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Bruce Lee

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Hello again readers…

Just earlier today I watched the Bruce Lee film, “Way of the Dragon” and it got me to think…

For those of you who don’t know (God forbid), or are unfamiliar with Bruce Lee, let me cue you in. Bruce Lee is a legend in the martial arts world, an icon in China, as well as a philosopher and a poet. For those of you who have seen his movies (and I for one happen to own all 5: “Big Boss” “Fists of Fury” “Way of the Dragon” “Game of Death” “Game of Death II”) you would know that this man was incredible! In the world of physical fitness, he has achieved some amazing feats; for example: Bruce was know for being able to swipe a dime out a someone’s hand before they could close it and replace it with a penny, Bruce’s speed in terms of reacting + punching from a distance of 3 feet away was determined to be around 5 hundredths of a second (0.05 seconds); from 5 feet away it was around 8 hundredths of a second (0.08 seconds), Bruce performed one-hand push-ups using only the thumb and index finger, and these are just a few. One that I didn’t mention though, and deserves to be mentioned, is that Bruce Lee developed a 1-ton punch! That’s right, he was actually able to punch with such power that it would be the equivalent of being hit with a 1-ton weight!

But like I mentioned above, Bruce Lee wasn’t just a martial artist, but also a philosopher and a poet. Bruce was well read and had a library of around 2,500 books. Although he was a self proclaimed atheist (pray for him), his influences include Taoism, Jiddu Krishnamurti, and Buddhism. I won’t go very deep into his philosophy, as it pertained much with how he practiced his martial arts, but I do want to leave you with some quotes that he made:

  • “Be formless… shapeless, like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You pour water into a bottle; it becomes the bottle. You put water into a teapot; it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow, or creep or drip or crash! Be water, my friend…” (heavy Taoist influence).
  • “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once. But I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”
  • “All types of knowledge, ultimately leads to self knowledge.” (heavy Buddhist influence).
  • “Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it.”
  • “Do not deny the classical approach, simply as a reaction, or you will have created another pattern and trapped yourself there.”
  • “Quicker temper will make a fool of you soon enough.”
  • “I always learn something, and that is: to always be yourself. And to express yourself, to have faith in yourself. Do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate him.” (I personally love this one).
  • “It’s not the daily increase but decrease. Hack away at the unessential.”

And there you are. I bet you didn’t wake up and think, “Hmm… I think I’ll take philosophy lessons from Bruce Lee today, but you did. And for those of you who did, well, let’s just say that that creeps me out a bit…

And last but not least, Bruce was also a poet and writer. Bruce wrote in Free Verse (“Be formless… shapeless like water…”), and what he wrote was paradoxical and in American terms, dark and deep. It is said that if we were to compare him with any other poet, the best fit would be Robert Frost. Below are a list of some of Bruce’s works:

  • Rain, Black Clouds
  • Down The Western Hill
  • The Dying Sun
  • Love Is a Friendship Caught on Fire
  • Once More I Hold You in My Arms
  • All Streams Flowing East or West
  • Boating on Lake Washington
  • For a Moment
  • Walking Along the Bank of Lake Washington
  • Night Rain
  • Our Togetherness Is Like a Sweet Dream
  • The Surroundings Utter No Sound
  • It Is Spring
  • Things I See
  • The Humming Bird
  • The Frost
  • The Falling Leaf
  • Though the Night Was Made for Loving
  • The Silent Flute
  • Since You Left
  • Parting

And like I said before, Bruce also authored some books, although they were strictly for martial arts. The 3 books he authored are: “Chinese Gung-Fu: The Philosophical Art of Self Defense,” “Tao of Jeet Kune Do,” and “Bruce Lee’s Fighting Method.” For those of you that don’t know, Bruce Lee invented Jeet Kune Do, which translates (more or less) into “Way of the Intercepting Fist.”

Well, there you have it, Bruce Lee in a nutshell. You can find lots of info on Bruce Lee online, being so famous… Now you can walk away a little smarter, and at the next barbaque when someone’s talking about Bruce Lee and making a complete idiot of themselves by trying to act all tough and showing off martial arts move that they have no idea how to do, you can shut them up by pointing out that Bruce Lee was so much more than a martial artist… I would also suggest that you learn a couple moves so that you can really make them look bad ;)

A quick side-note before I close up: Yes, Bruce Lee was married and has 2 children: Brandon and Shannon Lee, and he died at the age of 35. When I learned that, it really made me think and almost put his whole life down before me and think of him as a human being for once and not just a martial arts robot.

Well, I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit about Bruce Lee. Until we meet again, God bless you!


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