This book will kick your ass

I recently had to opportunity to venture out to Ikea and pick up a new bookcase. It never ceases to baffle me that the Scandinavians are so adept at assembling furniture that they only use one frigging tool.

Anyway, between exploring all manner of shelving and gorging on $0.50 hotdogs, Reina was good enough to keep me on track and pick out a pretty cool bookcase in the process. After getting the thing into my apartment and putting it together (at 2:30 in the morning. But that’s just how I roll.), I finally had a place to store the piles of books that were stacked in corners around the apartment.

In the process of moving my books to their new home, I came across this gem:

There was a time when it was my only dream to be the next Bruce Lee. For about ten years, I dedicated my time to martial arts, firmly believing that I could kick and punch my way to the top. So I went to tournaments to duke it out and make myself known, but as high school drew to a close, I had to make a choice between reading and fighting. As with every childhood dream that most of us have (to the guys and gals who actually turned out to be astronauts, you are the envy of all), I shrugged off martial arts and put on a pair of glasses. Along the way, I came across Bruce Lee’s book, The Tao of Jeet Kune Do.

Well armed philosophy

“An artist’s expression is his soul made apparent, his schooling, as well as his ‘cool’ being exhibited. Behind every motion, the music of his soul is made visible. Otherwise, his motion is empty and empty motion is like an empty word — no meaning.”

One of the things that I like about Tao of Jeet Kune Do is that it differentiates itself from the thousands of books that offer knowledge of a fighting system. Instead of 10,000 WAYS TO PERFORM A BEAT DOWN, Bruce Lee presents a well constructed, and –more importantly– insightful look into an art that is  at times beautiful,  other times deadly, and necessitates at all times clarity in thought and action. One notable thing about ToJKD is that it doesn’t emphasize brute force as a method by which to beat your opponent, but the opposite: tranquility. In a culture where we’re exposed to the aggression-fueled and gladiator-like mindset when it comes to physical confrontation, ToJKD extends beyond fighting, stressing a level head in all aspects of life.

If you suck, that’s okay

“It is indeed difficult to see the situation simply — our minds are very complex — and it is easy to teach one to be skillful, but it is difficult to teach him his own attitude.”

Some books tend to stress the idea of how-to-destroy-a-person-in-10-easy-steps. In contrast to that, ToJKD takes a measured approach in stressing the difference between natural talent and acquired talent. At the time of this writing, it’s been eight years since I’ve stepped foot inside a dojo, and about ten years since I put on gi (when I went to the dojo eight years ago, it was for a quick visit), but I never forgot the portion of ToJKD that read: “You may never fully understand all of it, but you keep at it.” Outside the realm of martial arts, this quotation and others like it still apply, and that’s one of the reasons why this book makes for a good read (outside of the lessons in ass-kickery that come with it). I’ve never been particularly good at anything on the first go, and only really start to understand things with practice. Lee accepts both forms of skill, both the acquired and the natural, and that he discounted neither is what kept me engaged with this book.

Post-modern, in the ass-kicking sense

“Jeet Kune Do favors formlessness so that it can assume all forms and since Jeet Kune Do has no style, it can fit in with all styles. As a result, Jeet Kune Do utilizes all ways and is bound by none and, likewise uses any technique or means which serve its end.”

While many fighting sytems claim to be the best, or the most complete, or the most-(insert adjective here), this book makes no such claim. Instead, Jeet Kune Do borrows from existing arts and isn’t bound by a formal system of movement; rather, it takes from other fighting systems the techniques that best suit the moment. Interesting, no? Much like a…pastiche. Before I delve into a 3000 word essay, let’s move on.

Beginning at the end

“Learning Jeet Kune Do is not a matter of seeking knowledge or accumulating stylized pattern, but is discovering the cause of ignorance.”

For all its philosophical underpinnings, ToJKD is also a highly technical look at the art of combat. As a result, I feel that it’s meant to bring together equal amounts of mind and body. While the book never delves too deeply into an exploration of any one specific art, it feels complete as a result.

In all honesty, I loved this book when I was practice martial arts, and still enjoy reading it now. If you’re not big on martial arts, it’s still worth picking up just to see the depth of Bruce Lee’s thoughts that went into the making of this book. On the other hand, if you’re not willing to be tied down to a specific system of fighting and enjoy learning on your own, this is definitely something to have on your shelf as it contains exercises and drills that can be practiced by anyone.

Until next time, happy reading!

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