JKD: Martial Art created by Master Bruce Lee. Aspect of the Tao. Economy of motion. The path of least resistance. Maximum effect through natural magnification of minimal cause. Why haven't I applied this to every aspect of my life yet? Late bloomer I guess... or not very bright.
Respect: The result (or act) of being true to oneself while selflessly giving. Cousin of (or conjoined twin of) Love.
Change: The act of giving in to FLUX.
Flux: The natural flow of LIFE. The way participants in LIFE trade places and components (for instance, when you eat your vegetables, or when a crocodilian eats YOU). Often painful...
Pain: An illusion based in the willful misinterpretation of electrical impulses throughout the nervous system. In other words, that's not pain; that's your body saying "You did that wrong. Do it again. Do it right this time. I'll let you know if you mess up."
- Emotional/mental stress is often called PAIN, but is only analogous.
Pleasure: Another illusion. This one makes you think you've "arrived" somewhere. Maybe you have, but there's a lot more ground to cover yet. How do you know? You are still alive. PLEASURE is nice, but no need to get carried away.
Time: Arbitrary measurement of CHANGE. Flexible, depending on how much adrenaline (or other drug/hormone/dreamstate) is involved. Also illusive.
Life: Quality of sentience, however simple it might be. Found in animals, plants, algae, bacteria, mushrooms, etc. Some systems of belief include stones, planets, galaxies, the universe, and intangible entities whose existence cannot be conventionally proven. With the possible exception of that last one, LIFE is constantly in a state of FLUX.
Death: Termination point in TIME for LIFE. Without TIME, there is no DEATH. Without LIFE and FLUX there is no TIME. Without TIME there is no... uh...
Love: Source and Summit of LIFE. Major cause of CHANGE in humans and other animals (and also of PAIN, PLEASURE and RESPECT, among numerous other things). Exists outside of TIME, but interferes directly with it; ever heard the expression "TIME slows down when I'm with you"?
I had a point when I started this. Whatever. Gotta go to work.
Respect: The result (or act) of being true to oneself while selflessly giving. Cousin of (or conjoined twin of) Love.
Change: The act of giving in to FLUX.
Flux: The natural flow of LIFE. The way participants in LIFE trade places and components (for instance, when you eat your vegetables, or when a crocodilian eats YOU). Often painful...
Pain: An illusion based in the willful misinterpretation of electrical impulses throughout the nervous system. In other words, that's not pain; that's your body saying "You did that wrong. Do it again. Do it right this time. I'll let you know if you mess up."
- Emotional/mental stress is often called PAIN, but is only analogous.
Pleasure: Another illusion. This one makes you think you've "arrived" somewhere. Maybe you have, but there's a lot more ground to cover yet. How do you know? You are still alive. PLEASURE is nice, but no need to get carried away.
Time: Arbitrary measurement of CHANGE. Flexible, depending on how much adrenaline (or other drug/hormone/dreamstate) is involved. Also illusive.
Life: Quality of sentience, however simple it might be. Found in animals, plants, algae, bacteria, mushrooms, etc. Some systems of belief include stones, planets, galaxies, the universe, and intangible entities whose existence cannot be conventionally proven. With the possible exception of that last one, LIFE is constantly in a state of FLUX.
Death: Termination point in TIME for LIFE. Without TIME, there is no DEATH. Without LIFE and FLUX there is no TIME. Without TIME there is no... uh...
Love: Source and Summit of LIFE. Major cause of CHANGE in humans and other animals (and also of PAIN, PLEASURE and RESPECT, among numerous other things). Exists outside of TIME, but interferes directly with it; ever heard the expression "TIME slows down when I'm with you"?
I had a point when I started this. Whatever. Gotta go to work.
I have some issues with Bruce Lee himself being toted as a martial arts revolutionary. I believe it's a misinterpretation of the Tao. His style of fighting is to hurt people as badly as possible, as fast as possible. Not in keeping with my preferred philosophy of martial arts.
ReplyDeleteThat's neither here nor there, though. You made a good point with it, and that's what's important.
Really cool entry, especially when talking about pleasure. People mistake pleasure for happiness. While pleasure is a very good thing, it is fleeting. A state of true happiness is much more permanent.
Epicurus said that the purpose of life is, essentially, to engage in pleasure (good) and avoid pain (evil), and that this will lead to happiness. He was, however, smart enough to also mark the distinction that pleasure is fleeting and overindulgence leads to pain, which is evil.
Isaac, is that not the goal in combat? Bruce just mastered this goal... that's all :)
ReplyDeleteKeep in mind, that he also said that his "Tao" may not necessarily be yours. One should strive to attain self-knowledge.. through attainment of which, one realizes his own method/self/way of being. To try and imitate someone else's way is not it.
The central philosophy of JKD is "take what is useful, discard what is useless, add something that is specifically your own".
However, you are right in the sense that Bruce's "JKD" is only a buzz word... the core philosophy was nothing revolutionary... Miyamoto Musashi essentially did the same thing.. except he didn't call it JKD...and he liked fighting with 2 swords.
Both ppl were revolutionaries of their time simply because they didn't follow the norm, but adapted and changed "the rules" to make it work for them, flawlessly, every time. They just introduced "outside the box" thinking and hence Musashi never lost a fight... and neither did Bruce.