On Being Whole

[Flatlander]

When a man is thinking he stands off from what he is trying to understand. Feeling exists here and now when not interrupted and dissected by ideas or concepts. The moment we stop analyzing and let go, we can start really seeing, feeling - as one whole. There is no actor or one being acted upon but the action itself. I stayed with my feeling then - and I felt it to the full without naming it that. As last the I and the feeling merged to become one. The I no longer feels the self to be separated from the you and the whole idea of taking advantage or getting something out of something becomes absurd. To me, I have no other self (not to mention thought) than the oneness of things of which I was aware at that moment.

This is an excerpt from Bruce Lee Jeet Kune Do edited by John Little, c. 1997.

Here, Bruce is pointing to the state of mind that one must seek in order to truly reflect the movement of their opponent, and to circumvent the analysis process, going directly from awareness to action.

What are your thoughts? How can one achieve this state?

 

[shesulsa]

I've heard of this described as thought without thought - feeling without feeling - strength without strenth, etcetera.

The state of mind Lee describes is one often achieved during transcendental meditation or hypnosis; the surrender to the moment. I think it's moving meditation. How do you get there? I dunno. Perhaps first must come copious repitition for muscle memory, then perhaps turning off the lights, training at dusk, at night then blindfolded.

Do you have any leads on progression towards this goal?

 

[Flatlander]

Do you have any leads on progression towards this goal?

I do energy drills regularly. On top of that, I tink that regular free sparring can provide the comfort level with combat that I think is a necessary prerequisite to reflective expression. Beyond that - ? I'm certainly not there, yet.

 

[shesulsa]

Wise man say relax and let natural thing happen. (wiseman = my teacher)

Curious, though - you work energy and train alive, right? Hmmm. I need to study/ponder this some more.

 

[JPR]

It is alot like being in "the zone". You can not make yourself get there, because the very effort of try to be there keeps you from being there, it just happens. I believe that is why you train to make your movements reflexive (ie no conscious thought required). Then you don't think about what to do and do it, you simply do it.

Another analog that seems to work for me is the idea of speaking a foreign language. When you begin you think in English, translate in your head and then speak Spanish. When you become fluent, you think in Spanish and speak Spanish.

 

[MA-Caver]

I've found from personal experience that you cannot be there by wanting to. Like JPR said you cannot force the issue. It has to happen. Okay so how to find it.
Think about when you were in a tenseful situation. A fight, belt test, argument with someone and then all of the sudden you're no longer tense but relaxed and flowing. You're focused, aware and just smooth.
Meditation on finding your "center" helps and practice on finding it quickly helps as well.
My method is clearing my thoughts and feelings and breathing deep and then focus on something then looking through it but still aware of it.
Doing this prior to a fight (if possible) helps you find that "zone" JPR was talking about.

 

[Scout_379]

One of my favorite quotes, from the Last Samurai, "you have too many minds"
My take on this is really, coming to your senses, literally. Sight, touch, the works. focus on full sensitivity, using and noticing all of your senses at once. stop thinking, become one with your body and its instincts, the way it moves, and the way you move it. A little bit of meditation helps me reach that point where I stop thinking, and just start noticing and reacting. thats my zone, when my mind comes to the present moment alone:asian:

 

[shesulsa]

Kinda like..."spidey-sense!"

Flatlander - may I ask what kind of energy drills do you do? If that's too private, please ignore the question. Thanks.

 

[TigerWoman]

I've practiced form so much that I can really do it (some 20 forms) mostly without thinking. Add a blindfold to that and do form without any sensory help and tape yourself. I really have to get centered first. The same for a jump spin heel. Practiced that so much that I don't need to "see" or think what I should do first in a series of moves, I just get centered and do it. I have found that blindfolded, I am much more accurate and harder hitting. That has just been the last couple of weeks practicing it. So this may not be what Bruce Lee was talking about, but it is part of it, I believe. On moving your body in harmony with your mind. Just my thoughts. TW

 

[Flatlander]

Flatlander - may I ask what kind of energy drills do you do? If that's too private, please ignore the question. Thanks.

They are really difficult to describe unless you are familiar with the movements. We do a bunch.

1)
A punches right straight,
B pak sao (inside parry) with left
B checks
b punches right straight
A pak sao left
A checks
A punches right straight - ad infinitum

2)
A grabs B's neck *(on the side, thumb on throat) with right
B hard pak sao right
B Left elbow to A's right arm
B left hand smack/grab to A's neck*
A hard pak sao left
A right elbow to B's left arm
A right hand smack/grab to B's neck*

These are a couple of the many that we do, besides chi sao (sticky hands). 1 is a JKD drill, 2 is a Dumog drill from Modern Arnis.

 

[achilles]

Tigerwoman, what you are describing about your experience with your forms is close to what we mean in JKD, and I think you are definitely on a productive track, but adaptability is outside preconceived patterns. Formlessness is the adaptation to the opponent: spontaneous and direct. Though countless repetitions of a form can lead the practitioner to a thoughtless and automatic state, Jeet Kune Do strives to be more like a mirror. When you move in front of a mirror, the mirror doesn't reference a particular script or doctrine in order to decide what to reflect. It simply reflects the object in front of it. A Jeet Kune Do practitioner doesn't ponder "what does my system tell me is the most ideal technique to use," but uses the most efficient means at his or her disposal. For example, the lead finger jab is perhaps the most efficient tool in middle range, but if your accuracy is not sufficient, or if the target (throat or eyes) is deprived, that may not be the case. In such a case a different tool such as a straight lead or a hook kick to the groin might be the most direct. But rather than having to cease the action to analyze tools, tactics, and targets, the Jeet Kune Do man should be trained in such a way that he is already aware and acting; thus, taking the various factors into consideration to execute his "choice" attack. That is what Si Gung Bruce meant by a good Jeet Kune Do man "rests in direct intuition." We always are looking for the most direct route, and our structure is such that we, in theory, are always loaded and ready to exploit such an opening.

 

[TigerWoman]

Achillles,
I guess I was trying to break it down to a simple act. But yes, I think the more you practice, being able to perceive what an opponent will do without really using your brain to analyze it and respond which takes too long anyway. Training provides conditioning, better response when you have practiced those techniques before, seen those attacks or openings or something similar to make something click in your brain. My mind remembers and my body reacts with the appropriate response and I could say I wasn't really thinking but it was flowing.

I think that is why we don't train doing one steps or set patterns of attack and defense-sparring combinations. We spar in more of a free style that leads to more adaptibility. TW

 

[Mark Lynn]

They are really difficult to describe unless you are familiar with the movements. We do a bunch.

1)
A punches right straight,
B pak sao (inside parry) with left
B checks
b punches right straight
A pak sao left
A checks
A punches right straight - ad infinitum

2)
A grabs B's neck *(on the side, thumb on throat) with right
B hard pak sao right
B Left elbow to A's right arm
B left hand smack/grab to A's neck*
A hard pak sao left
A right elbow to B's left arm
A right hand smack/grab to B's neck*

These are a couple of the many that we do, besides chi sao (sticky hands). 1 is a JKD drill, 2 is a Dumog drill from Modern Arnis.

Flatlander
1) Is this vertical fist hubud? (What else did we call it? Straight blast feeding drill? Something like that) However are you sure it's an inside parry with the hand on the incoming punch and not an outside parry? From your description it sounds like a drill I've practiced but with an outside parry.

2) I've never seen this drill in Modern Arnis. Could you give a little more detail in how the drill is trained.

I take it that the pak sao is slap on the inside of the arm to remove it from the throat. And that it grabs/supports the arm for the elbow smash(?). IS the elbow hit a vertical hit on the outside of the arm, or is it a downward elbow coming down on the biceps? After hitting with the elbow do you then hit to the face, throat, (smack) or just go for the throat.

Do you practice this lying on the ground or standing? Sounds pretty interesting.

Mark

 

[Flatlander]

Flatlander
1) Is this vertical fist hubud? (What else did we call it? Straight blast feeding drill? Something like that) However are you sure it's an inside parry with the hand on the incoming punch and not an outside parry? From your description it sounds like a drill I've practiced but with an outside parry.

Hi Mark!

1) I realized on re-read that I left a step out - oops!

1)
A punches right straight,
B pak sao (inside parry) with left
B checks with right hand, traps with left,
b punches right straight
A pak sao left
A checks with right hand, traps with left,
A punches right straight - ad infinitum

the pak sao is a left hand parry from left to right.

2) I've never seen this drill in Modern Arnis. Could you give a little more detail in how the drill is trained.

I take it that the pak sao is slap on the inside of the arm to remove it from the throat. And that it grabs/supports the arm for the elbow smash(?). IS the elbow hit a vertical hit on the outside of the arm, or is it a downward elbow coming down on the biceps? After hitting with the elbow do you then hit to the face, throat, (smack) or just go for the throat.

Do you practice this lying on the ground or standing? Sounds pretty interesting.

Mark

2)The pak sao is a slap by the right hand to the inside wrist/forearm to remove from the throat. The left hand begins by having been lower, and on the inside. The elbow of the left now drives into the opponent's elbow crook, or wherever, really, just to create space while the left hand whips out for the smack/grab. If the elbow is at an angle greater than 90 degrees, you go far enough that the left hand comes to a point just left of the opposing neck, then drive that hand home.
We train this, for now, standing, as a throat grab defense. It's a nice drill.
This 2 man drill should look like a mirror image, left vs right.

Does that help?

 

[Troy Ostapiw/Canada]

This is an interesting topic, and goes beyond just the martial sciences, yet is a important part of training. This feeling can be Understood as Zen, or being in the moment. when one is truley in the moment there body, mind and spirit become one. This person is no longer separate from others, or the world, for they are truley connected to all beings, and able to understand without thought.

This zen, has many names, Void, Kundalini, Enlightenment,being in the moment, and the zone are just some of the Lables we give to this mysterious felling of oneness. This being complete or whole can apply not only to martial arts, but to anything one does in life, golf, Archery, Hunting, fighting. This has nothing to do with logic, or thought, and it can only be experienced personally. This would be considered the highest form of enlightenment. If a person highly skilled in MA,were able to attain this state, and was in combative conflict with another person, There oneness would allow them to be like water, and adapt to the agressor without thought, as the MA is connected to the source, which is apart of all beings.

Remember Bruce Lee studied Philosophy at the University of Washington........