More People Should Follow Bruce Lee's Instructions

[Wing Woo Gar]

that’s your job, funny man.

I can’t perform under pressure….

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

that’s your job, funny man.

I just realized some punny jokes don’t work so well in text.

 

[drop bear]

Wait aren’t we supposed to pretend to have the secrets?

No. The internet basically broke that.

 

[frank raud]

So he stole a quote and didn't attribute it. Says something about integrity...

Well, that pretty much describes the Tao of Jeet Kune Do.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

Well, that pretty much describes the Tao of Jeet Kune Do.

Well he isn’t alone in that category, E.P. Sr. stole the vast majority of the contents of one of his early books from James Wing Woo.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

At the risk of misstating @PhotonGuy 's intent, I think he's trying to point out that sometimes, when some posters ask a question, they are not given a straight answer. He seems to be saying that if someone asks a question in general, and here in particular, they shouldn't be told to go look it up themselves or otherwise dismissed. If this is what he means, I kind of agree with him. I mean, it's a discussion forum.... if we're not answering and asking questions, what else are we going to do?

This does happen (here and elsewhere). I also think sometimes folks think there's a universal answer, or just a simple one that can be given as a response to a post. And often that's not the case. Either it's far more nuanced (perhaps depending upon the requirements and expectations of the school) or there are far too many variables involved for someone to answer who isn't familliar with their performance. I've seen some folks get upset about not getting answers, when the direction to research, experiment, or ask their instructor was actually a really good answer to the question presented.

But yeah, sometimes, folks don't understand how hard it is to figure out your own answer, and could give guideance and advice, rather than just dismissing ther question as uninformed (which is perhaps why they're asking the question).

 

[Gerry Seymour]

So you've made it quite obvious that you would be willing to teach somebody who thinks they know it all, after you make them realize that they don't know it all. That being the case I would think you would definitely be for teaching somebody who comes to you and who realizes that they don't know it all in the first place. Somebody who admits from the beginning that they don't know it all and wants to learn from you, I take it you would teach them.

Who wouldn't? Folks who already know they don't know - and have a real interest in learning - are often good students, if they show up.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

So, for example, if you think you're going to roll into a BJJ school and do really well just because you're strong and fit, you're going to be disappointed. You aren't going to perform very well... and now you have to recover. Some people can do that better than others. I've seen that very thing happen. Sometimes, those guys do come back after realizing that they weren't as good as they thought they were. They now know what what they don't know.

Other guys don't ever come back. They make excuses and rationalize their failure to perform.

It's like that old saying about emptying the cup. If you start out with an empty cup, you're ready to learn.

If the cup is already full, you can't put anything more into it. (i.e., you don't know what you don't know). And then one of two things will happen. You'll empty your cup (i.e., acknowledge what you don't know), or you'll just go into denial and stay ignorant... which can lead to what some folks refer to as dunning-krueger effect.

I've seen this, too. Happens more readily (and perhaps more completely) in something like BJJ, which is a good thing.

 

[frank raud]

Well he isn’t alone in that category, E.P. Sr. stole the vast majority of the contents of one of his early books from James Wing Woo.

There is a recent book that breaks down sources for the Tao, something like 85% is cobbled together from various sources. To be fair, while the Tao was "written" by Bruce Lee, it was assembled by someone else from random quotes, drawings, etc in various notebooks.

 

[PhotonGuy]

Do you feel this in general or in regards to particular posters?

Well you are an excellent example of a poster who has brushed me off when I wanted answers. In post #478 in my "Calling Somebody's Dojo A McDojo Is Offensive" thread you said it was not your place to educate me, when all I wanted was answers. That goes against the philosophy of "He who knows not and knows that he knows not, he is simple, teach him." And not to single you out, there are other posters on this forum and on other Internet forums that have done the same thing and there are in fact many people in the world who do the same thing.

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[Dirty Dog]

Well you are an excellent example of a poster who has brushed me off when I wanted answers. In post #478 in my "Calling Somebody's Dojo A McDojo Is Offensive" thread you said it was not your place to educate me, when all I wanted was answers. That goes against the philosophy of "He who knows not and knows that he knows not, he is simple, teach him." And not to single you out, there are other posters on this forum and on other Internet forums that have done the same thing and there are in fact many people in the world who do the same thing.

So apparently this happens to you a lot? It's often helpful to ask yourself what the common factor is in these events.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Well you are an excellent example of a poster who has brushed me off when I wanted answers. In post #478 in my "Calling Somebody's Dojo A McDojo Is Offensive" thread you said it was not your place to educate me, when all I wanted was answers. That goes against the philosophy of "He who knows not and knows that he knows not, he is simple, teach him." And not to single you out, there are other posters on this forum and on other Internet forums that have done the same thing and there are in fact many people in the world who do the same thing.

I went back to it, and by the quote you would fall into the fool category, to be shunned. You asked the question, yes, but then immediately asserted an opposing belief, indicating that even though there was a question mark, you already knew the answer (or believed you knew the answer).

 

[PhotonGuy]

So apparently this happens to you a lot? It's often helpful to ask yourself what the common factor is in these events.

The common factor is that I ask for answers.

 

[PhotonGuy]

I went back to it, and by the quote you would fall into the fool category, to be shunned. You asked the question, yes, but then immediately asserted an opposing belief, indicating that even though there was a question mark, you already knew the answer (or believed you knew the answer).

Well maybe I was wrong with my opposing belief. I never said it was scribed in stone, it was just a guess on my part. I might've believed I knew the answer but I was open to the fact that I could be wrong. The fool would be somebody who refuses to be corrected and who holds on to their answer even when they're shown its wrong.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Well maybe I was wrong with my opposing belief. I never said it was scribed in stone, it was just a guess on my part. I might've believed I knew the answer but I was open to the fact that I could be wrong. The fool would be somebody who refuses to be corrected and who holds on to their answer even when they're shown its wrong.

You gave no indication of that though. You asked a question, then immediately challenged the other posters statements. Based on the quote, there's also nothing indicating the fool is not open to being shown they are wrong-it's just a lot of effort on the teacher to prove it. I believe I've spent 2 pages saying that exact point.

Your actions also show that you are unwilling to be corrected, just fyi. You ask questions, but will argue with anything that disagrees with you constantly, continuing to ask questions but not accepting any answers (and often misinterpreting them, even as they tell you you're misinterpreting it). That's likely why people have stopped answering you specifically.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Wait aren’t we supposed to pretend to have the secrets?

Secrets? Who told you I have secrets? Was it Steve? That's ridiculous. I bet he's the one with the secrets.

Pay no attention to those folders on my desk with labels like "death touch", "true enlightenment", and "invulnerability." That's just personal stuff. Boring personal stuff. Nothing secret about it.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

You asked the question, yes, but then immediately asserted an opposing belief, indicating that even though there was a question mark, you already knew the answer (or believed you knew the answer).

Here is an interested question. Should the person who starts a thread be able to express his own opinion or not?

If the answer is

- yes, it makes no sense for someone who starts a thread so he can argue with everybody.
- no, it also makes no sense for someone who starts a thread that he doesn't participate into discussion.

Many times, we have discussion like:

A: Should we ...?
B: You have asked the question. But you have not expressed your own opinion. What's your own opinion on ...?
A: My opinion is ...
B: You are wrong ...
A: %$#@&
B: @#$%^

When you start a thread, if you

- respond to people's posts. you may get into argument.
- don't respond to people's posts, people will say that you are self-center, and you ignore others' opinions.

The funny thing is if you continue discussion, even someone who:

- agrees with you may end with disagree with you.
- disagrees with you, you may end with a high blood pressure and heart attack.

IMO, any continue discussion can be a bad idea. Always let others to have the final words will be a good idea.

 

[Dirty Dog]

The common factor is that I ask for answers.

So the common factor is you. Gotcha.

 

[isshinryuronin]

There is a recent book that breaks down sources for the Tao, something like 85% is cobbled together from various sources. To be fair, while the Tao was "written" by Bruce Lee, it was assembled by someone else from random quotes, drawings, etc in various notebooks.

Much the same for the Bubishi, and countless other books that contain distilled wisdom accumulated over many years or centuries. Tough to attribute specific quotes to a particular individual in many cases.

The trick is having the motivation in searching for the information, having the insight to select that which is important, and the skill to put it to use. In the case of Bruce Lee, I think he did all three, and so, IMO, can claim some ownership of The Tao of JKD's contents.

 

[frank raud]

Much the same for the Bubishi, and countless other books that contain distilled wisdom accumulated over many years or centuries. Tough to attribute specific quotes to a particular individual in many cases.

The trick is having the motivation in searching for the information, having the insight to select that which is important, and the skill to put it to use. In the case of Bruce Lee, I think he did all three, and so, IMO, can claim some ownership of The Tao of JKD's contents.

The Bubishi to my knowledge does not allege a single author, so no one incorrectly attributes quotes, unlike the mess that is the TAO.