Bruce Lee

Accomplished Martial Artist and Athlete:

Just consider some of the things that no one else had ever done before. Until he came along that is:

• Lee performed 50 reps of one-arm chin-ups.
• Lee could take in one arm a 75 lb barbell from a standing position with the barbell held flush against his chest and slowly stick his arms out locking them, holding the barbell there for 20 seconds.
• Lee could thrust his fingers through unopened (steel) cans of Coca-Cola.
• Lee could break wooden boards 6 inches (15 cm) thick.

He developed his own unique and effective fighting style, known as Jeet Kune Do, which is still taught today. It is meant to be the style of no style and exist outside of the limits of traditional martial arts. He used it against many an opponent. Here’s just one of his many amazing fight stories:

In 1962, Lee knocked out Uechi, a Japanese black belt, in 11 seconds in a full-contact match in Seattle. The time keeper had this to say: “The karate man arrived in his gi, complete with black belt, while Bruce showed up in his street clothes and simply took off his shoes. The fight lasted exactly 11 seconds–I know because I was the time keeper—and Bruce had hit the guy something like 15 times and kicked him once. I thought he’d killed him.” The fight ended by Bruce knocking Uechi the length of the gymnasium. (source:wikipedia)

Here’s his famous one inch punch, with some bonus athletic feats at the start.

To be this amazing of an athlete and competitor, it’s no wonder he was also a nutrition expert of sorts. He ate 4 to 5 meals spread out during the day, ate tons of fruit and vegetables (usually fresh, raw, or juiced), and avoided processed foods, starches, dairy, and anything else that would slow him down. He was all for the competitive edge, and this included his training too. He would run sprints, long distance, and varied pace routines everyday, rock the abs while watching TV, weight train, flex and stretch to the max, jump rope, and practice, practice, practice his art.

The Mind of the Dragon:

Bruce was known to have a library of over 2,500 books. His personal eclectic philosophy combined elements Taoism, Buddhism, Jiddu Krishnamurti-school, and many others. He claimed no belief in god but professed a spiritual and superbly well-demonstrated meditative and focused life. His ideas were one with his every movement, and his every movement apparently followed from his beliefs. A few quotes serve to give us a glimpse into the mind of the dragon, may he rest in peace:

“Be formless… shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle; it becomes the bottle. You put it into a teapot; it becomes the teapot. Water can flow, or it can crash. Be water, my friend…”

“All kind of knowledge, eventually becomes self knowledge”

“As you think, so shall you become.”

“To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person.”

“Do not deny the classical approach, simply as a reaction, or you will have created another pattern and trapped yourself there.”

“Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.”

That dragon sure knew how to thrive… Indeed, he was also an actor and family man, and was named one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century by Time Magazine!