How Fast Bruce Lee Progressed In The Martial Arts

[PhotonGuy]

There is some evidence that 30 hours isn't just 30 hours, though. In learning, the mind needs time to process, so in most cases 30 hours in 2 days is actually inferior to 30 hours in 2 weeks (which is probably inferior to 30 hours in 1 week).

As I said, there are all sorts of factors. For instance, lets say you train five hours a day for six days, that would be a total of 30 hours. Depending on the art that might or might not be a problem. For an art such as Tai Chi which is not all that physically taxing on the body, there are lots of people who probably could pull off five hours a day. Intensive training in an art such as Muai Thai, on the other hand, five hours a day for six days you could very easily hurt yourself or at least you would experience diminishing returns. As I said, there are all sorts of factors.

 

[Flying Crane]

As I said, there are all sorts of factors. For instance, lets say you train five hours a day for six days, that would be a total of 30 hours. Depending on the art that might or might not be a problem. For an art such as Tai Chi which is not all that physically taxing on the body, there are lots of people who probably could pull off five hours a day. Intensive training in an art such as Muai Thai, on the other hand, five hours a day for six days you could very easily hurt yourself or at least you would experience diminishing returns. As I said, there are all sorts of factors.

It isn’t just physical. Your brain needs down-time to process the learning and the new material. Even if you could physically handle 30 hours in a row, it would be less effective than spreading it out over several days in 2 hour per day increments. Because the down time for the brain is important in processing and making sense of what you have learned. Sleep is integral in this, you need the work spread over time, with sleep and rest intervals in between.

 

[PhotonGuy]

It isn’t just physical. Your brain needs down-time to process the learning and the new material. Even if you could physically handle 30 hours in a row, it would be less effective than spreading it out over several days in 2 hour per day increments. Because the down time for the brain is important in processing and making sense of what you have learned. Sleep is integral in this, you need the work spread over time, with sleep and rest intervals in between.

Try telling that to my uncle who got both a PhD and an MD at the same time. He was not into martial arts but when he was in graduate school he would study maybe 8 hours a day. All he did was eat, sleep, study, maybe take an hour or two on some days to go running since he was a runner, and take the occasional 15 minute break at the video game arcade.

 

[Headhunter]

It isn’t just physical. Your brain needs down-time to process the learning and the new material. Even if you could physically handle 30 hours in a row, it would be less effective than spreading it out over several days in 2 hour per day increments. Because the down time for the brain is important in processing and making sense of what you have learned. Sleep is integral in this, you need the work spread over time, with sleep and rest intervals in between.

Yep there's a reason Lee died so young. Either over training or drugs (or a mix of both) for those who don't know Lees autopsy showed drugs in his system

 

[Flying Crane]

Try telling that to my uncle who got both a PhD and an MD at the same time. He was not into martial arts but when he was in graduate school he would study maybe 8 hours a day. All he did was eat, sleep, study, maybe take an hour or two on some days to go running since he was a runner, and take the occasional 15 minute break at the video game arcade.

what was the second thing you said he did?

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Try telling that to my uncle who got both a PhD and an MD at the same time. He was not into martial arts but when he was in graduate school he would study maybe 8 hours a day. All he did was eat, sleep, study, maybe take an hour or two on some days to go running since he was a runner, and take the occasional 15 minute break at the video game arcade.

On top of him sleeping, there is a difference between purely intellectual stuff, and learning physical skills

 

[PhotonGuy]

what was the second thing you said he did?

Go running?

 

[Flying Crane]

Go running?

Sleep.

 

[PhotonGuy]

Sleep.

Yeah, so, everybody has to sleep, your point?

 

[Flying Crane]

Yeah, so, everybody has to sleep, your point?

My point is, he broke up his marathon studies with sleep and other necessary activities. So he partook in the all-important rest and recovery and downtime that the brain needs, when learning and processing new information.

Earning an MD and a PhD at the same time is a massive task. People work very hard to do it. They may operate on less sleep than is optimal. But they cannot just disregard the sleep and the down time necessary when learning.

Your earlier post when you mentioned your uncle gave me the impression that you were claiming he didn’t need that rest and down time. Yet he slept...

 

[PhotonGuy]

My point is, he broke up his marathon studies with sleep and other necessary activities. So he partook in the all-important rest and recovery and downtime that the brain needs, when learning and processing new information.

Earning an MD and a PhD at the same time is a massive task. People work very hard to do it. They may operate on less sleep than is optimal. But they cannot just disregard the sleep and the down time necessary when learning.

Your earlier post when you mentioned your uncle gave me the impression that you were claiming he didn’t need that rest and down time. Yet he slept...

Well everybody needs sleep to function properly, whether or not you train or study when you're awake the fact remains we all need sleep. How much sleep? Maybe 6 to 8 hours in a 24 hour time period depending on various factors but that is a topic of another discussion.

I could not imagine anybody training in any art, even a soft art that is less physically demanding such as Tai Chi, for 30 hours straight, at least not on a regular basis. However, a person might be able to train 15 hours a day for two days in Tai Chi, that would be a total of 30 hours within a 48 hour time period and would give enough time to get adequate sleep. Could a person train intensely for 15 hours a day for two days in a much more physically demanding art such as Muai Thai? Probably not unless they wanted to kill or seriously hurt themselves.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

I think we all have to look at the stories surrounding Bruce Lee with skepticism. Just like we would any other person. We also need to take into account what someone telling the story gains as well by having trained with Bruce Lee. Was he good? Was he great? Was he just okay? All we know is he was a good actor at the time for what he did because people went out and watched his movies and he made some money doing it. I will give him a lot of credit because a lot of people got interested in the martial arts because of him and his movies.

 

[Gweilo]

I found this on the net, not sure if you have seen this video, thought I would post it here, as there are thoughts about Lee's abilities in a modern world.
Edit sorry I thought it was computer generated.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Try telling that to my uncle who got both a PhD and an MD at the same time. He was not into martial arts but when he was in graduate school he would study maybe 8 hours a day. All he did was eat, sleep, study, maybe take an hour or two on some days to go running since he was a runner, and take the occasional 15 minute break at the video game arcade.

Actually, you've listed a few things he did that allowed his brain time away from the studying. Take those out, and he's probably less effective (especially if you reduce the sleep too much). He worked hard and made it happen. Likely it would have taken less total effort to get the same result over a slightly longer period of time, but that's kind of the point of what you posted.

 

[PhotonGuy]

Likely it would have taken less total effort to get the same result over a slightly longer period of time, but that's kind of the point of what you posted.

Exactly. That was my point all along.

I don't look for shortcuts to excellence as there's no such thing, what I look for are faster ways to achieve excellence. There's a difference. Shortcuts are easier ways to achieve excellence. I don't look for easier ways to reach excellence since if you try to do that you're only cheating yourself and you do not reach excellence. But that's not to say that you can't achieve excellence faster if you work harder. So when you achieve excellence faster its actually harder not easier, that's the tradeoff.

 

[PhotonGuy]

Yeah that's a load of rubbish. Martial artists are human beings as was Bruce Lee. No one is perfect everyone has their faults, Bruce Lee was an arrogant hot head, he left Hong Kong because he was getting in daily gang fights. He broke one of his students jaw by going after them hard when they landed a hit on him in sparring. He was not this zen master that people make him out to be. Not saying he was a bad guy but he had his faults like everyone else and the word arrogance always surrounds him

I would say that Bruce Lee was more egotistical as opposed to downright arrogant. The difference is that Bruce Lee really was phenomenal in the martial arts, his achievements in the martial arts were real. A purely arrogant person would be somebody who would claim that they could be great in the martial arts, that they could reach phenomenal levels, when they had never done it.

And yes, Bruce Lee wasn't perfect, he had faults and weaknesses like everybody else. Now, was Bruce Lee patient? In some ways perhaps but Im not sure everybody in this forum or in the martial arts community would call him patient.

 

[Cynik75]

... his achievements in the martial arts were real...

What achievements?

 

[Gweilo]

A purely arrogant person

Or was he a perfectionist, who could not tolerate underachieving, but did not realise, being human, meant he could not attain perfection.

 

[PhotonGuy]

What achievements?

You are familiar with Bruce Lee, aren't you?

 

[Cynik75]

Yes I am. And I do not see anything can be called "achievement in martial art". No one sane person states teen brawls, beating Wong Jack Man, some friendly sparrings or even killing Han and Oharra are achievements in martial arts. No fight record (low,- semi-, full-, whatevercontact), no fight record of his apprentices.
Good philosophy of training and fighting but nothing revolutionary ) comparing to western boxing, wrestling, judo, muai thai) with vestigial influence on martial art world and community (he popularized eastern martial arts but his own JKD is a margin of margin) - the same way Clint Eastwood popularized using Smith & Wesson M.29 but has no influence on training, shooting methods etc.

P.S. sorry for mistakes - I am not english native speaker