If Bruce Lee Were Alive...

He would be a cyborg

Bruce Lee stretched the limits of human potential. He expanded himself by learning new skillsets to cover any glaring weaknesses that he had. He perfected his body and martial arts by testing himself daily. He absorbed what was useful, discarded what was not, and added them to form what was uniquely his own.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee

Absorb what is useful

Bruce Lee focused on synergy: “What can I do that maximizes function in every aspect of my life?” In this way, he built his body with exercises that incorporated two or more muscle groups at a time. The goal was to add lean muscle mass that benefited his martial arts. He constantly tested out new exercises and journaled his results.

Absorbing weight and cardiovascular training allowed him to develop the world’s fastest punch. He was able to leverage his body to generate large amounts of force with little distance like the 1-inch punch. Despite having incredible static strength, he retained power and lightness on the feet.

These exercises were accessories to his main goal: martial arts.

Weight training was a way to build connectivity, a mind to muscle connection to where he can use his whole body efficiently. When Lee and his pupil Dan Inosanto observed a well-built bodybuilder leaving a gym. Inosanto remarked "Man, look at the arms on that guy!" at which Lee responded, "Yeah, he's big, but is he powerful? Can he use that extra muscle efficiently?"

In order to wield his entire body as a weapon, he used repetitions to increase connectivity, not only with his body, but also with his martial arts techniques.

Lee challenged himself to spar against practitioners of all forms. He learned from them to absorb what was useful for him in the street. Thus, he took inspiration from Savate, Judo, Kung Fu, Tae Kwon Do, Wing Chun, and Boxing.

The curious thing about Bruce was that he was not a black belt in any martial arts. Rather, he created his own system called Jeet Kune Do which was also known as “The Way of the Intercepting Fist”. The philosophy of the art was to absorb what is effective, discard everything that is not, and create a system that is uniquely one’s own.

Discard what is not

Bruce Lee’s philosophy was to absorb what works, and discard what does not. In this way, he tested himself against the world’s best martial artists in their art. He wanted to test his art against theirs which showed where his flaws were and what he needed to do to strengthen them. So, he absorbed what was useful from each art, but he also discarded what was not.

When he was young, Bruce Lee’s father taught him Tai Chi to increase his health. But as an adult, he found that it wasn’t useful for street fighting. So, he discarded it. Later, he found Wing Chun. This was the basis for much of his style as it was practical for trapping opponents’ limbs and redirecting them efficiently.

As he grew older, Lee absorbed more athletic martial arts like Karate or Savate. They covered the holes that Wing Chun had which lacked a repertoire of kicks and a had a limitation of techniques. Further, it was applicable for close quarter combat but lacked the depth for mid to long-range fighting.

He learned this when he accepted a challenge to fight Wong Jack Man:

“I’d gotten into a fight in San Francisco with a Kung-Fu cat, and after a brief encounter the son-of-a-bitch started to run. I chased him and, like a fool, kept punching him behind his head and back. Soon my fists began to swell from hitting his hard head. Right then I realized Wing Chun was not too practical and began to alter my way of fighting.”

He discarded the limitations of Wing Chun, and soon evolved his art form by absorbing the best techniques from as many martial arts he could find.

Add what is uniquely your own

Bruce Lee’s martial arts progression started from Wing Chun to his own interpretation: Jun Fan Gungfu, which finally culminated in “The Way of the Intercepting Fist:” Jeet Kune Do. Jun Fan Gungfu was his own martial arts that he evolved out of his base of Wing Chun. But after his fight with Wong Jack Man, he developed the philosophy of Jeet Kune Do.

Jeet Kune Do is the philosophy of evolving all martial arts into one’s own interpretation. It’s not being tied down to a style but using one’s own mind to interpret it. Each JKD practitioner will have a style uniquely their own.

Lee was like a cyborg: Always upgrading himself with multi-functional exercises or techniques. He discarded his old self constantly, always looking to better himself. He died to his ego.

Through strengthening his body, he was able to control it with his mind. He had instant neural synapses: mind to muscle connection to where he could generate large amounts of force with little distance. He could also hold a 75lb dumbbell horizontally which showed static strength, a form of control. This enabled him to close gaps within his martial arts to use his body as a weapon.

Learning new martial arts and testing his own against others enabled him to grow his skillsets. Fighting Wong Jack Man allowed him to learn the flaws of his current system. He discarded the systematic limitations of it to create formless systems. He also scuffled with Gene Lebell, a Catch Wrestler and Judoka, to where he was on the losing end of it. Afterwards, he learned from Gene and incorporated more grappling systems into his art and films.

He wasn’t just a martial artist or body technician; he was also a philosopher:

"Be Water, My Friend.
Empty your mind.
Be formless, shapeless, like water.
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.
Now water can flow or it can crash.
Be water, my friend."

This meant to constantly upgrade oneself and always find ways to improve. Never place limitations to one’s own self and ambition, but to constantly seek ways to work on technique, be self-critical, and work diligently towards a craft.