Is the ultimate martial art knowing that there is n o martial art?

Question

i have been studying martial arts for ages now and have analysed the benefits and flaws of each style and system. After watching each fighter in every art and every movement i have come to the conclusion that maybe there is no martial art. is this what bruce lee meant by saying be formless shapless. i saw kid yamamoto who knows jujitsu and muay thai but when he fights he doesnt always fight from these stances and also naseem hamed who had a unorthodox style of boxing. so is the style just a freestyle and there is no martial art?BRUCE LEE neglected wing chun and any style?

Answer 1

Yes!!

A sensible attitude to take realistic ..nice one :)***

Answer 2

The Asian martial arts are couched in religion: Buddhism and Taoism respectively.

Bruce Lee was advocating a 'Taoist' approach to his fighting philosophy.  Bruce Lee got his college degree, a B.A. in Philosophy.

Part of understanding the 'mysticism' behind the Asian fighting arts is to understand the religion or the 'philosophies of those religions' behind each style.  So go beyond the technique and study Taoism and Buddhism and see how the precepts of each theology had been incorporated into various eastern martial arts.

In Japan, during the Gempei Wars, 1180-1185, the Samurai were first introduced to Buddhism when they fought the warrior Buddhist monks of Heiei Mountain.  The Samurai defeated the monks but were greatly impressed by the monks attitude, resolve, fighting spirit, mind control and tenacity all the result of their religious practices (meditation, etc.).  After 1185 the Samurai began incorporating Buddhist religious views into their philosophy of swordsmanship.  And over the next 400 years devised and perfected a style of swordsmanship and attitude that still impresses to this very day (Bushido).

Taoism and Buddhism both emphasize nothingness or the meaningless of life.  The concept of 0 (zero) is important to Buddhist values and they have dozens of calligraphic representations of 0 (zero) 'nothingness' all through Japanese Buddhist and Samurai poetry, paintings, and fighting systems.

Literary palindrones are found throughout Chinese and Japanese philosophies.  A palindrone is a word that is spelled the same forwards and backwards: Bob, civic, level, tenet, etc.  A literary palindrone is a phrase that is also reversible:  "Was it Jou dreaming he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming he was Jou?"  "When the going gets tough; the tough gets going"  "The art of fighting without fighting".  And so on and so forth.  Literary palindrones give the impression of profound insight but are actually quite simple.

Bruce Lee incorporated Taoist and Buddhist values into his explanation of martial arts, and utilized literary palindrones to make a point.  The art of fighting without fighting?  The true samurai never draws his sword from its scabbard?  Life is an illusion so there is no board, there is no opponent, there is no enemy?(in this case you need not fear, will not be intimidated,  and your technique will not be rattled).

Answer 3

Sounds like you have the idea behind Jun Fan Jeet Kun Do - the true martial artist allows the art to flow through him rather than forcing himself to perform the technique.  

Bruce Lee (and many other martial artists) believed that the ultimate martial art was to have no martial art.  He studied Wing Chun, Fecing, Boxing, Jiu Jitsu, Kali/Silat etc. to make himself a better practicioner of his own art.  He used the tools (kicks, punches, angles of attack, footwork, trapping, etc.) from the arts he studied to better himself as a "fighter".  The thing is he only took the parts that he felt were useful to him and left the traditions behind.  That's what made many traditional instructors dislike him and his philosophy.  

If you watch his movies you don't get the full effect of all he studied, but you catch glimpses of it.  In Enter the Dragon for example he took out Samo Hung (the fat guy at the beginning) using Jiu Jitsu to finish.  There is no move like that in Wing Chun.  Later you see the stick fighting techniques he learned from Kali.  His stance was taken from Fencing (strong hand forward).  His footwork came from western boxing or possibly Muay Thai (never cross your feet and  always stay on your toes).

So put all this together and yes...it was his belief, and is the ongoing belief of most "MMA" practicioners, that having no style is the best style.  It's all about the person fighting their own way, using the techniques that best suit their strengths and weaknesses that make a martial artist better.  Much moreso than the style in which they fight.

Answer 4

Obviously there are martial arts, and in great number - it's not a literal statement. It's a Zen statement that is hinting at further enlightenment through the forum of martial arts. Simply put, it means this -

Learn the techniques and form to better learn yourself and your spirit, then release them so that you are unencumbered by barriers when you must fight. Your body retains the strength and form, your spirit retains the resolve and determination garnered through training, and your mind retains the knowledge of these techniques without being limited by them. This is to say that once a skill is earned and gained, it is not necessary to harp upon it - you need only use it in practice and trust that the mind, body, and spirit work as one to use together the knowledge that each learned independant of one another. In that moment, it becomes unnecessary to think in 'form', but essential to think as 'alive in combat', or ruling that moment freely and calmly.

Basically, it means trust yourself and what you have learned.

Answer 5

This is also a principal of non violence. When you say you have been studding these issues for ages I assume you mean that as a metaphor and a bit of hyperbole.

Every fighter must adapt to is own strengths and weakness ;by doing so the style or form he learns will need to change some what. I am a great believer in learning more than one art Even though I teach Taekwando I believe in what works and have incorporated into our curriculum some of the learning of other arts. Still  one needs structure to teach and to learn. Beyond learning comes application and that by it's nature becomes situational and must be adaptable to an individual and the situation.