What Bruce Lee Did Not Know

By Jonathan Bluestein

The modern era has seen a significant rise in the popularity of sports-oriented martial arts, and eventually Mixed Martial Arts. The philosophical roots of these martial arts are strongly linked with American Capitalism. That is to say, that there exists a belief in sports martial arts, whereby having each individual striving to maximize his profit or success to the utmost, society is being improved at large. The competition in the ring or the octagon cage, then, is merely the primal manifestation of Adam Smith’s writings; the ‘Invisible Hand’, now receiving new and surprising meanings.

This world of which I am writing, however, does not represent martial arts as a whole. It is a sub-culture within the universe of martial arts, albeit a prominent one. Nonetheless, there are arguably still more practitioners of Traditional Martial Arts worldwide today (2018AD), than there are those of sports-oriented martial arts. While the latter may be more popular, it is simply that they do not appeal to the majority of the population. At most sports-oriented martial arts schools, few are those beyond the age of 40; and to begin with, they need to be interested in competition and willing to suffer injuries.

The traditional martial arts and the sports-oriented martial arts present very different philosophies to life and training. I have already mentioned vaguely the roots of the sports-oriented philosophy, and going into traditional philosophies is a matter requiring not an article, but several books (which, I have written). I would like to instead focus on a singular issue and question, which is the need, or lack thereof, for a broad technical curriculum.

Sports-oriented martial arts, coming from the philosophies of both Capitalism and Scientism, talk about ‘maximizing efficiency by percentages’. What is meant by that? The idea is that one ought to choose to emphasize and practice more those techniques which are perceived to work better, and which applied more often by athletes. There are at least three major philosophical precepts contained therein:

Some techniques are better than others.
Winning is the most important goal, and therefore the end justifies the means.
Personal cultivation is not as important as winning, and thus one would do well working on his strengths rather than his weaknesses.

These three major beliefs are nearly religious in nature, and are shared by all sports-oriented martial arts. Attached to them is the notion, that spending time practicing a very extensive myriad of martial methods and techniques is ‘inefficient’ and‘useless’. Indeed, if boxing can do well with as little as 5-6 major moves, why bother with 300? This line of thought is common.

Though such ideas have existed probably for as long as humans have been walking on the Earth, in our time their messiah and prime-deliverer had been the all popular cinema-superstar Bruce Lee. I am not a fan of Bruce Lee, and have never been. But that is beside the point. Those who wish to have a proper account of the man, should read Matthew Polly’s recent biography of him, published this year (2018AD).

One of Bruce Lee’s most famous quotes had always been: “Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own”.There is a far more ancient quote by Zhuang Zi (dating over 2300 years ago),which I felt was somewhat of an answer to Lee’s advice. Zhuang Zi said the following: “What is “uselessness”? In order to understand it, we must think about “usefulness” first. For example, the earth is limitless but the earth that human beings step on is but of the size of our feet. Hence we dig the surrounding ground and only leave out the ground underneath our feet. Is the ground underneath our feet to be considered”useful”? In sum, things that might seem to be “useless”are actually “useful”…“.

The usefulness of a thing is thus not defined by the appearance of it, but by the circumstances and times. In Zhuang Zi’s example, the ground which surrounds us appears useless, because we do not stand on it, and therefore it supposedly “has no use”. So we dig the entire ground beneath and around us, with the exception of the small patch of ground that we use to stand on – the stuff that is supposedly “useful”. Only then, it is suddenly revealed that what we dug out the ground had potential usefulness (for further walking and standing), which at the time prior and during the digging went unnoticed. Essentially, by “rejecting the useless”, what we have done was to “cut off opportunity”.

Lee’s advice had been sound, but in my opinion, it requires modification and caution on part of those who wish to apply it. To reject something, to call it useless, more commonly has to do with not wishing to understand a thing, rather than using a”functional philosophy”. Everything has a use, when put to use in the right time, under the right circumstances, and by the right person or entity. Uselessness does not objectively exist – it is a highly subjective definition. A useless technique for you is a winning technique for your colleague or student. A badly executed movement in sparring might be excellent for self-defense on the street. A training method not understood today can be the best training method 10 years from now. A stance which is very uncomfortable for your body structure can prove effective for dealing with your opponent.

In the uselessness of things
|Limitation is defined|
When no use can be found
One blocks both body and mind

Rejection of ideas
Is denial of oneself
To reject is easy
Understanding requires strength

Then learn to deal with what’s different
From your innate being
And accept possibilities
Without adding your thing

Bruce Lee had certain life-circumstances which led him to say and believe what the did. He had never undertaken a prolonged study of any traditional martial art. His lengthiest period was a mere 2.5 years of Wing Chun, between the age of 15-18, spent learning mostly under late master Yip Man’s top students, and not much from the teacher himself.

In the picture: Bruce Lee demonstrating the Som Bo Gin form of Jook Lum Southern Mantis, in 1964. Photographed by Barney Scollan.

In the picture: Bruce Lee appearing to make a dramatic posture in one of his films. The posture and skill contained within it, were in fact taken from the hard qi gong form of Jook Lum Southern Mantis.Unfortunately, he only learned a small part of that form.

What then can be a justified rationale, to think differently to sports-oriented martial arts and Bruce Lee? Why ought one practice an extensive curriculum, such as is found in many traditional martial arts of various cultures?

Thinking differently in this respect, has its roots in considering what martial arts are for. When trophies, medals and prizes are of the greatest interest to someone, then sports-oriented art are the way to go. But when one instead is looking for quality of life – health, happiness and meaning – then traditional martial arts are superior. When life-utility triumphs over the short gain, then one’s perspective changes. Then, things appear not as they were before.

Consider for instance the many steps and stances in traditional martial arts. Look at Gong Bu (Zenkutsu Dachi). It stretches those muscles and connective tissues which will prevent injury when slipping, or stumbling and falling as one becomes older(can save your life). Think of Ma Bu (Kiba Dachi). It opens up the hip structure and releases the lower back, undoing the nerve and tissue damage derived from a lifetime of sitting on chairs (can save you from pain and surgery). Ponder Xu Bu (Mao Bu; Neko Ashi Dachi). It improves one’s stability and overall leg strength. The staff you flail about, with its large lever, is the stacks or hay or barrels you no longer toss atop the wagon being a spoiled modern human. The sword you wield here and there, is the stones you no longer throw to hunt animals, as you can buy them at the supermarket (or even have the luxury of being a vegan).
Is a technique, a method or a skill, then, better than any other? I ask –better for what? And under what circumstances? When the sports arena and winning are the only parameters for how good something is, then by all means, comparisons can be had. But in the context of life itself, the discussion is usually futile. It is akin to contemplating the superiority of apples and oranges, which has become a well-known English idiom for: “this discussion is pointless as it is too subjective, based on context and dependent on personal opinion”. As long as methods, techniques or skills have value for martial usage, health or simply one’s happiness – then they are worth practicing, if they are enjoyable. As long as one understands what they are really for, there is no harm in that.

These are just general, though concrete examples. They point to a reality misunderstood by Bruce Lee and many others –that the utility of traditional martial arts goes beyond this or that particular technique. What the traditional martial arts offer, in fact, is an exploration into human movement. Whether they are more or less effective for combat, is a matter of how the art was created, who taught it, and how hard the student has been training. Regardless, all authentically traditional martial arts were made to encapsulate not a ‘higher chance of winning’, but a system of skills to support a healthy, happy and meaningful life. Though exceeding a certain number of movements, techniques and methods can become overbearing at some point, generally speaking, the multitude of options is mostly beneficial. It allows people to operate their bodies and minds to their fullest capacity. This would have perhaps been the natural state of things for someone living in the Amazon jungle, but not so for the average city-dweller of the 21^stcentury. Traditional martial arts, their vast curriculums are thus not a burden, but a cure; a remedy for the ailments of modern people.

Moreover, the traditional martial arts are vessels for conveying knowledge beyond our time. Although most of the traditional martial arts extant today are no older than 150 years (with a few exceptions going as far back as 600 years), the cultural and philosophical wisdom upon which they are based is thousands of years old. Because Judeo-Christian traditions are plagued with legalist thinking, being obsessed with laws, rules and regulations, it is difficult for us to imagine them as expressed in movement. It would be difficult to attempt conveying the teachings of Moses or Jesus in movement alone, even if it were as artistic as a dance. But the Chinese and Japanese managed to brilliantly portray the philosophies of Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism quite well in their martial arts, partly aided by the fact that these were based on many abstract ideas, and not only fixed dogmas. Especially the traditional internal martial arts of China, stand out as expressing such philosophies to the utmost. By that I mean to suggest, that the very practice of their movements, done correctly, reprograms one’s body and psyche to think and understand the universe in the manner intended by such philosophies.

This is actually not a radical idea, if you think about it solemnly for a while. Go and visit 10 schools of Brazilian Jujutsu of different organizations. You will notice countless similarities in the mindset and culture of the people present therein. Commonly this is attributed to people sharing similar origins and skills in general, and belonging to the same community. Such facets do play a part. Yet I would argue that the methods and techniques themselves – the art as it is – is what more so molds people into that frame. For unlike the older Judeo-Christian conception of a separate body and mind, the Eastern traditions have always understood what modern Science is only now catching up to – that, at least while one is alive, the flesh and the spirit are one. Therefore, affecting the muscles, tendons and bones also yields a matching personality, and vice-versa.

This bears implications for what I have earlier been discussing in this article. Consider now the notion of “Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own”. What this literally means, is that a person does not allow the art to form and change him – he alone forms and transforms the art in his image as he sees fit. This not only diminishes greatly the potential of a complete art, but also petrifies one’s body and mind into a frame of consciousness and action which does not significantly evolve. It furthermore implies that when teaching something, you are teaching people who you are – and not what they can be. Ironically then, by attempting to do away with the rules, one ends up locking people in a creative prison. For rules and regulations are crucial for people to grow themselves in a structured environment, which can later serve as a base for them to further develop.

For this reason, among others, were created the traditional martial arts. Curriculums were conceived which offered many answers to countless questions, not all of which were martial in nature. The multitude of movements, methods and techniques, an immature person may observe as limitations, meant to oppress him. Such is the view of a teenager. A more enlightened person however, would understand these to be not the walls which imprison him, but the supporting pillars upon which he can climb to look further, or build upon; the wisdom of the ages and the sages, embodied in a physical form, for one to follow and extract meaning out of. Once this is understood, a person may transcend the utilitarian mindset of considering the martial arts by means of statistics, and begin to observe their holistic nature in its true form – the expression of what it means to be human.

The Martial Arts Teacher-Shifu Bluestein

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Jonathan Bluestein

Jonathan Bluestein is best-selling author, martial arts teacher, and head of Blue Jade Martial Arts International. Check out his website for more information about his books and the martial arts taught by his organization: www.bluejadesociety.com

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