Bruce Lee Part 3 - The Philosophy & Martial Arts

Did you know that Bruce Lee did not have a degree? He did not win any martial arts competition and he did not even have a black belt but he was trained by some terrific martial artists, he has trained, fought and sparred with some of the world's best and also taught some of the world's best. Bruce never hold back when he has to teach because he knew that the ultimate is "self knowledge". He was not known to have lost a fight.

Most fights were behind closed door. Bruce sparred to learn and to share knowledge. Why wasn't he able to block certain attacks more effectively, why couldn't he counter attack and penetrate his opponent? He was there not to seek dominance or to declare or boast a victory. As a result, he eventually won over many of his sparring opponents who respected him immensely and became his friends.

When he was much younger, he would get beaten by bigger, stronger and more experienced fighters but Bruce never chickened out. There were occasions like these when he contemplated giving up. If he did so, the world would have suffered a great loss but he hung on. Besides being gifted, he trained real hard and he was innovative. He progressed faster than anyone. Likewise, if we are gifted but not committed and did not put in our worth of efforts, we cannot reach the pinnacle. More than anything else, you must have belief.

The Philosophy

When Bruce was badly injured in his back in weight training and was burdened with house and car mortgages, he felt depressed. Bruce was very traditional about husband/wife roles but finally consented to Linda going to work. During this time, Bruce looked after Brandon and Shannon. It was at this time that he undertook a very extensive study of the martial arts. In total, his notes filled up eight two-inch thick note books. Linda edited them after his death and was published as "The Tao of Jeet Kune Do". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zaoP3BbtkM

Bruce was an avid reader and believer in self-help power and read the thoughts of positive thinkers like Napoleon Hill and Norman Vincent Peale. He rejected the notion that he would be disabled for the rest of his life. Six months later he began his exercise and by a year he was back to his old self but the injury which caused him chronic pain never left him. He lived with it.

Linda Lee said that after years of questioning, Bruce's discovery was "If a person is successful, it leads to greater knowledge of oneself and on how to handle situation. People get beyond physical bullying and morph into a person of philosophy and does not feel the need to fight."

Bruce always believed in the simplest and the most efficient and effective method. He was a firm believer of getting maximum results from minimum efforts meaning the most economical expenditure of energy (not doing nothing and hope to get something). He often spoke of chipping away the unessential rather than adding on. I have also often spoke about why we should be untrained from some of humans detrimental nature which are inherent in all of us.

Bruce was always ahead of his time. Even before he was successful, he was brimming with confidence. He had knowledge and knew what he was doing. He often spoke the truth with great confidence. Sometimes, it may have been interpreted as arrogance. He wrote to James Yimm Lee on a photo once: "We are always in the process of becoming and nothing is fixed. Have no rigid system in you and you will be flexible to change with the ever changing." This quickly tells us that life is a journey of discovery not a destination.

It appeared that Bruce Lee may have felt that he would not live a very long life. Something inside of him may have told of his destiny. His life was ticking away as he was constantly pushing himself so hard to achieve many many things in a very short time. He seemed to have confided to a few that he hoped to retire young and go into seclusion to devote himself to his inner self.

The Martial Arts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sonZq6ZnF90

Bruce Lee's foundation was Wing Chun. Breathing (chi), stance and arm combat techniques. He once said that 99% of self-defence and the whole business is baloney, just fancy jazz that looks good but doesn't work. This may sound arrogant and some in the circle felt offended but Bruce knew what he was talking because he was a street fighter. Some times, other practitioners attending his demonstration would challenge him to a fight to see who was superior. Bruce never turned down challenges as he loved to learn from others. He would often use a series of Wing Chun straight punches and Thai-styled high kicks to knock his black belt opponents in seconds.

He opened Jun Fan Kung Fu and charged $22 per month. He gave up his studies and moved to Oakland where he opened the second Jun Fan Kung Fu with a friend James Y. Lee. Bruce came back to marry Linda. Bruce's mother was half German. Other Wing Chun students wanted him thrown out because he is not fully Chinese but they were actually just jealous. He was successful but it attracted the attention of the elders of San Francisco's Chinatown who warned him about an unwritten law in Chinese martial arts that forbids them to teach to non-Chinese and warned him to end it. Bruce objected and they sent their best fighter for a formal challenge for Bruce to close down if he lost or stop teaching to non-Chinese. Of course Bruce stood his ground and won that day.

Though he won, he felt the fight was longer than necessary. Bruce was an immensely strong and supremely fit person standing at 5 ft 7in and weighing 145 pounds. If you look at me we have some resemblances - only the height and the weight. He wanted perfection so he practised furiously and sparred often with many and various exponents. He concentrated on muscular development to his torso and abdomen. It was this fight with Wong Jack Man that got him thinking of his fighting philosophy. Why fight for 3 minutes when you can do so in less time?

Bruce sparred with many highly rated exponents in various fields of the martial arts world in closed door affairs where they fought and later shared ideas. He was never afraid to teach, share and show others how he fought when most people are afraid to share secrets in case others got ahead of you. This probably touched other sifus and masters who in turned taught and shared with him gaining their trust, respect and friendship due to his sincerity.

He was not out to exploit or to show who or what is more superior. It was merely to gain knowledge, expand his theory and increase his practice acknowledging that no single art form is superior to others. This is in line with his philosophy and his Jeet Kune Do. Jeet Kune Do or JKD today is a misused or loose terms used by many due to mass exploitation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWgGp2GuaJM&feature=related

Bruce Lee in fact has many teachers but a strong foundation in Wing Chun which was still one of his favourites. The people he fought with were also his teachers. In truth, he was his own teacher seeking out for himself the truth turning no way as a way. So when people tell you: "No way!" You should just reply: "Yes way!"

Howls and Yells

The famous yells, animal magnetism and cat growls was part of Bruce's originality. You saw a little in The Big Boss, more of it in Fist of Fury then a very defined style in The Way of The Dragon and so on. Bruce ran and jogged often and part of his runs brought him to the zoo where he would keenly observed animal behaviour - their movements and growls and how they played and fought. However, from some reports it was believed that when Bruce was in real combat, he did not make quite as much noise like those in movies perhaps those were for cinematic effects.

We must not forget that Bruce was already a young child actor, a dancer and cha cha champion. These gave him the liberation to add art to his craft. Martial arts in itself can be graceful but when Bruce did it, it was with supreme and unmatched grace - the fitness, body sculpture, sinew, the movement allows it and he flaunted it to great effect.

The Techniques

Bruce was so good that he could learn everything very quickly. When you see Bruce prancing around moving forward and back elegantly, that was from fencing. He would watch videos of Mohammed Ali in action over and over and though they never met, Bruce probably love the footwork and dance of Ali in the ring and his jabs or how he moved all over his opponents. You can see that in his art.

Bruce's techniques can be found in and straddled across all major martial arts - Wing Chun (Chinese), Fencing, Boxing (Western), Muay Thai (Thai), Judo, Karate, Jujutsu (Japanese), Taekwondo (Korean), Kali (Filipino), Wrestling, Silat, Savate (French) and probably many others.

Bruce personally only certified three instructors who were his close friends - Taky Kimura his best friend, James Yimm Lee (no relation but a very close friend) who spent much time together exchanging ideas and practising and finally Dan Inosanto whom Bruce may have wanted as his protege. All JKD instructors after Bruce's death were trained and certified by Inosanto. James Yimm Lee died shortly before Bruce without certifying additional students. Taky Kimura only certified his son Andy Kimura. Before Bruce died, he told Inosanto and Kimura to dismantle his schools and only to teach in small numbers but with high quality.

Many people did not know the impact on Bruce made by James Yimm Lee. Bruce was then still on a journey of discovery and learning and both men were still developing their brand of reality-based martial arts that later became known as JKD. Both spent much time training and sharing and James had profound impact on Bruce's way of conditioning, training, thinking and philosophy. James Yimm Lee was reported to have died from a lung disease (may be because he was a welder) and both their deaths were untimely - James died (he was 20 years older than Bruce) seven months before Bruce died (20 July 1973). You may be surprised to know that in 1973 alone, three great martial artists left us. Ip Man also known Yip Man died in 1973, so did James Yimm Lee and then Bruce Lee - all three are related in the art of Wing Chun.

Many people were mistaken that Bruce Lee learned the nunchaku from Dan Inosanto. What Bruce did learn beyond doubt from Inosanto was Filipino Kali where the weapons were two sticks (separate and much longer sticks not joined by a chain like the nunchucks which are Japanese). You will find this in a fight scene in Enter The Dragon. Bruce learned the nunchucku from the legendary Karate Master Hidehiko Ochiai. They met in L.A. Bruce love to train to the Mission Impossible Theme.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAYhNHhxN0A

He trained with Chuck Norris but they never had a teacher-student relationship but they would share many ideas.

I originally do not intend to show you too early but I can't resist it. Nunchaku fight. Nobody does it better or like him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRyDcB7qQFo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv9uFxYhp3c&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjh0dLDwv90&feature=related

I have once read a book or magazine and in it was told that among all the martial artists in the world only Bruce Lee has the "chi" or "ki" (in Japanese) power equal to Aikido master Koichi Tohei. Tohei Sensei is a 10th Dan Grand Master of Aikido. Standing only slightly more than five foot, Tohei could throw opponents twice his size around just by holding and twisting their hands. When he was in Hawaii, he threw giant wrestlers around for fun. Film star Steven Seagal was trained in Aikido. He once lived and trained in Japan to become the first foreigner to open an aikido dojo in Japan. He is a 7th dan Shihan in Aikido. Aikido was founded by Morihei Ueshiba.