# Bruce Lee --VS--Harry Houdini **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 15, 2001, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-vs-harry-houdini/76342 "2001-08-15T05:40:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Evno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c68b51/32.png) [@Evno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evno)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-vs-harry-houdini/76342/1 "2001-08-15T05:40:59Z")
Since I don’t know how Houdini could take any punch to the stomach and come out unaffected, what would happen if The Dragon slammed a one-inch punch into the tummy of The Greatest Showman of All Time? ---
**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-vs-harry-houdini/76342/2 "2001-08-15T05:47:46Z")
It depends if you’re ready for it or not. If you do some training, anyone can take a good punch to the gut and carry on a relatively normal conversation. If you’re not ready for it, a small woman could drop a 300lb biker if she hit him at the right time. ---
**Author:** ![Evno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c68b51/32.png) [@Evno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evno)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-vs-harry-houdini/76342/3 "2001-08-15T05:49:19Z")
yeah, but Bruce Lee had a wonderful sense of power. He would be able to send the person flying. ---
**Author:** ![Anal\_Scurvy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@Anal\_Scurvy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anal_Scurvy)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-vs-harry-houdini/76342/4 "2001-08-15T05:51:15Z")
I imagine it’d throw him across the room. I don’t know what acts Houdini did involving shots to his stomach, but the one inch punch wasn’t a penetrating punch, it was meant to move a two hundred pound body far away from his person. Actually, no, now that I think about it, a one inch punch in the stomach wouldn’t work like a one inch punch to the chest (where Bruce traditionally threw it). I don’t know what would happen, this requires experimentation. ---
**Author:** ![Evno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c68b51/32.png) [@Evno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evno)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-vs-harry-houdini/76342/5 "2001-08-15T05:58:46Z")
Good call. Let’s get Bruce and Har on the horn. I know the punch is not meant to be penetrating, but it’s still supposed to hurt. Any force that sends you a-flyin’ like that will probably have something to show for it. Harry Houdini actually died from this trick. From what I’ve read, he was approached by some fighter that wanted to take a crack at it, and when he refused to participate, the man socked him a good one. He died of internal bleeding, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Anal\_Scurvy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@Anal\_Scurvy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anal_Scurvy)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-vs-harry-houdini/76342/6 "2001-08-15T06:02:44Z")
What was Harry Houdini’s stomach shtick? Did he take cannonbals in the stomach? Did he get audience members to punch him? I’m afraid I’m well informed of Bruce Lee but know almost nothing of Houdini. ---
**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-vs-harry-houdini/76342/7 "2001-08-15T06:13:04Z")
I think the doctors said the punch had something to do with rupturing or aggrevating his appendix resulting in a case of sudden appendacitus (sp??). Don’t know… could be wrong. I’ve had a version of the shortened technique done on me, not full power though. It doesn’t sting like getting slapped, but it’s definately more uncomforting than a casual shove. As I was mentioning, if you’re ready for it, you’ll find yourself a few feet back with a deep dull pain in the area hit. If you’re not ready, you’ll fold in half like a wet rag and find yourself a few feet back on the floor… possibly with some internal injuries. ---
**Author:** ![Evno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c68b51/32.png) [@Evno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evno)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-vs-harry-houdini/76342/8 "2001-08-15T06:15:03Z")
From what I know, he basically claimed he could take “any punch” in his stomach, and be unharmed. Like I said. I don’t know much of the details, but [you can see for yourself what happened.](http://www.naples.k12.ny.us/houdini/death.htm) ---
**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-vs-harry-houdini/76342/9 "2001-08-15T06:33:20Z")
Yup, he wasn’t ready for it = show’s over Houdini. You/he probably could take any punch once from someone else providing he was tensed up. Muhamed Ali took hundreds of very big shots to the gut from a 20-something year-old George Foreman without incident. “Taking any punch” didn’t mean that he could be sleeping or unconsious and withstand the blow… it had a few conditions attached (like knowing when it would happen). ---
**Author:** ![Anal\_Scurvy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@Anal\_Scurvy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anal_Scurvy)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-vs-harry-houdini/76342/10 "2001-08-15T06:49:24Z")
Ali was just really friggin’ tough. He fought… what… thirteen rounds with a broken jaw against Ken Norton? I remember reading an interview (I think I can even give a cite, too) with one of Foreman’s sparring partners before the Rumble in the Jungle. Basically, he said Forman had an Anywhere Punch. Anywhere it hit you, it would break something. Bones, muscle, organs. He wore Foreman out by taking the Anywhere Punch for eight rounds. Ali was one tough hombre. ---
**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-vs-harry-houdini/76342/11 "2001-08-15T06:56:03Z")
In the video “when we were kings” they showed Foreman hitting the heavy bag and showed the half-watermelon sized dent left in it when he was done. If you can tense up you muscles properly and take the pain of being tenderized for a while, you can withstand a pretty serious pounding. ---
**Author:** ![Anal\_Scurvy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@Anal\_Scurvy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anal_Scurvy)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-vs-harry-houdini/76342/12 "2001-08-15T07:03:51Z")
head over to MPSIMS, I just started a post because I want to learn more about you Ali has my respect, everlasting, as a tactician and a very tough man after the Foreman brawl. He also gets respect for such a stylish ending. ---
**Author:** ![Perderabo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Perderabo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perderabo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-vs-harry-houdini/76342/13 "2001-08-15T13:08:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Evno \* > \*\*From what I know, he basically claimed he could take “any punch” in his stomach, and be unharmed. Like I said. I don’t know much of the details, but [you can see for yourself what happened.](http://www.naples.k12.ny.us/houdini/death.htm) \*\* [Here is Houdini’s death certificate.](http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/Stage/3487/deathcertif.jpg) He died from [peritonitis](http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001335.htm) which resulted from [appendicitis](http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health/digest/summary/append/). As [snopes](http://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/houdini.htm) says: > [@](#): > > In the aftermath of Houdini’s death, the assumption was made that the blows to his stomach and his ruptured appendix were related. It seemed a logical conclusion at the time, even to his doctors, and so the legend began. With the advantage of several decades of hindsight, however, we now know this explanation to be impossible: no cases of acute appendicitis caused by physical trauma have since been documented. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-vs-harry-houdini/76342/14 "2001-08-15T14:00:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Evno \* > \*\*…into the tummy of The Greatest Showman of All Time? \*\* P.T. Barnum is generally considered to be the “greatest showman of all time.” And I believe he could not take a punch to his stomach even by General Tom Thumb. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bruce-lee-vs-harry-houdini/76342/15 "2001-08-15T14:20:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mmmiiikkkeee \* > \*\*In the video “when we were kings” they showed Foreman hitting the heavy bag and showed the half-watermelon sized dent left in it when he was done. If you can tense up you muscles properly and take the pain of being tenderized for a while, you can withstand a pretty serious pounding. \*\* I think before any of **us** decided to sign up for such a beating, it would be a good idea to go into training and put some pounds on first. Good breathing technique can only take you so far.