James W. DeMile : Who was Bruce Lee

James W. DeMile  : Who was Bruce Lee

Bruce lee

Who was Bruce Lee. Philosopher, warrior, scientist, actor or was he just like you or me? He was all of these. Philosopher because he spoke of man’s evolution through time. Warrior, because he studied and prepared for battle. Scientist because he saw past traditions as limiting and looked for the cause and effect in his training. Actor, because he had dreams of Hollywood and the fame it brings. Unique….yes…. But no more than you or me. You are truly unique. If you step back and look at yourself you will find Bruce’s attributes are very similar to your own. His wanting a sense of fulfillment, to have purpose, to be happy…..does that sound familiar. The main difference is that he pursued his dreams with the energy of a hurricane, whereas most do not. As a group, after training, we used to go down to the Tai Tung, eat and sit talking about life. We each had stories. Bruce would talk about his fights in Hong Kong and the battles of legendary masters. Jesse, Ed, LeRoy and I would share our memories of personal battles of survival from childhood to the present. It was a great time. Yet, in reflection we were all moving to another phase in our life. The stories of past street battles were turning into how to deal with the battles of life. The common thread in all our stories was they were past battles, not present or future conflicts. 

James W. DeMile

Bruce made an important point about life, he could see the difference between the east and the west. The east was restricted and confined by tradition, where the west had no tradition and was free to follow any path they wanted. We take free choice for granted, Bruce did not. He was like a pony that had been corralled all his life and suddenly found the gate was open. This was his advantage over us. He shot through the gate like a bullet, before it could close on him. His stored up energy, from being confined, drove him, as if going through a tunnel, towards his goal. Although our dreams and goals were similar in many ways, our motivation was not. We were satisfied to talk about our dreams without thoughts to making them a reality…….there will always be tomorrow. Dealing with life, at that moment, was how we used our energy. We were in a raft floating about, Bruce was in a speedboat heading into the sunset. My point is, we could have jumped into the speedboat, but didn’t. Bruce had knowledge and motivation. His knowledge allowed him to train in what he felt would help him reach his goal, he was a doer and not just a dreamer. Dreams gave him direction and supercharged motivation drove him there. Knowledge is just information and can gather dust, like a book in the library, or build a rocket that takes us throughout the universe, the choice is ours. Bruce chose to build a rocket. Bruce left us much of his knowledge, we just have to find it. Part of that knowledge is that the answers to our many questions about life are all around us. Bruce was always reading and looking in every nook and cranny for any bits and pieces of information that would move him forward towards his goal. If interested, we can do that. We are only limited by our level of motivation. So think about it. Do you want to gather dust on your dreams or be like Bruce and build a rocket. Aloha