kenpo_cory
Purple Belt
I was reading the book "The Journey" last night and I was reading Chuck Sullivan's story. Well, in one section on page 40 Mr. Sullivan tells a story about Mr. Parker bringing in Bruce Lee to watch a class. In Mr. Sullivan's exacts words:
"One day in the early sixties Ed told a group of us that he had met an incredible young martial artist and had invited him to observe the class. He introduced a skinny Chinese kid to us named Bruce Lee, who sat in the waiting room watching us on the mats. After the class was over, Ed went into his office leaving us alone with Bruce. We were having a pleasant conversation until Bruce casually said, "I was watching you guys do something earlier, and I was wondering why you were doing it." He then demonstrated what we had been practicing. Of course, the answer was obvious to all of us. We were doing it because that's the way Ed Parker was teaching it. When no one spoke up Bruce dropped a bomb. "Well, I just wondered because it's wrong," he said. That was the first time I ever heard the words "Ed Parker" and "wrong" matched up, and I was stunned. I looked around at the other guys. A couple of them looked like they were going to grab Bruce by his skinny neck and shake him until his butt plate fell off. Bruce quickly went on to explain that what we were doing violated a basic principle. Not a concept, but a principle. For example, the principle of gravity dictates that you can't stand on one leg unless that leg is directly under your center. You can't do it any other way without falling down. Then he showed us why the move was wrong. It wasn't enough to destroy my faith in the system, but Bruce was right. (end quote)
Now, I was wondering why would Mr. Parker teach an entire class a wrong principle? Did he do it on purpose to see if anyone would question him? Did he not know he was wrong? Did he set those guys up by showing them the wrong way and purposefully bringing in Bruce? This story had me wondering about the whole purpose of it. Can anyone verify or deny the validity of the story? Considering Mr. Sullivan got his Black belt in September 1962 I doubt there's anyone on this forum that was there. Anyway, I thought I'd throw this out to you guys and see if anyone has any answers.
"One day in the early sixties Ed told a group of us that he had met an incredible young martial artist and had invited him to observe the class. He introduced a skinny Chinese kid to us named Bruce Lee, who sat in the waiting room watching us on the mats. After the class was over, Ed went into his office leaving us alone with Bruce. We were having a pleasant conversation until Bruce casually said, "I was watching you guys do something earlier, and I was wondering why you were doing it." He then demonstrated what we had been practicing. Of course, the answer was obvious to all of us. We were doing it because that's the way Ed Parker was teaching it. When no one spoke up Bruce dropped a bomb. "Well, I just wondered because it's wrong," he said. That was the first time I ever heard the words "Ed Parker" and "wrong" matched up, and I was stunned. I looked around at the other guys. A couple of them looked like they were going to grab Bruce by his skinny neck and shake him until his butt plate fell off. Bruce quickly went on to explain that what we were doing violated a basic principle. Not a concept, but a principle. For example, the principle of gravity dictates that you can't stand on one leg unless that leg is directly under your center. You can't do it any other way without falling down. Then he showed us why the move was wrong. It wasn't enough to destroy my faith in the system, but Bruce was right. (end quote)
Now, I was wondering why would Mr. Parker teach an entire class a wrong principle? Did he do it on purpose to see if anyone would question him? Did he not know he was wrong? Did he set those guys up by showing them the wrong way and purposefully bringing in Bruce? This story had me wondering about the whole purpose of it. Can anyone verify or deny the validity of the story? Considering Mr. Sullivan got his Black belt in September 1962 I doubt there's anyone on this forum that was there. Anyway, I thought I'd throw this out to you guys and see if anyone has any answers.