Bromance, A Salute to Manly Men: Bruce Lee

One of the toughest men in the History of the World, Bruce Lee, lived a short but very impactful life. He probably single handedly kick started a love of martial arts in America. He stood 5'7 and weighed approximately 130 lbs. He was probably the fastest man alive in a fight and had the power of 7 men. It was said that he could snatch a dime off a person's open palm before they could close it, and leave a penny behind. He could knock a man over even when holding his arm extended 1 inch from their body with no other movement but thrusting his arm forward.

The fighting styles and philosophies of Bruce Lee are well documented. He believed too little time was given to training and too much time given to skill development. He was fanatical about conditioning and strived to create new ways to make himself better at it.

The mystique of Bruce Lee followed him even until his death when he unexplainably died after finishing the movie Enter the Dragon. Suffering from full-body seizures and cerebral edema, he was immediately rushed to Hong Kong Baptist Hospital where doctors were able to reduce the swelling through the administration of mannitol and revive him. He was in top physical condition and was an avid nutritionist.

"Be formless... shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle; it becomes the bottle. You put it into a teapot; it becomes the teapot. Water can flow, and it can crash. Be water, my friend..."

Bromance, A Salute to Manly Men: Army Rangers

For as long as I can remember Army Rangers have been my heroes. The Spearhead of Special Forces Operations as they are sometimes called have been around throughout the Army's history in some form or another. They are the few who dare to volunteer for things that others are afraid of. They are men who would risk everything to give a fellow soldier a chance at living.

The best of the best and they are portrayed in many of the Hollywood movies we love. It was the 2nd Rangers who stormed Omaha Beach in the movie Saving Private Ryan. In the Great Raid we watched the 6th Rangers liberate U.S. POW's in the Philippines. And in the movie Black Hawk Down we see the 75th Rangers attempting a dangerous mission and the amazing and relentless courage they display when all hell breaks loose in Mogadishu after two Black Hawk helicopters are shot down.

These are not mere Hollywood dramatizations. These are based on actual events but will always fail to capture the toughness, the heroism, and the amazing patriotism of the men who proudly call themselves Army Rangers.

So a salute to the Army Rangers, Brothers who share a bond the average person will never understand.

Bro-Mance, A Salute to Manly Men: Bear Grylls

We here On Irish Road like to salute the manly men of the world. The guys who help keep the testosterone levels of life higher than the estrogen levels. The guys that other men want to be like and women want to be with. They are the men that other men look to learn from and make themselves better and more self-sufficient.



In our first Bro-Mance post we salute the man with all of the survival skills, Bear Grylls, host of the Discovery Channel show 'Man vs. Wild'. The man is a former British Special Forces soldier and the youngest Englishman to ever summit Everest and return safely.

While reports have surfaced that sometimes Bear has stayed in hotels overnight instead of in the terrain he's suppose to be surviving the guy is still a grade A bad ass. He's a encyclopedia of knowledge in all types of outdoors settings and isn't afraid to try anything to survive the elements. Hell I've watched an episode where the guy grabbed a water snake out of the swamp, bit it's head off ala Ozzy Osbourne and ate it. If the man keeps doing stuff like that I don't care if they give him nightly pedicures in the Hilton. Just keep showing me the craziness he tries.

I don't know if you knew this but turtle's blood is a fantastic drink. Your urine is awesome when you're out of water. Oh and there are plants that are just as deadly as some snakes. He's just an adventurous soul with a camera crew to capture it all.