Watt's this, you say????

[white belt]

I have studied the writings of the late Alan W. Watts after reading much of Bruce Lee's JKD material. The dovetailing of view of systems or institutions is uncanny. The "no way as way", as applied to navigating through social structures or disciplines, is explained really well in his various books. It can really help a person retool their view of any art they are studying. Anyone already familiar with Mr. Watts in any depth? How has this touched your JKD or other style/s?

white belt

 

[arnisador]

I'm not familair with Mr. Watts or his writings--can you expand on waht he said?

 

[white belt]

I would have a stroke trying to explain this man and do him justice. Some key points that I garnered from his experiences follow. Cultures and ANY type of systems are practical only up to a given point when studied only from within that structure. They must then be discarded for a period and then reintroduced to the subject/person for proper restructuring to fit their particular needs. Their prior level of functioning is amplified by having stepped outside of the structure to see it as a whole and how the formerly thought inflexibilities/dogmas are actually there to give a point of reference and nothing more. If accepted as only one way, the myriad of individuals needs causes the structure to perjur itself while being truth for others simultaneously. Confusion and distrust result. Sometimes this happens all within a lone individuals psyche and he feels against himself for being conditioned in a way that does not allow precision through spontaneity. The structured Martial Arts are sometimes demonized because they, at times, are taught as TRADITION FOR TRADITIONS SAKE. The meanings and options are lost and the student is left with a mold that he must somehow make himself fit into that has little practical use. This is where Mr. Lee enters the fray.

Alan Watts books are in much greater detail able to explain the phenomena that was Bruce Lee than possibly even Bruce himself, if he were still alive. I know that is a pretty bold statement, but I stand by it having studied his material. His writings validate Mr. Lee and at the same time point out that Bruce was only part way through a much larger journey at the time of his death. A journey of which, I believe, would have come full circle.

Mr. Watts was a scholar who indulged in serious study of the religions/phiosophies of the Far East. Dr. Watts was an Episcopalian minister and Harvard professor who stepped outside established structures to find more of "what works" when trying to use and deal with structures to make them your own truth.

My biggest realization coming from Watt's and Lee's teachings is that "Reality Is Approximate". That is a phrase of my own invention to best sum up these two men. The phrase revolves around 3 simple, but complicated questions.

Sorry about the length of this reply. Not an easy one for me. A good read to start with, especially for Martial Artists, would be Watt's "The Spirit of Zen". Alan W. Watts died in 1973. Would have liked to have a beer with this guy!

white belt

 

[arnisador]

It's rare--too rare--too see a serious academic study of the martial arts!

 

[white belt]

Arnisador,

Please, don't misunderstand. Watts does not write about fighting. He does not mention Bruce Lee. He is primarily focused on disassembling the categories invented by man to better allow a person to see past the illusion of self. "I don't hit, It hits" was paralleled by Watts with "Nothing happens to You, You happen". Watts also discusses "It" and what "It" is. Good Taoist and Buddhist concepts broken down in detail. I am neither of these, but I absorb what is useful. Watts is a much broader platform for the ideas that Bruce Lee was trying to get across. Reading him has helped me get past the mysticism and poor translation of Easten martial arts and the cultures they come from.


white belt