No wonder that Bruce Lee is definitely the most influential martial artist in past decades and even now. His influence even extended to body builders; his very well toned physique is a standard that should be followed. He was a pioneer in the movie industry who envisioned the employment of martial in fight scenes - which we can clearly see these days. There is so much to remark on this man with superhuman abilities: his incredible feats of the 1-inch punch, kicking a 300-pound bag up to the ceiling, doing push-ups with only 2 fingers, and catching grains of rice using a chopstick - to tell a few. Bruce Lee is not merely a man who knows how to do martial arts; his life's journey is one towards a deep understanding of life, the expression being martial arts. So what is this wisdom that Lee was expressing through his fist?
The maxim that Lee has been constantly expressing through martial arts is formlessness - the wisdom of being all-encompassing by encompassing indefiniteness, by being unattached, by living in the moment that is here and now. Lee took the water as his metaphor for formlessness; place it on the cup, it becomes the cup. Pour it into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. Water can crash and it can flow. It adapts itself to the changes in the environment.
Just as Bruce Lee adapts his fighting style based on the style of his opponent, so should we adapt our thoughts and actions to different circumstances by not becoming too headstrong and by being considerate to others and to the situation that is in the present moment.
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