Bruce Lee Jeet Kune Do. Bruce Lee

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      Acquire the kinesthetic perception in tension-creating situations— distinguish between the relaxed and the tense states. Practice controlling the body responses voluntarily and at will. Use only those muscles required to perform the act, using them as economically as possible, and not using the other muscles to perform movements which do not contribute to the act or which interfere with it. Expend constructively both the mental and physical energy (economical, neuromuscular, perceptive movement). In coordinated, graceful, and efficient movement, the opposing muscles must be relaxed and lengthen readily and easily.

      It takes perception, practice, and willingness to train the mind into new habits of thinking and the body into new habits of action. A champ is one who makes every motion count, and he accomplishes maximum results with a minimum expenditure of energy.

      You and your opponent are one. There is a coexisting relationship between you. You coexist with your opponent and become his complement, absorbing his attack and using his force to overcome him.

      Forms and katas are not the answer

      I think simply to practice gung fu forms and karate katas is not a good way. Moreover, it wastes time and does not match the actual (fighting) situation. Some people are tall, some are short, some are stout, some are slim. There are various kinds of people. If all of them learn the same boxing (i.e. martial art) form, then who does it fit?

      The highest state is no form

      I think the highest state of martial art, in application, must have no absolute form. And, to tackle pattern A with pattern B may not be absolutely correct. I feel that martial art should not be limited in a circle. That will produce in the students a wrong idea, thinking that a certain pattern will achieve the same result in fighting as in practice.

      On what is the “best” martial art

      There is no such thing as an effective segment of a totality. By that I mean that I personally do not believe in the word style. Why? Because, unless there are human beings with three arms and four legs, unless we have another group of beings on earth that are structurally different from us, there can be no different style of fighting. Why is that? Because we have two hands and two legs. Now the unfortunate thing is that there’s boxing, which uses hands, and judo, which uses throwing. I’m not putting them down, mind you—but because of styles, people are separated. They are not united together because styles become law. The original founder of the style started out with hypothesis. But now it has become the gospel truth, and people who go into that become the product of it. It doesn’t matter how you are, who you are, how you are structured, how you are built, or how you are made . . . it doesn’t seem to matter. You just go in there and become that product. And that, to me, is not right.

      Nationalities don’t mean anything

      Many people will come to an instructor but, most of them, they say, “Hey man, like what is the truth? You know, would you hand it over to me?” So, therefore, one guy would say now, “I’ll give you the Japanese way of doing it.” And another guy would say “I’ll give you the Chinese way of doing it.” But to me that’s all baloney because unless there are men with three hands or there are men with four legs, then there [cannot be] a different way of doing it. But since we only have two hands and two legs, nationalities don’t mean anything.

      A constant process of relating

      When I see a Japanese martial artist, for example, I can see the advantage and I can see the disadvantage. In that sense, I am relating to him. Man is living in a relationship, and in relationships we grow.

      Because martial art is my career, I want to use it as a means to express my ideals. A real fighter should fight for righteousness. Moreover, when he decides to fight, he must be sincere and fight wholeheartedly to the end. Only in such a way can he develop good character and total truth and sincerity.

      Understand.

      Dueling ultimately is simply a test in individual “essence.”

      Not being stuck mentally and not abiding oneself is the root of life.

      Strategy of distracting attention

      Focus on movement, greater speed—in other words, subjectively in time for the signal, don’t focus full attention on signal, though necessary. This way one can time the rhythm of the signal, or the starter’s pattern, so that he can start with the signal, not react to the signal.

      Auditory signals and reaction time

      Experiments indicate that if the cue to act can be made auditory instead of visual, the athlete’s response is more rapid. Make use of it together with visual if possible.

      Strategy of distracting attention

      Repeat—for most rapid perception, attention must be at the maximum focus on the thing to be perceived.

      Vision awareness factors that all martial artists should consider

      1. Awareness in attack 2. Awareness in counter 3. Awareness in combination

      You see, the kicks and punches are weapons not necessarily aimed toward invading opponents. These tools can be aimed at our fears, frustrations, and all that. Martial art can help in your process toward growth.

      Truth is the daughter of inspiration; intellectual analysis and partialized debate keep the people away from truth. It is like a finger pointing a way to the moon. Don’t concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory.

      You can be a slave in the form of a holy mind to live. We do not live for, we simply live.

      The head is a united part of the human body.

      If one prepares to the front, his rear will be weak. If he prepares to the left, his right will be vulnerable. And when he prepares everywhere he will be weak everywhere.

      Quick temper will make a fool of you soon enough.

      A coward will easily be captured. Also a reckless one can be killed.

      The true power of our skill is as self-knowledge—the liberation of the self—not as a weapon.

      External pride is not the thing, it’s internal self-sufficiency.

      Your instinctive skill should be well-tempered with self-inquiries and judgments.

      I thought we had discovered that tournaments are places where human beings are playing a protecting game of pride.

      Let’s cut out the verbal threatening. To be a true martial artist is not to try to avoid what is your lot.

      Psyching-out dialogue (based on Sun Tzu’s Art of War)

      1. Pretend inferiority after an evasive move to encourage an opponent’s arrogance for your advantage.

      2. Your brain is the general of your head and if the general is angered his authority can easily be upset.

      In combat we understand, we converse by using normal power to engage, and use the extraordinary to win.

      On challenges

      When I first learned martial art, I too have challenged many established instructors and, of course, some others have challenged me also. But I have learned that if challenging means one thing to you, it is “What is your reaction to it? Where does it get you?” Now if you are secure within yourself, you treat it very lightly because you ask yourself: “Am I really afraid of that man? Do I have any doubts that that man is going to get me?”