Jet Li is mainly a wushu stylist. Wushu, as a sport is mainly for demonstrations or Taolu competitions, where you perform a form (kata in japanese) against other competitors performing their own forms. Contact fighting in Wushu is called Sanda and it resembles kickboxing, except that you can use takedowns on your opponent, but no ground fighting. Jet Li won many a gold medal in his day and is a prodigy but I've not seen anywhere that he was a Sanda prodigy or that he has an impressive fighting record. Not only that but Sanda is a sporting event where you have rules and limits. Furthermore, Jet Li only focused on Northern Wushu styles. Wushu versions of traditional kung fu tend to be watered down and they have a lot of aerial tricks and backflips added to impress judges. Their goal is to win a tournament, not self-defense.
On the other side there is Bruce Lee, who learned Wing Chun from Ip Man, the greatest Wing Chun stylist ever. It is a southern Kung Fu style and there's hardly any beauty and aestheticism to it, it's all function. He used to get into fights all the time, which is why he learned kung fu, to defend himself, not for show. He also did boxing during his early years and became an amateur champion in his school. It is documented by various sources including Lee's own accounts, interviews with friends and collaborators that tell us that Bruce Lee routinely got into street fights and even had a record in China. Upon moving to the U.S he kept fighting people. During this time Lee thought Wing Chun wasn't enough anymore and sought to learn from as many fighting styles as he could and put them to the test. He studied other styles of Kung Fu such as Five Family Fist, Five Animals, Choy Li Fut, fencing, boxing, judo, Muay Thai, etc.
Upon becoming famous, even more and more people sought to fight Lee on the street so they could be the ones to claim having beaten the great Bruce Lee. One of them even broke into his home to challenge him. This man had true fighting experience, which occurs spontaneously and on the streets and not in a ring. One of his challengers later recounted that Lee's first move in their fight was to go for the eyes, since it's a "get badly hurt or hurt badly" situation. He trained several people including Joe Lewis, who is recognized as one of the greatest kickboxers to have ever lived. Lee is the real deal and not for show, simple as that. Not to mention he was someone who truly was at the peak of his physical fortitude.
Jackie Chan never learned any kung fu style formally. His training was for Chinese opera and showmanship, which would've included martial arts. Later on he got into learning some Southern styles but mainly for performance purposes. He is, however, extremely strong, agile and resilient.
I'm a big martial arts fan and come December I'll be undergoing my black belt test in the Five Family, Five Animal style of Kung Fu. Modern sport practices are ruining traditional martial arts IMHO so I know there's a big difference between a sportsman and a martial artist. If a man comes at you you don't kick him in the head, you jab him in the eyes and kick his knee in. Survival is what matters.
tl:dr: Bruce Lee.
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