Martial Arts

Recently, I am very obsess with Wing Chun (詠春), due to Ip Man 1 & 2.

At this point of time, I feel that, it's like I'm back to my younger days and at the same time it's refreshing and bringing me back to my childhood dream. I always have the desire to practice Martial Arts, and amaze people, and this desire came from Bruce Lee.

At a point of time, he was my idol, I wanted to fight like him, behave like him, so I started screaming and doing all the monkey stunts, but slowly, idolization fades away as I grow.

Until I knew Ip Man, then everything comes back, but this time, it's not just about idolization or fascination. It's about respect and learning, they are my role models now.

After watching Ip Man, I was fascinated by the product, his Wing Chun, even till now I am, but what puzzled me was "What is the reason for bring his story onto the big screen?", "Was it because he was the one who broadcast Wing Chun, or was it because he's Bruce Lee's mentor, or he was able to bring the essence of Wing Chun?" "Why is he known as Master of The Era (一代宗師)?"

The answers are all in the video:

1. The Art of Fighting Without fighting:




2. Respect:





3. Dignity:




4. Chinese Martial Arts:





Something wise from his disciple, Bruce Lee



When I'm self-practicing Wing Chun, recently, I know why I want to practice, it's a goal, a process in my life. I just want to do what I like, and enjoy it. This process whether it is perfect or not, it's my form of honest expression, an expression of emotion.

They said Bruce Lee is....

Part 1

He was a teacher first of all. He taught philosophy and tried to spread knowledge and wisdom... The integrity with which Bruce lived his life and tried to uphold what he believed to be right - that is a clear example of how it ought to be done. No matter what it is you're doing, do it with total honesty and total dedication. He definitely influenced me

- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar-

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Bruce's philosophy seemed always to be going back to the Zen origins, where contradictory advice states the simplest of all truths. Bruce's lessons were lessons without being lessons; he was not a teacher, yet he was the greatest teacher I've ever known.

- Stirling Silliphant-

Part 5

Part6

Part 7

I thought Bruce was a brilliant, fine philosopher about everyday living. He was very much into finding out who he was. His comment to people was "Know Yourself". The good head that he acquired was through his knowing himself. He and I used to have great long discussions about that. No matter what you do in life, if you don't know yourself, you're never going to be able to appreciate anything in life. That, I think, is today's mark of a good human being - to know yourself.

- Steve McQueen-

Part 8

Part 9

We'd work out for an hour, then we'd talk for an hour about a lot things. He didn't separate life from the extension in his arm. And he is the only one I know of that carried it to the point of real art.

- James Coburn-

Part 10

Part 11

For every question you asked him he would never have to think about it, he would just blurt it right out. Bruce would cover every point with a little saying. If he would see that you were having trouble with something, he would always know just what to tell you. It would seem like he was always dusting off your "bogie man". Like if there was something that you were scared of, Bruce wold notice and then say, "Ah, scared of what, well look at it this way." He would change your whole idea about it. Bruce had sayings for everything.

-Bob Bremer, student of Bruce Lee-

Chinese National Pride

When Bruce Lee died in 1973,he did not leave this world without making an impact. Beyond his success as a martial arts actor, which was transforming enough to the movie industry in bringing the martial arts genre to life, he was a teacher.

Bruce's phenomenal life and career were engerize by his ideas. He is know as a martial artist, actor, a script-writer, a director and a philosopher. He majored in philosophy at the University of Washington. A man who devoured books on a wide range of subjects, from Eastern philosophy to Kung Fu to psychotherapy, he yearned for knowledge. As he put it, he wanted to express himself, and to express himself honestly. In order to express himself honestly, he had to know himself well. The idea should remind us of Socrates’ admonition, “Know thyself.”

Striking Thought

Bruce Lee's Wisdom for Daily Living

As far as I concern, to me he's a master of his life. His principles for life is clear, he listed 25 life principles of his own:

1. Emptiness the starting point
2. Flow in the process of life
3. Life has no frontier
4. To live is a constant process of relating
5. Life simply is
6. Life - for its own sake
7. The meaning of life
8. The secret of life
   
9. Life is the effect of feelings
10. Meaning is found in relationship
11. Manipulation and control are not the ultimate joy of life
12. The essence of life
13. Violence is a part of life
14. The principle of life
15. Life is sometimes unpleasant
16. The pendulum of life must have balance
17. Pliability of life
18. Life as educator
19. To live is to create
20. The process of life
    
21. The oneness of life
22. The life of perfection is the simple life
23. Life must be understood from moment to moment
24. Enjoy yourself
    

These attitude almost made it impossible for someone as dedicated as Bruce to not become such a revolutionary master of his art. Bruce wrote,

“In the long history of martial arts, the instinct to follow and imitate seems to be inherent in most martial artists, instructors and students alike. Each man, belongs to a style which claims to possess truth to the exclusion of all other styles. These styles become institutes with their explanations of the “Way,” dissecting and isolating the harmony and firmness and gentleness, establishing rhythmic forms as the particular state of their techniques.”

［以無限為有限；以無法為有法］

-Using no way as way; having no limitation as limitation-

To Bruce, as a teacher and instructor, he believed that "A teacher is never a give of truth - he is a guide, a pointer to the truth that each student must find for himself. A good teacher is merely a catalyst." His lesson was lesson without being lesson.

The philosophy promoted by Bruce was repugnant to many people already mired in traditional habits of thought. Angry or not, they could not deny the success of Bruce. His understanding of martial arts was too profound for traditional views to keep him back.

It was the righteous in him for his race that brought him so far. He was being looked down as a Chinese in his homeland, Hong Kong and in States. His success proved that, under the sky and heaven is but human being.

The logic of Bruce’s philosophy, which he uneasily labeled Jeet Kune Do (Interception Fist [截拳道］(he was cautious of giving his philosophy a title for fear of its crystallization into yet another style), is quite simple: “The art of Jeet Kune Do is simply to simplify.”

The martial artist must ask two questions.
1) What is it that I want to accomplish?
2) What is the quickest, most efficient and effective way to reach my objective

Bruce felt that much of the “fancy mess” in martial arts wasted time and energy, and that styles restricted action. Styles, which lead to specialization, make a person incapable of handling a true master of martial arts. A kick-boxer would be unable to handle a wrestler who had the kick-boxer on the ground. A wrestler would be helpless against a boxer if the boxer kept the wrestler at arm’s reach.

Wrote Bruce,
“There is a great temptation to exploit favorite strokes to the neglect of most others. While this may bring initial success, it is unlikely to enable one to gain regular results in the highest-class competition. All too soon one’s opponents will find the answer to a limited game; a routine system of defense, for instance, plays into the hands of an observant opponent.”

- Bruce buried beside his son, Brandon Lee at Seattle-

To that end Bruce pushed himself to be a master of every form of martial arts, using whatever was useful and discarding whatever was merely ritual. Only a few months before he died, Bruce said, “I am improving and making new discoveries every day. If you don’t you are already crystallized and that’s it.”

-A trip to Hong Kong (Hollywood Road)-

other sides about Bruce Lee:
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bruce_Lee
http://www.experiencefestival.com/bruce_lee_-_philosophy
http://www.maniacworld.com/Bruce_Lee.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeet_Kune_Do

Bruce's Wisdom:

1. Absorb what is useful, discard what is not and add what is uniquely your own.
2. Forget winning and losing; Forget what is pride and pain.
3. Ideas are the beginning of all achievements.
4. A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.
   
5. Always be yourself; express yourself honestly, have faith in yourself. Do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.
6. Make at least one definite move daily towards your goal.
7. Using no way as way, having no limitation as limitation.
8. Take no thought of who is right or wrong or who is better than. Be not for or against.
9. The martial arts are ultimately self-knowledge. A punch, a kick is not to knock the hell out of the guy in front but to knock the hell out of your ego, your fear, or your hang-ups.
10. I'm not in this world to live up to your expectations and you're not in this world to live up to mine.
11. To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one's potential.
12. The mind is like a fertile garden in which anything that is planted, flower or weed, will grow.
13. Seek to understand the root. It is fertile to argue as to which single leaf, which design of branch, or which attractive flower you like; when you understand the root, you understand all its blossoming.
    
14. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.
15. If you think a thing is impossible, you'll make it impossible.
16. The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering.
17. Life is wide, limitless. There is no border, no frontier.
18. Learning to understand rather than immediately judge or to be judged. We shouldn't not blindly follow the crowd and accept their approached. Not allowing oneself to indulge in the usual manipulating game of role creation.
    
19. Everyday there will be revelation or a new discovery.
20. Treasuring the past memory of the past misfortunes, it had added more to my bank of fortitude.
    
21. A conditioned mind is never a free mind. Conditioning limits a person within the framework of a particular system.
22. Empty your cup so that it may be filled; become devoid to gain totality.
23. Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survived by bending with the wind.
24. Don't think, FEEL. It's like a finger pointing away to the moon. Don't concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory.
25. The classical man is just a bundle of routine, ideas, and tradition.
26. Set patterns, incapable of adaptability, of pliability, only offer a better cage. Truth is outside all pattern.
27. Don't let your attitude be arrested. Transcend dualistic comprehension of a situation.
28. To express yourself in freedom, you must die to everything of yesterday. From "old" you derive security; from the "new" you gain the flow.
29. The real competitor is the one who gives all he has, all the time.
30. Not being tense but ready, not think yet not dreaming, not being set but flexible - it is being wholly and quietly alive, aware and alert, ready for whatever may come.
31. Let the spirit out. Discard all thoughts of reward, all hopes of praise and fears of blame, all awareness of one's bodily self. And, finally closing avenues of sense perception, let the spirit out, as it will.
    
32. The deluded mind is the effectively burdened by intellect. Thus, it cannot move without stopping and reflecting on itself. This obstructs its native fluidity.
    
33. The wheel revolves when it is not too tightly attached to the axle. When the mind is tied up, it feels inhibited in every move it makes and nothing is accomplished with spontaneity. Its work will be of poor quality or it may never be finish at all.
    
34. The mind must be wide open to function freely in thought. A limited mind cannot think freely.
35. Because one's self-consciousness or ego-consciousness is too conspicuously present over the entire range of his attention, it interferes with his free display of whatever proficiency he has so far acquired or is going to acquire. One should remove this obtruding self or ego-consciousness and apply himself to the work to be done as if nothing particular were taking place at the moment.
    

-A National Geographic On Bruce Lee-

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-Part 2-

-Part 3-


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-Part 5-


-Part 6-

-Part 7-

-Part 8-

-Part 9-

-Part 10-

-Part 11-

-Part 12-

-Part 13-

-Part 14-

-Part 15-

-Part 16-

-Part 17-

-Part 18-

-Part 19-

-Part 20-

-Part 21-

-Part 22-

From this 1st part of the research of Bruce Lee, I would say that only by understanding yourself, being honest to yourself, u will express honestly and freely.