The 1 inch punch isn't there to knock anyone out. It isn't supposed to prove that he can knock out a person 1 inch from his face. Its there to show proper jab technique and snap using only the arm, and how effective it is when properly done. Its not a 'gimmick', its a demonstration, geez.

Anyone who's taken traditional martial arts classes knows that a lot of the beginning stuff learned isn't going to be used in real combat, as well as some of the more advanced moves. You won't see guys tornado kicking each other in a UFC match, but that doesn't take away any skill it took to do it.

I don't really understand why Bruce Lee's 1 inch punch demonstration has made all these Lee haters out of everyone. It's not fair to his legacy and its pretty unrealistic to put everything Lee has done aside due to a 5 second clip of a demonstration he did.