DeLamar.J
3rd Black Belt
In the snow, the trunk of the firm tree stands rigid, and as the snow piles up and up, the branch doesn't give an inch-until finally it snaps under the weight of its burden. The willow, however, bends instantly when even a little bit of snow accumulates on its branch, thereby effectively removing the burden of the snow and allowing the branch to spring back up again, fresh and renewed. This is not, then, a case of weakness or limpness. It is not softness in the sence of being just being limp and flaccid, but of being springy, of having give. Thus, the willow's example reveals to us that we can only achieve what we want to achieve through a process of yielding with adversity-of letting go. This, after all, is the easiest possible course and, some might observe, the very height of intelligence.
And so the question is posed, what type of person are you? Do you choose to be the strong, stoic type-like the firm tree-who allows personal problems to pile up one upon the other until you, too, snap? Or are you more like the willow: one who does not resist the weight of problematic burden, or who endures it but rather gently bends by dealing with each problem as it presents itself so that you can spring back stronger than before and, by so yielding, live a life that is free of compound emotional turmoil?
Nothingness cannot be confined;
Gentleness cannot be snapped.
A good martial artist does not oppose force or give way completely. He is pliable as a spring; he is the complement and not the opposition of his opponent's strength. He has not technique; he makes his opponent's technique his technique. He has no design; he makes opportunity his design.
Hail Bruce Lee!
From:The Warrior Within
His best book IMO
And so the question is posed, what type of person are you? Do you choose to be the strong, stoic type-like the firm tree-who allows personal problems to pile up one upon the other until you, too, snap? Or are you more like the willow: one who does not resist the weight of problematic burden, or who endures it but rather gently bends by dealing with each problem as it presents itself so that you can spring back stronger than before and, by so yielding, live a life that is free of compound emotional turmoil?
Nothingness cannot be confined;
Gentleness cannot be snapped.
A good martial artist does not oppose force or give way completely. He is pliable as a spring; he is the complement and not the opposition of his opponent's strength. He has not technique; he makes his opponent's technique his technique. He has no design; he makes opportunity his design.
Hail Bruce Lee!
From:The Warrior Within
His best book IMO
