Bruce Lee was the invincible best, but he alone couldn't represent all of Chinese martial arts. Regrettably, he also died too young for his school to develop into anything sizeably mainstream or considerably orthodox.
Japanese martial arts, e.g. karate, judo, kendo etc. are very structurally organized and practitionally discliplined. Thai martial art is very focused on kick-boxing, i.e. Muay Thai. Chinese schools of martial arts have never been organised or focused. Bruce Lee incorporated many styles to make himself practically invincible (in unarmed combat) but it added to the confusion and disorganisation in Chinese martial arts.
As for me, non-combative, non-competitive but just in self-defence, the most effective style is the coffeeshop hooligan style. Grab any chair or beer bottle available, defend and counter-attack with guts to to save my life. Fighting style or school has nothing to do with it.