When Fire Says Be Like Water. Shannon Lee Renders the Teaching o Bruce Lee

 Be Water My Friend.

Be like water was one of Bruce Lee’s most famous teachings. However, Bruce Lee himself was in many ways like fire. He was burning with intensity and desire. To be himself he had to make his mark an he pursued it relentlessly. As a youth he was hot tempered and often found himself getting into scraps. To be the best he sometimes sought to always out do his opponent. It would cause his Wing Chun sifu to kick him out for a week so he could cool off and improve his ways.

Bruce took a boat and went out into the Honk Kong Sea. It was there that he punched and grasped a the water. From that point on he made a stunning realization. No matter how he grabbed at the water or punched at it , the water remained the same. Water was formless and adaptable. Being formless it could assume any form. Being adaptable if the river was on it’s way to the sea and an obstacle was placed in it’s path it would either go aound, move it away or go over it. Water is free to do that.

Shannon lost her father at a very young age. It impacted her greatly. Her brother Brandon died in the 90’s making a film called the crow. The grief was overwhelming and from her father’s words, martial arts training and therapy she was able to work though it. The book elucidates Bruce’s way, applying the concept of jeet Kune Do to everyday life.

What might be more amazing is that Bruce Lee was not only a martial artist and an actor but more importantly he was a philosopher who learned from everything. What is surprising is that he read several self help books and made use of such tools as affirmations, suggestions and making symbols of his growth periods.

Affirmations can be simple as I am a generous person. Of course Bruce had his own and he wrote them down in places to help remind himself of them. He believed in cultivating the mind and he subconscious. He made a symbol of a grave stone. It symbolized the death of rigid thinking and becoming a free thinker. He did not believe in being bound by a tradition or listening blindly to a master of sorts. He believed you should do your own research. He believed in learning from everything in order to be the best martial artist.

 

After a fight in Long Beach at 1964 Karate tournament Bruce Lee defeated a challenger. He should have been elated. Yet he was distraught. He found that he was out of breath and did like a million things wrong. He worked on them. He incorporated breath work, cross training, weights. In his martial arts adding to his Wing Chun he incorporated boxing moves, fencing moves and different forms of footwork.

While not a praticing Buddhist or taosist he learned from those philosophies as well. Bruce lee had an ultimate dream and like all successful people he realized it by never giving up. He approached it with enthusiasm and being like water when he experienced a set back he just kept on going and he went around the obstacle.

Too much to share in this book for a petty review. Buy the book you will be glad you did.