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Bruce lee,as far as many on the outside were concerned,was the complete article but im sure if you asked bruce lee himself he would of politley laughed at you,as he (in my own opinion) never considerd himself to be the complete article,he may of been the one of the most deadly men on earth for his martial arts skills but he still never thought he was complete,bruce lee had a fight which was arranged by the powers that were in chinatown san francisco. Chinas best in america was put forward to face bruce lee and of course bruce lee dispatched him with ease but in typical fashion bruce was more annoyed as to why it took over 20 seconds to beat him,it was then he was noted to complain about the constraints of kung-fu and he decided that if he knew about western boxing he could of beat his oppenent quicker becuse western boxing could deal with fighting in corners,thus the base and ideals of "jeet kun do" were laid.
One of bruce lees biggest morals was "daily decrease not increase,hack away the un-essentials"what i think he was taliking about was unnecesary katta and movements involved in classical forms of martial arts and strip them down to their basic function,not only katta but conditioning aswell eat only what your body needs and excercise what you need to.
By giving his martial arts philosophy a name "jeet kun do" he was already doing what he didnt want to do,because give something a name constrains it bruce lee didnt want his philosophys to be constrained by a name,people could say "oh this isnt jeet kun do thats karate"and this was something i think bruce lee wanted to avoid because jeet kun do was all about finding out the best way A to B if you will,if that involved gung-fu or western boxing or escrima then thats what you would of applied,having studied a little wing-chun when i was at junior school i still remember repeating things that seemed somewhat a waste of energy and time and im sure this was what bruce lee wanted to dispense with as it clouds the fastest way from A-B,there are many bruce lee quotes to be used here like "absorb what is usefull,reject what is not"and the suchlike but in the end bruce was on to a winning form,trying to break through all the crap which you didnt need to focus on the good as bruce lee said"martial arts is just like anyother art its self expression,however most martial arts are merely a repetition of set routines and movements"all in all i think bruce lee was a groundbreaker in martial arts,despite what people say i think that bruce lee didnt take only what was good from different martial arts he took what was usefull good doesnt always mean usefull,a sweep kick is good but rarely used thats just one example,there are many more i suspect!Bruce lee's training is also what made him what he was,without his conditioning and excercise he wouldnt have acheived what he did because his philosophys went hand in hand with excercise,bruce lee's body was at the peak,have you ever seen somebody with such a body?I think the answer is probably no isnt it?Even all the martial artists of today jet li,jackie chan,donnie yen while they have honed their bodies they still cannot compare to bruce lee's conditioning,he was dedicated to it.This was what seperated him from others,but it was not only the physical side that elevated him.He was a thinker a philosopher his libary of books was in the 1000s and these books ranged from martial arts of all kinds to western philosophy and the suchlike.if you have ever read the "the tao of jeet kun do"then you will already know his philosophys and just how simple and clear they seem when you think about them logically like his thoughts on water and how you must be like water,be powerfull yet not rigid,flow and mould around firmness that is other martial arts,these thoughts among others gave him the ability to break away from the boundaries of tradition in martial arts. But like every other ground breaker wether it be politics,race or any subject they always die young the price of genius some say but for me the death of bruce lee,while i was not alive,feels somewhat like there is something missing in the world.Bruce lee was atruly great man.I will always remember his quote"we are all under the same umbrella"
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