BRUCE LEE
Teacher
Philosopher
Warrior
Legend
“Be formless, shapeless, like water. You put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. Put it into a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow, or creep, or drip, or crash. Be water my friend.”
- Bruce Lee
Considered by many to be one of the greatest and most influential martial artists of the twentieth century, Bruce Lee was a visionary who created one of the most revolutionary martial arts of all time -- JEET KUNE DO. While he did not invent martial arts, Lee transformed it by challenging the status quo and innovating an entirely new attitude and approach to martial art training, the results of which are still being seen and felt today.
Lee is recognized by many in the martial arts world as the ultimate catalyst for what is now commonly referred to as "mixed martial arts", and his art of Jeet Kune Do is recognized as the genesis of the modern spate of hybrid martial arts that now exist.
At the time of his passing, Bruce Lee was considered by many to be the premier martial artist of his day. However, Lee's physical abilities were only the tip of the iceberg. What many people are only now discovering is that besides being one of the world's top martial artists, Lee was not only a philosopher, but also one of the original champions of self-help and human achievement. As Lee evolved his "non-restrictive" approach to martial art training and combat, he simultaneously evolved a unique, non-restrictive philosophy toward life and living built around the same fundamental principle he applied to his martial art, "Using No Way as Way; Having No Limitation as Limitation." The central theme of this philosophy is "Personal Liberation" -- liberation of body, mind, and spirit through greater self-knowledge.
Interest in Lee's thought is on the rise and many regard him as a contemporary philosopher and visionary. Lee's words and influence have been felt by millions of people and his books have sold milions of copies, which make him one of the most widely read philosophers of the twentieth century. According to his wife and widow, Linda Lee Cadwell, "Bruce continues to be an inspirational force motivating people to care for and nuture their bodies and souls and bring out the best that they have within themselves."
