Rule #31 "Learn to Cha-Cha Like Bruce Lee"

You may not know it, but Bruce Lee was not born a fighter. He wasn’t born with a burning passion to be a movie star. In fact, one might argue Lee’s success was simply an overflow of survival.

When Bruce Lee was young his parents moved from San Francisco to Hong Kong. In Hong Kong Lee found himself somewhat of an outsider. He wasn’t pure Chinese, which caused ridicule from students. He wasn’t British like his private school classmates thus gaining him the identity of being, “oriental.” Lee began getting into fights often as a response to the teasing he endured.

Gangs began to form in Hong Kong, and Lee developed a reputation as a formidable street fighter. One night he got into a fight with the son of a police officer. This meant big trouble for the young misfit. Fortunately for Lee he was a U.S. citizen, and with $100 in his pocket his parents sent him back to the states. 

Although he first gained employment washing dishes he eventually began making money teaching other students how to fight. Unlike many other instructors Lee would take all clients. Traditionally martial arts instructors are very discriminating as to who they will teach their “art” to. They must find the student worthy of their teaching. 

He was also different in that he didn’t adhere to a certain style of martial arts. Although he had been formally trained in Wing Chun and Kung Fu, Lee took influences from other disciplines as well. In “Bruce Lee’s Commentaries on Martial Way,” he wrote, “I do not believe in styles anymore. I do not believe there is such a thing as Chinese way of fighting, Japanese way of fighting...” 

Lee believed fighting style was personal like Fred Astaire dancing vs. Gene Kelly or Emmitt Smith running a football vs. Jim Brown. The style is unique to the artist. It was an act of self-expression to Lee. We remember Bruce Lee because his style stood out. One can trace this unique style to 1957 when Lee won the cha-cha championship. After taking dance lessons in Hong Kong, Lee started to incorporate dance movements into his fighting. For instance, while Lee’s opponents all stood still, Lee would constantly bounce around back and forth, always moving like a dancer. Like a dance he would then begin to incorporate his opponent’s moves into his own fighting.

While the styles and disciplines of others can give us a benchmark for execution, we shouldn’t be afraid to have our own style. “You do you,” is a common phrase these days. Do you? Do you do you? Bruce Lee did. It was the same with John Coltrane one of the greatest and most innovative jazz artists of all time. After spending 10 years learning to be “technically” superior to nearly all other saxophone players it wasn’t until Coltrane started adding his own innovations that he became legendary. 

You do you! Cha-cha-cha!

You rule,

Jason