Demotivated from work and complete disregard for health. That was me a few weeks ago. I had almost given up on getting better or even trying. Life seemed meaningless again, like it always did.
Then I accidentally stumbled upon this rare interview of Bruce Lee.
I’d seen it before but just watching Bruce Lee again took me back in time when I used to practice my karate hours on end, shirtless, and in my loose black baggy pants; just pretending to be him. I couldn’t care less about anything but my love for martial arts and beating up the bad guys in my head just like he did in his movies. I was 7.
Bruce Lee was relentless in his pursuit of knowledge and skill in all forms of combative arts be it Wing Chun, Western Boxing, or Jiu Jitsu . He was obsessive in his training of mind and body. So much so, he is said to have been doing his leg raises, dumbbell curls, and perfect splits even while he was watching TV! His book Tao of Jeet Kune Do is a testament to his philosophy, his ideas, and his techniques. He was a big proponent of “no style” or “no form” as a form of fighting and encouraged students to learn from all forms of martial arts. In 2004, Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC)) President Dana White called Lee “the father of the modern day mixed martial arts”.
If anything, you could say, Bruce Lee’s life was a dedication to the understanding of martial arts and the capabilities of the human body. Watch this:
As you could imagine, I watched video after video on Bruce Lee. I was trying to figure out how or why he did what he did. I was trying to find an answer to my own existential crisis – “What am I doing with my life!?”.
And then suddenly, it became all clear. I realized, that all these years, I’ve been asking myself the wrong question, getting the wrong answers, and staying mostly aimless. The question I should have been asking myself is “What can I do with my life, with all my skills, and capabilities, with my intellect, strength, and knowledge?” or put simply “What can I do with me? This person that I am in body and soul”.
The only thing that a human being can ever really and truly understand, train, and control is “the body”. Forget life, the universe, it’s purpose, success, fame, money, destiny, and all other bullshit. Your body is what you have at this moment. It is capable of walking, running, thinking, jumping, dreaming, sleeping, dancing, fighting, building, creating, consuming, discarding, hurting, healing, hugging, kissing, love making, caring, and protecting. Trying to understand it, explore it, improve it, and love it, is therefore is a good enough purpose of life. So do everything your body is capable of doing. Get better at it, be a master of it. This way, even if you can’t “achieve” anything in your life, however unlikely that might be, you’ll at least be the “best” of what your body can be.
This was my take away from Bruce Lee and my understanding of what it means to “live”.
Since then, I’ve gone straight from “Don’t want to keep on living” to “I’m go to get my six pack abs at any cost” almost instantaneously. I’ve been exercising whenever and wherever I can all day and everyday – So it never feels like a chore or a boring class you wouldn’t want to sit. I’ve Jedi-mind-tricked myself into saying no to my addictions. I’ve come to understand my vices and why I’ve given in to them so often. I’ve seen drastic improvement in my overall health and drastic reduction in my mood swings. I’ve been sleeping better and almost instantly. The next time step, is to explore and put to use my intellectual capabilities. (it’s funny how we separate our minds and our intellect from our body).
All this would not have happened, if it was not for Bruce Lee.
Thank you, Bruce. You are a true legend.
You might have passed away at the age of 32 but you’ve brought a 32 yr old hopeless man back to life.
In remembrance of Bruce Lee on his 74th birthday yesterday, 27th November, 2014.
Yin <-> Yang
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