I have never shied away from stating that Bruce Lee has had an impact on my philosophy of life. Most people know him based on one or two quotes (Be Water) but he stated a juggernaut of ideas that most miss. Even the famous ‘Be Water’ quote is partially taken out of context, or people know only part of the quote. 

I have talked often about his movie Game Of Death, and its meaning, learning a lesson at each level in life to move to the next and finally reach enlightenment. I guess this lesson I knew but never really saw.  

Bruce introduced (and then closed) the world to a new martial art Jeet Kune Do as a way of taking other styles and merging them into one. He was one to learn as much of what he could from other styles and started to incorporate what worked. He found inefficiencies in using a style in a fighting scenario. His goal was not to have a style that you graduate by knowing katas but knowing how to apply in a fight. 

Bruce then closed the schools abruptly. The notion that the style was becoming something taught and documented went against his philosophy. What was that you said? Bruce believed the art of Jeet Kune Do was to constantly evolve and change as something new was discovered. The notion that it became fixed also was against his notion of Game of Death (constantly learning to get to the next step.) 

I didn’t think of this until the James Webb telescope findings started to disprove or challenge current scientific theories. So, what does Bruce Lee have to do with that? Scientists (or we should say good ones) are constantly looking to learn and either prove or disprove theories. They are not satisfied with the current answers. Bruce was never satisfied with his fighting style, he was always trying to improve. 

Why are we not looking at scientists when they admit they are wrong and celebrating it? Their current theories are based on knowledge they know at a point in time. All studies and theories should start with ‘To the best of our knowledge right now’ and ‘Here is the data to show it.’ The end of all studies should be, we will continue to learn and please challenge us.  

I talk often at work about answers being ‘point in time.’ Which is when someone asks questions about why something was done, I say rewind to that time and see the data you had to look at. The questions should be not why something was done, but what is the lesson we learned and could we found different data. Thinking like Bruce, who by this means was a scientist of martial arts and life, we continue to climb the tower of knowledge and understand the past and prepare better for the future. 

Funny I knew this before, I knew what he closed his schools, but I never matched it up to my life so easily and all because the James Webb Telescope is breaking modern science. 

This opinion is mine, and mine only, my current or former employers have nothing to do with it. I do not write for any financial gain, I do not take advertising and any product company listed was not done for payment. But if you do like what I write you can donate to the charity I support (with my wife who passed away in 2017) Morgan Stanley’s Children’s Hospital or donate to your favorite charity. I pay to host my site out of my own pocket, my intention is to keep it free.  I do read all feedback, I mostly wont post any of them

This Blog is a labor of love, and was originally going to be a book.  With the advent of being able to publish yourself on the web I chose this path.  I will write many of these and not worry too much about grammar or spelling (I will try to come back later and fix it) but focus on content.  I apologize in advance for my ADD as often topics may flip.  I hope one day to turn this into a book and or a podcast, but for now it will remain a blog.   Images without notes are created using and AI tool that allows me to reuse them.