Not long ago, an employee of the hospital I work in, walked in my office and started to talk about martial arts (he previously knew I was training in Jun Fan jeet kune do, by the way). He started to tell me what martial arts he took as a child and what martial arts he's taking now. We somehow got into discussion about forms (katas). I expressed my opinions about forms and suddenly, he gave me a blank look as if I didn't know what I was talking about. He explained that forms were a sign of meditation and they were very vital to martial arts...to ALL martial arts. He continued "If there were no forms, there cannot be martial arts". I smiled and responded "Okay, if you believe that is so, then there is no need to discuss this any further". There was a few seconds of awkward silence. He then started to talk about Bruce Lee.
Oh man, here we go...
He started with "Bruce couldn't be who he was if he didn't do any forms. He started "Judo" at the young age of 13..."
I interjected and said "No, he actually started Wing Chun at the age of 13."
"Wait, I saw pictures of Bruce in a "gi" doing Judo throws on people." as he responded.
"Correct. But those pictures were taken in Seattle, during his college years. He enrolled in a few Judo classes but never pursued to continue it."
He was surprised and asked if I knew Bruce Lee's history. I told him that I like researching Bruce's timeline, I know at least 90 percent of it. It came with the territory when training in jeet kune do. He started to get frustrated. He then said "Jeet Kune Do. Isn't that a combination of different styles?" I shook my head and told him that Jeet Kune Do is definitely NOT a combination of styles. It's a misconception. Just because a dude who runs a huge and successful business of combat mixed martial arts sport, anoints Bruce Lee as the Father of Mixed Martial Arts, doesn't mean that it is true. "Take it from me", I said to him, "Bruce Lee did investigate the efficiency of all martial arts but he also investigated the draw backs, the weaknesses of all martial arts as well. He once quoted that there is no Japanese way of fighting or the Chinese way of fighting or.. whatever way of fighting. If we have three arms and three legs, there will be another style of fighting but we only have two hands and two feet..."
Another blank look on his face told me that whatever I just told him, wasn't registering. I explained further that Jeet Kune Do was geared more toward to street fighting as oppose to competition fighting.
Again, awkward silence.
What he told me next was unbelievable. He said "My teacher trained with Bruce Lee."
I tried so hard not to express how ridiculous that sounded but I had to verify this.
"Wow", (sarcasm), "Did you see any pictures of them together? Or letters Bruce and your martial arts teacher wrote to each other? Bruce liked to write letters to people he..."
"No, my teacher told me that he trained with him. I believe him." as he interrupted me.
Okay, to make a long story short, he then told me how his teacher was the best and how he was as good as Bruce Lee, maybe even better. At this point, I was just saying "Cool" and "Wow, that's terrific" to whatever he was saying. Eventually, he left my office with a look of "Yea, I showed you" on his face.
Besides him trying to make me look foolish, this blog is not about that. I know a "one up" competition when I see one. Honestly, I really don't care of such things. "You win, big dawg. You're the greatest" is my response (yea, sarcasm). This is actually about people needing to truly know what they are expressing on a certain subject. It's basically saying, "don't talk shit about things you don't know shit about". Wherever he got his information about Bruce training in Judo at age 13, for example, is beyond me. I mean, there are books on Bruce Lee, tons of them, stating that Bruce started in Wing Chun (if you want to get technical, Bruce learned Tai Chi first but that is an argument among Bruce Lee "historians" and fanboys...yea, and me lol). Anyway, the question is, in the aspect of matial arts, ... do you believe what your martial arts teacher tells you? Do you take what he/she says as the "gospel truth"? I truly find it hard to believe that this guy's teacher trained with Bruce Lee. He never saw pictures or seen letters to state that this was true. He just "believed him". Believing is one thing but totally being gullible without substantial evidence is utterly ridiculous. Granted, a FEW things without verification can cancel out what I am saying but when it comes down to things like Bruce Lee or what Kim Kardashian was wearing when she met Kanye West, MUST be investigated. Don't believe what you hear and believe half you see. Something to that effect right? He even believed that Bruce Lee was the Father of Mixed Martial Arts from a man who runs the UFC. Has society become that lazy to raise the hand and ask "WHY is Bruce Lee the Father of Mixed Martial Arts and where did you get this information from? And has anyone heard of Gene LeBell or Dan Inosanto?" (The last two people should give you a clue to what I am talking about.)
We all have opinions. That means we like to think. Giving opinions about things you don't know anything about is different. If I don't know anything about the subject, I keep my mouth shut. I will, however, will ask questions. I can give two fcuks what people think, I'm not afraid to ask. Most people don't do that. Pride gets in the way and unfortunately, it's making that person look and sound stupid. It even makes the person look and sound more stupid to a person who knows more about the subject. Is it their fault for not knowing? Well, if they don't want to look like an idiot then I suggest for them to shut the hell up and do some research.
"...and one!"
05-18-2013 
