4 minute read
How to be Bruce Lee
By Michael Messina
Intro paragraph? C'mon, you know who we’re talking about here. You’ve seen the films, heard the quotes, and mimicked that iconic “WA TAAAA!” Hell, even Uma Thurman channeled her inner-Bruce for her film Kill Bill. The man who was born in America, raised in China, and overcame a troubled childhood to become an Asian-American Hollywood Superstar. But beyond the action and action-figure physique resides enough wisdom to raise the question: What can we learn from this legend’s tragically short life? In short: a whole lot. So grab your nunchucks (and don’t hit yourself swinging them) as we examine three core aspects of the dragon himself: learning, technique, and cultivation. Ladies and gentlemen, this is: How to be Bruce Lee.
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Learning
The idea is that flowing water never goes stale, so just keep on flowing.” A poet, deep thinker and cha-cha champion, Lee was a layered man who loved water metaphors. He pushed himself and others to continually evolve like a running stream. When it came to learning new things, martial arts or otherwise, he always stressed action. Although an avid reader, he was also an avid doer. “Knowing is not enough, we must apply… we must do.” He encouraged his students, colleagues and family to “absorb what is useful… reject what is useless.” Nothing embodies this mantra greater than Jeet Kune Do, Bruce Lee’s own martial art, an amalgamation of styles both Eastern and Western. Nicknamed the “style of no styles,” Lee insisted JKD to be ever-evolving, always changing, flowing, like water.
After training in Kung Fu from a young age, Lee experimented with Judo, Fencing, Western Boxing, and many other combat arts. Along his martial journey, Lee examined new information in relation to himself. He found his own way, just as he thought everyone should. He began to know himself through these experiences, stating “all knowledge is ultimately self-knowledge.”
Technique
Technique is essentially the art of the clash, two opposing forces meeting head on. To Lee, the first step in mastering technique was knowing oneself, a recurring theme in his philosophy. As a boy, Lee was a troublemaker and street gang member with a violent temper. He has recalled being beaten in the street by other boys - a far cry from the one-inch punches, two-finger push-ups, and badass triple threat of mind, body, and soul that we so fondly remember today. He recognized himself, refined himself into something wholly unique. However, as you know, fights do not happen with one person, but between two. The next component of technique is knowing your opponent.
Lee knew his opponents well, as they were often intimately linked to his roots. Struggling to land lead roles in Hollywood, Lee knew the reason: America was not ready for an Asian action hero. Criticized for teaching Kung Fu to Caucasians, Lee knew the reason: traditionalists were not ready for his radical new way forward. Once two opposing forces meet you must “be like water,” Lee believed, “slipping its way through the cracks.” One must observe and internalize, finding the path of least resistance. With yourself and your opponent known, only one aspect of technique remains: the combat test.
When fighting Hollywood, Lee found a backdoor: becoming a star in China so big that America could not ignore him. When fighting Chinese traditionalists, a much more direct approach was needed: Lee would fight traditionalist Wong Jackman in an all-out, no rules match. Lee won in three minutes according to his widow Linda Lee Cadwell. However, Lee was not satisfied with his victory. He began refining his fighting style and body, merging modern fitness with martial arts like never before, preparing for the next combat test, finding cracks and existing always in a state of flow.
Cultivation
"Be formless, shapeless, like water.” Cultivation is, in a way, the art of taking ideas you have learned and techniques you have mastered, internalizing them, and making them your own. Remember that bit about all knowledge being self-knowledge? How about the one about absorbing what is useful? Cultivation is where it all comes together to create something truly unique: you. This is more than just getting good at kicking, more than just memorizing facts; it’s about letting your experiences shape you, just like a cup or teapot shapes water. There’s a reason why we remember Bruce Lee before any other Asian martial artists, why we remember his name before the names of the characters he’s played: Lee was himself. Completely, unapologetically and overwhelmingly.
Honestly Expressing Yourself
The funny thing is, despite this article’s title, Bruce Lee would not want his fans striving to be him. He would want his fans to discover themselves. With that said, the legacy of Lee comes full circle: the yin and the yang, the east and the west, the flashy film and the brutal street. Even his birth name, “Lee Jun-Fan,” means “Return Again.” His spirit returns after death through film, through philosophy, and through us as we continue to examine ourselves, flowing and crashing like water. After all, “The meaning of life is that it is to be lived.”
