Really it is a question of light and dark. I would think that Mr Lee would have left his message open to interpretation across the board. Just my take on it.
Words of Wisdom from Bruce Lee
- Thread starter PhotonGuy
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He would if it were actually his message, but I can't find any evidence of him ever actually having said it...it seems to be variously attributed as a Persian proverb, an Arabic proverb, and to Confucius, depending on where you look. Nothing about Bruce though.
A lot of Bruce Lee's actual aphorisms were re-hashes of older source material from Confucius, I Ching, Taoist world view, and so on. Nothing new in Eastern philosophy, and IMO he sometimes presented in a rather too ostentatious, po-faced and worthy fashion. Profound ideas do not demand pretence, they speak for themselves.
That whole water speech just makes me cringe, firstly because it is so overquoted by people who don't have the first idea what it means, but secondly because it is so utterly pretentiously presented. Ugh.
A lot of Bruce Lee's actual aphorisms were re-hashes of older source material from Confucius, I Ching, Taoist world view, and so on. Nothing new in Eastern philosophy, and IMO he sometimes presented in a rather too ostentatious, po-faced and worthy fashion. Profound ideas do not demand pretence, they speak for themselves.
That whole water speech just makes me cringe, firstly because it is so overquoted by people who don't have the first idea what it means, but secondly because it is so utterly pretentiously presented. Ugh.
- Thread Starter
- #23
Well yes, all too often its much more effective to feel what is right instead of trying to think what is right. The thing, however, is to come up with a silver bullet, something that when done will cause all the other problems to correct themselves. For instance, all that stuff you say about the side kick, if a student is doing a bunch of those things wrong a good instructor should tell the student to fix just one thing and everything else will fix itself. I once had a swim coach who could do that. I was doing the backstroke all wrong, backstroke is a very awkward stroke since you're on your back and the movements aren't natural. There were so many things I was doing wrong. He told me to simply rotate my hips more so I did that and everything else fixed itself, all the six or seven things I was doing wrong I started doing right, just by rotating my hips more. So it makes more sense to find that one thing instead of telling a student everything they have to fix. I had an instructor who did that with my katas too.
Anyway, as far as needing to know what you've got to know in order to pass a grading, just about everywhere I've gone there is much more to it than being able to know or do the techniques, there is also rate of difficulty depending on the grade your testing for. For instance, at my dojo you have to be able to do the front kick for both the yellow belt test and the brown belt test. For the brown belt test, though, you have to perform it to a much greater degree of proficiency what with brown being a much higher belt. So, if you've got a front kick that's just good enough to pass the yellow belt test, it is not going to pass a brown belt test. So therefore, for testing you've got to know not only if your technique is good but rather if its good enough for the belt you're testing for. My friend who was told to work on his round kick before testing for belt, he might've had a good round kick, it just wasn't good enough for black belt or to put it specifically, the sensei's standards for black belt. The sensei would obviously know the standards since he sets them but for you to know if your techniques are good enough to pass you might have to ask. I get the impression that at your place they just tell you when you're good enough but not all places are like that. At some places you do have to ask.
Or, you can have a structured training program that ensures all of those criteria are met. That sounds much more sensible to me than a magic bullet.
You honestly believe all your technical problems went away just by changing one thing?? You don't believe your instructor was just providing you with positive feedback and encouragement, knowing that they would develop your technique farther towards their vision of correct in a future session?
There are no magic bullets. There is only training.
By the way, you have pulled your own thread off topic.
I am not going to respond to this part, I have already addressed it in another thread, you clearly don't read what people write in response to your posts. Too busy transmitting. There is nothing new here, you are just repeating yourself and not making any new points.
- Thread Starter
- #25
Sometimes fixing one thing can cause a whole bunch of other problems to fix themselves. Such as my example of the backstroke.
Oops. Well, the thread is about teaching and learning, at least much of it is.
I don't believe I ever said anything before about rate of difficulty. How more advanced belts require the same techniques as less advanced belts but to a greater degree of proficiency. Although thats quite obvious in the world of martial arts, I don't recall ever saying that before.
You really did. Do you even read what you write?
- Thread Starter
- #28
So according to that, parenting will make one wise. From my own observations that often isn't the case.
did you not read the Bruce Lee line that @donald1 quoted before you weighed in?? It does not say ignorant questions make a person wise.. read it again for your self! To paraphrase for you.. if a person can learn even from the questions of the ignorant, then that person is a wise person.. Honestly PhotonGuy, not every thing is about you! you are exasperating and but you are worth trying to guide.
donald1
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Not sure I understand what your getting at "parenting will make one wise" are you reffering to actions of the small child?
- Thread Starter
- #31
Where you pointed out "a wise man will learn more from an ignorant question than an ignorant person will learn from a wise question"
If you've got a child they're going to ask you lots of ignorant questions.
- Thread Starter
- #32
I see what you mean now. I just misinterpreted it at first.
But aside from that, how am I making the impression that its all about me just because I misinterpret something? Honestly I find your accusations to be exasperating not to mention offensive.
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Cirdan
Senior Master
Maybe it has something to do with the King of Hindsight who repeats things 14 647 times to make a point and only wants replies from people who agree with him.
- Thread Starter
- #34
Maybe it has something to do with the King of Hindsight who repeats things 14 647 times to make a point and only wants replies from people who agree with him.
In post #28 I said, "So according to that, parenting will make one wise. From my own observations that often isn't the case." That was the first time I had said that and I wasn't asking people to agree.
donald1
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Yes, give a kid some time they will improve and those questions that seemed strange, irrelevant or come off as ignorant but in a way its good they ask those questions. It just might mean they are curious. For me id encourage them to ask more questions. They learn which questions to ask, which to avoid asking. Also learn theres a time and place to ask.
- Thread Starter
- #36
Speaking of which, I know a case of this mom whose child asked her a question. The child asked what the biggest number is. The mom said, "A hundred, I think." The child replied that one is the biggest number. Why? Because, explained the child, everything always goes back to one. Whenever you add a new digit it always goes back to one. Sometimes you can learn quite a bit from a child.
