japanese film industry. And thanks to his movies and the formation of the JAC, Chiba helped shape the Japanese film industry in a way that is, at long last, gaining recognition.

Under-appreciated for years, Kill Bill Vol 1 helped bring Sonny Chiba back into the international spotlight. His performance as Hattori Hazno won the respect of critics and exposed Chiba to wider audience than ever before. Kill Bill Vol 1 helped Chiba fulfill his Hollywood intentions. Tarantino’s script gave Chiba the chance to play a pivotal, charismatic role in the series and gave viewers a taste of Japanese action culture.

Sonny Chiba claims he traveled to Hong Kong to meet Bruce Lee in 1973. But the plan was ill-fated and Chiba arrived to news of Lee’s death. “If I could have met him, I think we could have had some exciting, interesting conversations.” (Ross)

Although it’s fun to speculate about who would have won in a fight, in reality that’s not important. Ultimately both men proved themselves as actors and philosophers, but not as actual fighters.

Despite anyone’s take on the debate, the real winners are film fans. Thanks to Bruce Lee and Sonny Chiba, we have a library of awesome martial arts movies to watch. And while their influences can still be felt today, few of today’s films have the charismatic grit and style of the Bruce Lee and Sonny Chiba classics.

Bonus Wallpapers!

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Sources:

• Bolelli, Daniele. On the Warrior’s Path Philosophy, Fighting, and Martial Arts Mythology.


• Cool Ass Cinema. Reel Bad Cinema: Soul of Chiba (1977) Review


• The Divine Wind. Interviews \ Joe Lewis


• Donovan, Barna William. The Asian Influence on Hollywood Action Films


• Dorgan, Michael. Bruce Lee’s Toughest Fight. Official Karate, July 1980


• Hayes, Gregg. Wong Jack Man and Bruce Lee’s Private Match


• Phillip Anthony M. The Bushido Way: A Sam Phillips Mystery


• Ragione, August. Shinichi “Sonny” Chiba: A Real Mean Bastard!


• Ross, Jonathan. Sonny Ciba Interview


• Sattler, Jon. Chuck Norris vs. Bruce Lee. Black Belt Magazine, March 21 2011


• Sonny Chiba Interview. Part 1, Part 2


• Yamasato, Aaron. Q & A with Sonny Chiba

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