Bound by traditional martial arts

**Buby** · Posted On: 8/27/2002 12:54pm

"To be bound by traditional martial art style or styles is the way of the mindless, enslaved martial artist, but to be inspired by the traditional martial art and to achieve further heights is the way of genius." - Bruce Lee

What's your take on the above qoute?

Thanks in advance,
Buby

KC Elbows · Posted On: 8/27/2002 1:01pm

-Experiment with your style.

-Look at your styles fighting against not only members of your school, but against every different type of fighter you can.

-If you have a good idea that helps in training for your style, don't avoid using it just because your teacher didn't use it.

**Buby** · Posted On: 8/27/2002 1:07pm

Cool. Wanted to make sure I was on the same page as bruce. Btw KC, nice pic.

Don't know why but my brain feels fried today.

**Blad3** · Posted On: 8/27/2002 1:15pm

AGree with elbows.

KC Elbows · Posted On: 8/27/2002 1:20pm

I don't know that I'm on the same page as Bruce, but I think that was his idea.

As far as the pic, yeah, it cracked me up when I found it.

9chambers · Posted On: 8/27/2002 5:45pm

I don't necessarily advocate a young begginer making up his own style. Everyone needs guidance and inspiration. Pick a style or a combination of styles to use as a template and then build on that.

When you learn all of the techniques of a particular style, that doesn't make you a master - just an educated student. Master yourself and not just a select number of techniques, and then be proud of yourself.

Read the scroll of emptiness by Musashi in the Book of 5 Rings. Getting to the point where you are void of style and empty - that is when you have universal potential. You are a clear sky .. ku .. mu .. void .. no style .. bla bla, you know.

Just be yourself. Free to react spontaneously and not in a set way you copied from someone else.

&gt;&gt; To be bound by traditional martial art style or styles is the way of the mindless, enslaved martial artist, but to be inspired by the traditional martial art and to achieve further heights is the way of genius. - Bruce Lee

**marty_farty** · Posted On: 8/27/2002 5:59pm

The key word is "bound". to be bound by anything is to be "enslaved". Find a style, dojo, teacher you enjoy and learn all the basics from him. then see how that fits your goals of what you want to achieve in your martial arts. your training methods must coincide with your desired outcome.

excuse me if i have over stated the obvious

**Nihilanthic** · Posted On: 8/27/2002 6:03pm

I ranted on this before... basically, my spin on it is that you should not just believe what you're told about styles "soft, not hard" "one hit kill" "keep them away with kicks" "ground and pound" "death-touch", ect...

Focus on reality, because for a long time the masters of arts were so intimidating that nobody would question that they could shoot ki balls and kill with a touch =/

&lt;Me&gt; John, what do you know about Zen Buddhism? &lt;John&gt; *smacks me*
&lt;John&gt; I'd have to smack you sometime...

**PeedeeShaolin** · Posted On: 8/27/2002 7:16pm

Nihilanthic is right. For too long we blindly followed what many teachers preached without EVER questioning. This is the reason that the arts got so dilluted. You have to use some common sense man. When I was training in Karate at age 7 it was UNTHINKABLE to question your instructor. In ANY stlye. Bruce Lee was HATED by most artists and teachers because he advocated training in multiple systems. Its our fault for blindly taking what these guys said as fact and not using our heads. I think the traditional arts are more usefull NOW than EVEr because most people who train are able to tell what would be usefull and what is theory.

"Do not become entranced by impractical or useless movements. Do not be categorized as one who "Learns all there is to know about less and less until he ends up learning everything there is to know about nothing." -Ed Parker

**Royal Dragon** · Posted On: 8/27/2002 9:08pm

Bruce Lee Shmuoosh Lee, why does everyone keep quoting him?? He was agood Wing Chun guy, but there is nothing he really added to the arts that weren't already there if you followed them to the fullest.

Maybe the 1970'a Karate guys were clueless, and he needed to explain the core of Chinese Kung Fu to them, but what he "Preached" is nothing out of the ordinary, and nothing basic commonsense wouldn't have figured out on it's own.

You guys worshp him like he wa some sort of God. Lee was an obnxious arrogant cocky MOVIE STAR!!!

NOT the do all end all revolution of martial arts.

I Guarentee you a good Bagua player from his time would have smoked him in a fight, you just didn't see any of them acting like squeeky wheels, that's all.