Gung fu is a special kind of skill, a fine art rather than just a physical exercise. It is a subtle art of matching the essence of the mind to that of the techniques in which it has to work. The principle of gung fu is not a thing that can be learned, like a science, by fact-finding and instruction in facts. It has to grow spontaneously, like a flower, in a mind free from emotions and desires. The core of this principle of gung fu is Tao - the spontaneity of the universe. After four years of hard training in the art of gung fu, I began to understand and felt the principle of gentleness - the art of neutralizing the effect of the opponent's effort and minimizing the expenditure of one's energy. All these must be done in calmness and without striving. It sounded simple, but in actual application it was difficult.

The moment I engaged in combat with an opponent, my mind was completely perturbed and unstable. And after a series of exchanging blows and kicks, my theory of gentleness was gone. My only thought at this point was "Somehow or other I must beat him and win!"

My instructor at the time, Professor Yip Man, he

Bruce did not leave a blueprint, but rather a series of guidelines to lead one to proficiency. In using training equipment, there was a systematic approach in which one could develop speed, distance, power, time, coordination, endurance and footwork.

The primitive stage is the stage of original ignorance in which a person knows nothing of the art of combat. In a fight he simply blocks and strikes instinctively without concern as for what is right and wrong. Of course, he might not be so-called scientific, but he is, nevertheless, being himself.

But Jeet Kune Do was not an end in itself for Bruce--Nor was it a mere by-product of his martial studies; it was a means to self discovery. JKD was a prescription for personal growth; it was an investigation of freedom--freedom not only to act naturally and effectively in combat, but in life. In life, we absorb what is useful and reject what is useless, and add to experience what is specifically our own.

And step into the civilization of today – history once again dictates that wushu modify its conduct and form of exhibition. What does this mean? With the advent of technology, you have guns, cannons, nuclear bombs, and other advanced weapons. Learning wushu no longer serves the purpose of fighting hand to hand against tigers, outside invaders, and so forth. Today, if you kill or maim someone with an astounding wushu move learned from some ten-year intensive training program, it will not help you to survive. The police will catch you for murder, society will frown upon you, and the whole deed would have been much more quickly performed through pulling a trigger on a pistol with a silencer. Now, society values the exhibition and practice of wushu in different ways. You have massive Olympic events broadcasted to half the world for entertainment. You have action movies in which characters express themselves through fluid martial arts motion. Now, wushu can pave the way to a career that earns big bucks. Big bucks translate to a higher standard of living, which is a boon for survival. Notice that the goal (survival) is the same. It’s only the path to survival that’s different. Another way that wushu can enhance survival (and this, in my opinion, is the best reason of all) is that it allows a person to exercise his body and improve his health. Regardless of whether one’s in the past, present, or future, one will always need to take care of one’s body. Self-defense is another reason why someone today might practice wushu, but I do not really advocate this particular end. If you’re faced with a problem, it’s better to go to the police or seek recourse with some reliable authority.

Being wise in gung fu does not mean adding more but being able to remove sophistication and ornamentation and be simply simple, like a sculptor building a statue not by adding, but by hacking away the unessential so that the truth will be revealed unobstructed. Gung fu is satisfied with one's bare hands without the fancy decoration of colorful gloves, which tend to hinder the natural function of the hands. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity while halfway cultivation runs to ornamentation.

In combating a man with your bare hands, you must learn to use your head, knees, and feet as well as your hands. The "crowding"act gives you every opportunity to use these parts of your body, especially your elbows. Another simple method while crowding with your opponent is to step on his foot. It has unexpected results. The one point to bear in mind when a thug is attacking you is the fact that the thug has but a one-track mind. He thinks but in one groove, which is bent on your destruction, barely considering what you can do, in which case you always have the psychological advantage on your side. With efficiency comes confidence and self-reliance.

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