Tao of Jeet Kune Do - A Thought Exercise with KF

[bushido_man96]

I always appreciate your input, Bob. You see things differently than I do, and it helps me see more of what I can't. I like the points you are making here, especially about needing to step back away from something at times, and just "let it be."

pg. 9, paragraph 3: There is no fixed teaching. All I can provide is an appropriate medicine for a particular ailment.

I see this as having many ways to approach and teach a singular concept. I actually had a little experience with this tonight in our kicking class. We have a student who is an older guy (but not as old as me, but started TKD as an adult), who is a big man who played Division II college football here in KS. We were working on getting his spinning outer crescent kick down. I must have broken it down 5 or 6 different ways, searching for the answer to the questions his body kept asking. It's one of the things I love about teaching.

[sensei8]

Bruce Lee wrote:

pg. 9, paragraph 3: There is no fixed teaching. All I can provide is an appropriate medicine for a particular ailment.

This quote of Bruce reminds be that he didn't have a fixed way of teaching for his Student Body. Inasmuch, he tailored JKD to the individual, and not to the group. Like the potter, gathers up the broken pieces of a vessel he wishes to mend he doesn't put it back together like a puzzle but on the wheel he molds it again; he molded the student in order to find their own strengths...their own weaknesses...to be honest with themselves.

“A good teacher can never be fixed in a routine. Each moment requires a sensitive mind that is constantly changing and constantly adapting. A teacher must never impose his student to fit his favorite pattern. A good teacher protects his pupils from his own influence. A teacher is never a giver of truth; he is a guide, a pointer to the truth that each student must find for himself. I am not teaching you anything, I just help you to explore yourself.” ~Bruce Lee

I can not teach you, only help you to explore yourself. Nothing more. ~ Bruce Lee

Brian, what can we do to wet the curiosity to get others interested in our conversation here?!?

[bushido_man96]

Bob, I too agree with that analogy, that it's important to be able to be flexible in teaching, and being able to change things from one student to another in order to get the same ideas and points across.

As far as interesting others....I don't know! I just hope some more pop in here and there and offer up some thoughts.

[bushido_man96]

Ok, been a while, but this next one is a long quote, on Buddhism's Eight-Fold Path.

pg. 9, paragraph 4:

Buddhism's Eight-Fold Path

The eight requirements to eliminate suffering by correcting false values and giving true knowledge of life's meaning have been summed up as follows:

1. Right views (understanding): You must see clearly what is wrong.

2. Right purpose (aspiration): Decide to be cured.

3. Right speech: Speak so as to aim at being cured.

4. Right conduct: You must act.

5. Right vocation: Your livelihood must not conflict with your therapy.

6. Right effort: The therapy must go forward at the "staying speed," the critical velocity that can be sustained.

7. Right awareness (mind control): You must feel it and think about it incessantly.

8. Right concentration (meditation): Learn how to contemplate with the deep mind.

A lot of this sounds like the power of positive thinking. I'm not a Buddhist, though, and have not studied it, so take what I have to say with a grain of salt.

1. Understand and see the problem/issue at hand, and be honest with yourself about what it is.

2. Make the decision that you are going to fix it, get better, etc.

3. Positive self-talk with a focus on the goal in mind.

4. Make the changes and do the things necessary to that end.

5. Live in such a manner to facilitate this.

6. Keep moving forward at the highest sustainable pace towards that end.

7. Be conscious of it.

8. Learn to meditate; probably on the outcome sought.

[SLK59]

People have written entire books on this subject, but the following quote does a good, succinct job of explaining The Buddhist Eightfold Path, also known as The Middle Way:

"The path begins with right view, also called right understanding. We need to see clearly where we are headed before we begin. Right intention means the resolve to follow this path. Right speech and right action refer to what we say and do—to not harming other people or ourselves with our words and behavior. Right livelihood means how we live day to day, making sure our habits and our work don’t cause harm to ourselves and others.

Right effort refers to focusing our energy on the task at hand. Right mindfulness means awareness of the mind and body with discernment. With mindfulness, we might pause and consider whether what we are doing is harmful to ourselves or others. Finally, right concentration refers to dedicated practice, whether it is meditation or chanting. In other words, once we have directed our minds and lives toward awakening, we can proceed. Though the eightfold path is always listed in this order, it is not strictly sequential, and does not need to be followed in only this order.

The eight steps can be divided into three areas for training: ethical conduct (sila), concentration (samadhi), and wisdom (prajna.) Right speech, right action, and right livelihood concern ethical conduct. Right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration relate to the practice of concentration. Right view and right intention are related to the development of wisdom."

Quoted from the Buddhism For Beginners web site: https://tricycle.org/beginners/.

As you can see from the quote above, The Buddhist Eightfold Path is not about positive thinking or therapy. It is about striving to live an ethical life and become an enlightened being. These can also be excellent goals for those aiming to better themselves in the martial arts.

[sensei8]

Well, I've really no idea why Bruce added this Buddhist Eightfold Path to the Tao of JKD, other than his upbringing and all. This surely falls under the category of take what is useful and discard the rest, for me. For me, this excerpt does nothing much for my MA betterment. I suppose not everything ever written is to be understood and/or applied.

[bushido_man96]

Thanks for sharing that information, SLK59! I found it very helpful, and it offers clarification.

pg. 9, paragraph 5: ART OF THE SOUL

The aim of art is to project an inner vision into the world, to state in aesthetic creation the deepest psychic and personal experiences of a human being. It is to enable those experiences to be intelligible and generally recognized within the total framework of an ideal world.

pg. 9, paragraph 6: Art reveals itself in psychic understanding of the inner essence of things and gives form to the relation of man with nothing, with the nature of the absolute.

So, in his opinion here, it appears that to express art is to express our inner selves or our inner visions into the world. And these are the deepest of our personal experiences. Indeed, by creating what each of us considers art, we leave our impact on the world, even if it is just to those few who surround us on a daily basis.

[bushido_man96]

pg. 9, paragraph 7 over to pg. 10: Art is an expression of life and transcends both time and space. We must employ our own souls through art to give a new form and a new meaning to nature or the world

We should strive to express our inner selves through art to improve the world. Art can be expressed in so many ways, too; physically (like Martial Arts or dancing), musically, or through drawing/writing/painting, etc.

[bushido_man96]

I haven't posted here in a while, but I've picked up some more reading lately, and it's brought me back here. With some new faces around, I'm interested in hearing the thoughts and takes of the greater community here

pg 10, paragraph 1: 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.

To me, this 'expression' seems three-fold here; when we are truly expressing ourselves (and not just going through the motions), we reveal the essence of our "soul," our passion; our expression reveals our "schooling," or what I would guess would be our roots, where our foundations are, be it Martial Art or other athletic or academic expressions; and our "cool" would seem to me to be how we express these thing with our own personal flair.

In the Martial Arts training sense, we all have an instructor or instructors that we come from; the one's who began molding us early on in our journeys. As we grow and develop, what we learned sticks with us, but we also learn to start keeping some things and stripping away others. What once was theirs (our teachers) becomes ours, and if we are fortunate enough, we get the chance to start passing it along to others. And in time, they will do the same, and it will become "theirs."

[sensei8]

An artist's expression is his soul made apparent, his schooling, as well as his "cool" being exhibited.

When we punch, kick, receive, or whatever, it must have meant something. The core of the MA is that the practitioner has talent. Talent enough to move effectively when it's important to do so. When the practitioner moves, he/she expects it to be recognized as its being understood.

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.

This speaks to me that to move just to move is wasted motion. Movements must be evident, clear, and discernable. Otherwise, without cause, then why?!