01/27/2024
Many of you know that I have been a lifelong advocate and disciple of Bruce Lee’s philosophies. While I, like everyone else, am in awe of his martial arts prowess, my deeper passion lies in his personal life philosophies and training ideas. Bruce Lee was at least 50 years ahead of his time, and I consider him one of the true prophets the world has ever known. His training ideas, concepts, and styles are only now coming into regular use. His thoughts on variation, adaptability, and keeping training fresh are being realized in numerous disciplines. Not only is he the father of modern mixed martial arts, but his life philosophies have also profoundly changed my life, and I believe they can change yours too.
This image captures one of his most iconic ideas - being like water. Water adapts to its container; in a cup, it becomes the cup; spilled on the floor, it spreads out. It’s adaptive, pliable, yet possesses immense compressive force. Thus, the concept of being like water is crucial in training: to adapt and embrace change. This principle was also vital in the Marine Corps, encapsulated in the motto ‘adapt and overcome.’ When combined with Bruce Lee’s philosophies, it forms powerful mental techniques for progress.
Bruce Lee often said, ‘Take what is useful.’ This means learning from the past, standing on the shoulders of giants. ‘Discard what is not,’ to separate effective techniques from the ineffective. ‘Add what is uniquely your own,’ to personalize your approach. The result is a practice that assimilates the beneficial, discards the unhelpful, and incorporates your unique element. Therefore, in your endeavors, strive to be like Bruce - be like water.
