Were Hitmontlee and Hitmonchan really based on Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan?

Question

Its what pokemaster said on the question called clever Pokemon names

I thought it was a joke. Is it really true?

Answer 1

They are.
HitmonLEE: Bruce Lee
HitmonCHAN: Jackie Chan

Comments

whoa. 3 seconds.

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COOL.. Up-Vote

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LMAO funny thing is Bruce Lee's Chinese name is Lixiaolong, and it was actually supposed to be "Bruce Li", but no Americans figured out how to pronounce it >.<

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actaully i think this answer is wrong. All though the names are based on Bruce Lee and Jakie Chan, I remember seeing somewhere that originaly they were based on some japanese people. I think Hitmonlee was based on a japanese kick boxer or something. I can't remember, I think I saw it on DYKGaming but I'm not sure.

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You commented ON MY OWN QUESTION. WHICH I ASKED 2 YEARS AGO ;-;

Answer 2

Though Hitmonlee's and Hitmonchan's English names come from Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan respectively, the martial artists weren't the design basis and this reference doesn't translate into Japanese.

Hitmonlee:

Based on its Japanese name and kicking attribute, Hitmonlee may represent Japanese kickboxer Tadashi Sawamura.

Hitmonchan:

Based on its Japanese name and boxer aspects, Hitmonchan may represent the boxer Hiroyuki Ebihara.