"Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it."
-Bruce Lee
"Fear comes from uncertainty; we can limit the fear within us when we better know ourselves."
-Bruce Lee
"Those who are unaware they are walking in darkness will never seek the light."
-Bruce Lee
This is a post I've been debating for a few weeks on writing. It's a topic dear to many martial artists hearts, but I think it a more errant belief. Often we hype up those in the arts who have reached what we view as a pinnacle, when in truth it is our belief, whether accurate or not, which is what leads us to place them there.
We all have masters and grandmasters, martial practitioners we revere and even idolize. In this post I will focus on Bruce Lee, and that alone will probably get this article quite hated. I am going to be fair though.
While I think he was a great martial artist; one who very much inspired many, including myself, I do not think him the greatest martial artist ever. In fact, I think while a great person, he had a number of character defects, and problems in his own rights with his martial arts. And these are problems we all actually have; arrogance and unseated confidence.
To give example, never once for all the power he developed in his kicks have I seen him side-kick correctly, utilizing the heel. Instead he would use the blade of the foot.
I was taught Chung Do Kwan by Master Khan, who was the student of Master Lee, the student of Grand-master Rhee, who in turn was who taught Bruce Lee how to kick using Tae Kwon Do. Combined with Wing Chun taught by Yip Man this amalgamization is what formed the basis of Jeet Kune Do, more a philosophy of martial arts than a style when created, it is a very powerful style today.
Bruce Lee struggled with arrogance, but perhaps not as much as I would have initially suggested. After all, as somebody in film with a very strong image he had that to promote. But the claim he never lost is not exactly true. I can think of one encounter later written about which would vastly affect Bruce Lee's martial practice.
http://www.kungfu.net/brucelee.html
http://www.jadedragonalaska.com/bruce-lees-lost-fight.php
I have read it in numerous ways, so as a historian I have to accept that the story has been altered than how it actually occurred. I have read that the challenge which led to the conflict between Wong Jack Man and Bruce Lee began either with Bruce Lee insulting the martial arts practitioners in San Francisco as being weak, to him being on a stage and issuing the challenge. Regardless, behind closed doors an encounter occurred between the two. Bruce Lee of course came out of the conflict claiming he had won easily, but the fight itself lasted for hours, with neither emerged victorious in the purest sense.
This encounter would lead Bruce Lee to decide that his fighting style was missing something, and so began to train with kicking. I wouldn't call that 'losing' at all, as Bruce Lee's entire life was literally about evolving to become better from one moment to the next.
But that's the thing with martial artists; we so often hype up those we respect to a point of Godhood. I can find dozens, if not hundreds or thousands of articles of the following;
http://www.neatorama.com/2007/10/23/10-kick-ass-facts-about-bruce-lee/
and
http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-reasons-bruce-lee-may-have-been-superhuman.php
Even I have been at fault at having done this; there are a few teachers I have had who I at one time or another idolized as being awe-inspiring. And perhaps they do deserve that; but they do not deserve to be considered anything other than they were. I can recall being impressed by one teacher who destroyed six one inch cinderblocks (without spacers) with his elbow, while ignoring that doing so injured him. And it was only years later when contemplating one of our many talks when I recalled him speaking about how he had the evening before spilled red wine on his carpet; a stain that can never be removed. You see, I respect and revered him so much I would either ignore or forget that he was also human, and capable of erring and actually doing so now and again as we all do.
Do not get me wrong, when I meet somebody high ranking, such as when I worked at Blockbuster the CEO of the company or a 9th or 10th dan, or a student of Morihei Ueshiba, I am very respectful. But I keep in mind they are only human also, both better and worse in the ways we all individually are. But some people revere such people as near demi-gods. That they have no flaw, they can make no mistakes. That they are perfect.
That is a mistake; we should treat our teachers with reverence not because of purported abilities, but because their role is sacred; to teach is another way to give life, and certainly purpose. I have had people I trained at the same school with who are in the martial arts hall of fame, and some who are world champions in their respected area of fighting.
One could become so obsessed with another's ability that they overlook the very humility those people have to interact with those we might consider 'beneath' them, but such humility, such normality, is also what defines a martial artist.
We should be cautious about making such err in over attributing those we respect. Our respect and our humility should be grounded in reality. The fighter who can defeat anyone yet says everyone is better than him may be considered humble, but should also be considered to not be recognizing reality.
And if it is one thing human beings do, true human beings, which I believe all martial artists work toward being (I hold the view that all humans are animals, but some are human because they have developed their soul and being, human being as Frank Herbert likened to being like sifting through dirt for gold flakes, where each flake is a human being among the dirt) is that we recognize truth.
Inevitably when I bring such matters up I am attributed as being arrogant. After all, who am I to voice such suspicion about the ability of others when I myself have no great titles or fabulous careers. But then again, if I did, what would give me the right to voice those sentiments regardless? All I can do is look at things as objectively as possible.
Others will ask the absurd question, "Oh yeah? If you think that, do you think you could defeat Bruce Lee?" and I can only smile demurely and chuckle to myself. The question itself is nonsensical; the best martial artists in the world may be those we have never heard of, who quietly live and exist never seeking fame or fortune. And to look at it more personally, Bruce Lee died decades before I was born. I did not exist when he did, I merely exist in the ripples he left thereafter. Had he lived to this day, chances are he would have become a great master, and had he endured he would have had more than half a century of experience compared to my mere 21-22 years.
And on top of that, I have been to tournaments where the most unlikely candidate was the one who overcame truly better practitioners. That is how life is, especially when it comes to combat; circumstances and casual events affect the outcome of everything. As someone short I always being underestimated to the point it is often an advantage for me.
Perhaps, to answer that question, I could have beaten him. But more likely I would have lost. I would be 25 while he would be in his mid seventies. But who knows, it could never happen so why dwell on 'what ifs'?
That is where I do draw the line in terms of my perspective; Bruce Lee's contributions to martial artists are priceless. He has inspired an infinite multitude to pick up and practice, and for that I am grateful to him. His early death was tragedy; he was in his own views not a master, but a master-student, but had he lived he would have done far more for the arts than he was able to do in the limited time he had on the world, and he did a lot towards promoting and spreading martial arts.
He was a great martial philosopher, and certainly a visionary and inspiring individual. But we should not get lost in the myth of the arts that he was super-human or god-like, as many people seem to treat him as. He was a great person, and I pray I can someday do a tenth of what he did for the arts. That there is earnest truth. I hope we all can. But that IS why we become teachers if our hearts are in the right place.
When we buy into the myths of martial arts as realities we sacrifice the integrity of ourselves, and our own ability. When we do that, we relegate what we can do, each in our own amazing way to practically being irrelevant, even when we can do, and have done, what the greats have.
That is how we can take a mortal man and make him so great in our minds that we think everything great we hear about them is reality, when often it is not the case.
We see this,
And then believe he did this, when it was in fact entirely fake, just because it is using their image or fame or actual greatness for their own ends;
By all means respect those worthy of it; but be fair and partial. Do not accept things just as they appear or you have heard; that's how people start training in martial arts when they see things in anime and cartoons and believe it possible. Give credit where due, and do not get too into the martial mythos. After all, you are only human, and someday you may come to be revered for what you will do. But you are still only human.
That is why I am ending the post in a quote Bruce Lee should have said in addition to his many other brilliant ones, and is frankly, a proof in point of what I am talking about.
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