A few years ago global martial arts superstar and Wing-Chun icon portrayer, Donnie Yen, was asked whether he could beat Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan in a fight. His response? No.

This despite obvious facts to the contrary: Donnie has trained in modern mixed martial arts, he’s adept at a variety of techniques that were relatively unknown during Bruce or Jackie’s heyday. While Bruce is widely acknowledged to be the father of MMA, he trained during a time when most schools still reserved their best techniques for the dedicated few. A relative unknown until just before his death, Bruce also did not have the resources, the sparring partners, or the access to top experts that Donnie does today.

As for Jackie Chan, the man has always claimed to being a stuntman first. His training lies in Peking Opera show-fighting, and he is relatively unschooled in the defensive grappling necessary for today’s top strikers to carry out their game plans. It’s the main lesson Royce Gracie taught the world at UFC 1, 2 and 4: if you can’t defend a takedown, then you’re unlikely to land anything decisive against your opponent.

So why would Donnie, who has access to all of today’s martial arts schools and the good health necessary to learn, claim that he wouldn’t stand a chance against two martial artists who lacked these advantages?

The answer: face (read on).