Are Bruce Lee's quotes and philosophy appliable to any field and not only to martial arts?

Question

Do many martial arts masters agree with his sayings or philosophy?

Answer 1

it's all bollocks. Rickson Gracie would have beaten him.

Answer 2

I agree with some of it, but I strongly disagree with his outlook on kata or forms. He never studied any style in depth or long enough to be able to make the statements about it that he made, yet many people here accept what he said as the gospal.

It would be the equivelent of me getting my learners permit and then trying to tell a Nascar driver they were doing it wrong. I would just not be qualified to make that statement.

That being said I think he did a lot for the martial arts.

Answer 3

Yes.  One area is with music.

Classical and style-bound martial artists are like classical and style-bound musicians.  They only see their particular art form without developing their own sound, their expression, their voice.  They revere the greats without doing the things to make themselves great, playing music that does not resonate with the now.  Even Rap music is like this:  notice how only one style can take over and you rarely have rappers who last a lifetime.  

Who would be a Bruce Lee of singing?  Fantasia Barrino.  

In all areas, people tend to develop a This-Is-The-Only-Way-To-Do-It attitude.  Or, they become jacks of all areas of their trade without mastering one, in the name of being openminded so that they can hide their laziness and lack of discipline.  

I also don't completely agree with him on forms, but, I suspect he may have changed his mind about them after he got older.  I don't think he was even in his prime when he died.  I believe the man had even more to offer.  Such a shame, such a loss to the intellect of humanity.

Bruce Lee was one of the smartest people who ever lived.

Answer 4

I think most do.  I read his book and I agree with his philosophy on life and how to get the most out of your inner self.  Most people forget or just don't know that Lee was a philosopher first (Majored in it at Cal Berkley) and a fighter second.  He combined the two into becoming a true martial artist, not just an MMA fighter who doesn't appreciate the philosophical side of martial arts.

Answer 5

here ya go mate, check this out (first link is quotes)

and the link below it for a brilliant bruce lee film biography thing too

Answer 6

YES...

He was way wiser than people think...and martial arts was not his only focus...he was a tremendous artist and writer, and speaker as well...Im no martial arts master, but i agree with his philosophies and what not...you can just tell the guy was on top of his stuff.....

Answer 7

Yes the philosophies are applicable in daily life IE: any field, even though many are not his own.

Answer 8

Many of Bruce Lee's principals can be applied to daily life.

Many principals of the great masters can and are successfully applied to every day life. Many of the principles can be found in the major religions of the world as well. I have only read experts of his philosophy on martial arts. Those I have read I find to be sound advice in my every day dealings with people. Many great Martial arts masters were also Buddhist priests as well.

Answer 9

It is not Bruce Lee's philosophy!

He learned someone's philosophy and adapted it.

He was a POSER!!!

Don't accredit him with yet ANOTHER thing that he had nothing to do with originating!!!

The only thing he contributed to the world of martial arts is the false notion of what is or isn't useful.

Jeet Kune Do "practitioners have to learn other arts to become "well-rounded".

Why? (not asking)

As far as the "music" answer goes - fundamentally,  there is the "do re mi" and all music is a variation of that!

Classical martial arts - kata... are like the notes and each technique has many variations.

A practitioner of the "classical mess" will never run out of techniques to use.

The problem is that many people refuse to see that BL viewed poor examples of "kah-roh-tee" to make his judgments.

He knew NO karate!

Had he been someone who was worthy of being taught true martial knowledge, he would not be talking nonsense!

Many people adapt BL sayings because BL said them.