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PROCEED WITH CAUTION

By Linda Lee Cadwell

“Boy! This is it!” Bruce would frequently exclaim as he sat at his desk or propped up in bed, writing his descriptions of the absolute fighting system. “When I have finished writing down everything that goes into my Way of gung fu, that will be it!”

The story of how Bruce Lee came to transcribe the notes that appear in this volume is a testament to his intelligence and determination, to his powers of observation and irrepressible positive nature. Bruce wrote most of his Commentaries on the Martial Way after he sustained a severe back injury from improper weight training in 1970. The medical tests showed damage to the fourth sacral nerve and the doctor cautioned Bruce to forgo his martial arts training because the force of kicks and punches could cause further injury. Total rest was prescribed with the hope that Bruce would recuperate sufficiently to lead a “normal” lifestyle, not the active lifestyle of a martial artist. Bruce was disheartened, to say the least.

After a few days’ confinement to bed, Bruce decided how he was going to turn this stumbling block into a stepping stone. If he could not physically train in his martial art, then he would mentally practice it. He asked me to go to a stationery store and buy several large, black, expandable binders. He filled each one with blank paper and jotted on the dividers notes of topics he intended to cover. For the next six months, Bruce exercised only his mind.

It was, however, literally impossible for this perpetually active man to assume a sedentary way of life. Determined to prove the doctors wrong in their dire predictions, carefully and gradually, Bruce retrained himself physically, from walking with assistance to eventually performing his full range of martial art motions. From 1971 to 1973 he completed four and one-half physically demanding films, and we are left today with not only the celluloid record of his determination, but with volumes of his journal-writing exercises compiled in his down-time.

With his time and attention increasingly turned to filmmaking, and then, with his early death at the age of thirty-two, Bruce’s literary pursuits came to an end. But even before then, he was coming to the realization that attempting to encapsulate fighting in words was like trying to capture something on paper that is alive and constantly changing. He began to see that he was in danger of producing the exact opposite of what he was trying to describe: By developing a formula for efficient combat he could solidify something that, by its very demand to be efficient, must remain fluid.

Can something that flows like a river be turned into a river of concrete without losing its essential nature? This was Bruce’s dilemma. This is the danger that Bruce perceived and the warning I feel I must issue before the reader embarks on the discoveries within these pages:

1. Memorizing and regurgitating Bruce Lee’s words does not increase one’s intelligence. However, adapting his thoughts for one’s own actions gives life to his words.

2. One cannot learn to do martial art by reading the words in this book. However, one’s depth of understanding martial art can be enhanced.

3. The notes within this volume should not be considered the bible of martial arts, for there is no one way. There is only the way that works at a given moment in time.

4. Do not think that this is it—the sum total of Bruce Lee’s way of martial art. But, do think of it as a set of clues to aid in your search for the voice of your own self expression.

5. Knowledge is not useful in a vacuum. However, observing the practical application of knowledge on a moment-by-moment basis is to experience the essence of Bruce Lee’s martial art.

6. When you catch yourself quoting something that Bruce Lee said or wrote, ask yourself if this has meaning for your life. Do you really understand—can you apply—what he meant?

7. This is not a book about martial art. This is a book, stripped of interpretation, that shows how a real human being thought. This is a book about savoring every moment. This is a book about living to the ripe, old age of thirty-two.

For the reader who fails to heed these words of caution, I sincerely hope you enjoy reading the ideas about unarmed combat that were important to Bruce Lee. For the discriminating thinker, welcome to a world of insights that will change your life.