my friend today I speak directly to your heart to that place within you that feels like a ship without a compass I know this place intimately for I too have walked through the shadows of uncertainty not as Bruce Lee the martial artist but as a human being seeking his way when I first left Hong Kong for America at age 18 everything I believed about myself was challenged my martial arts My Philosophy my identity all of it was stripped away like bark from a tree in those early days in Oakland I faced not just physical challenges
but spiritual ones each morning I would practice my forms yet feel empty inside knowing that something essential was missing but not knowing what this emptiness this uncertainty that you feel I discovered it is like water when water is placed in a cup it becomes the cup when placed in a teapot it becomes the teapot your feeling of being lost is not your enemy it is your water State ready to take the form of something greater than what you are now here is the profound truth I uncovered through countless hours of solitary practice and deep reflection
the the moment when you feel most lost is precisely the moment when you are most free to discover your authentic self like the sculptor who must first face an uncarved block of wood your uncertainty is not your weakness it is your uncarved block waiting for your true self to emerge I do not offer you mere words of comfort I offer you something far more valuable the understanding that this moment of feeling lost is actually the beginning of finding your true path it is not about seeking answers outside yourself but about developing the courage to listen
to that quiet voice within that knows the way you see this struggle you face this feeling of being lost in the vastness of life's possibilities it is not unique to you alone it is the silent battle that every human being must face when they reach the edges of who they think they are and begin to Glimpse who they might become in my journey from a young street fighter in Hong Kong to a martial artist seeking truth I discovered something remarkable when I was developing jet kunu I had to First destroy my previous beliefs about martial
arts I had to stand in that uncomfortable space between what was and what could be my old ways of thinking about combat about movement about expression they all had to be questioned challenged and often discarded this is your journey too though your path may look different from mine perhaps you stand at a Crossroads in your career your relationships or your deepest purpose like a martial artist who must first Master Stillness before movement you must learn to stand in this moment of uncertainty without running from it but here is where hope begins to shine through the
cracks of your doubt just as water when heated must transform into steam this pressure you feel this discomfort of being lost is actually the heat necessary for your transformation every great journey of self-discovery begins not with certainty but with the courage to remain open to possibility in my own moments of deepest questioning I discovered that true strength comes not from having all the answers but from Having the courage to remain present with the questions your feelings of being lost are not a sign that you have taken a wrong turn they are evidence that you are
ready to discover something new about yourself in 1959 I arrived in America with nothing but $100 in my pocket and the martial arts knowledge in my mind and body the journey began not with Triumph but with profound Solitude the San Francisco that greeted me was not the land of dreams I had imagined it was a place where every moment reminded me that I was a stranger an outsider seeking to find his way those early days tested everything I thought I knew I worked as a dishwasher in a Chinese restaurant spending long hours with hands immersed
in soapy water my mind wrestling with questions that seemed to have no answers at night I would practice my Kung Fu in a small room I rented but even these familiar movements felt different on this foreign soil the techniques that had given me confidence in Hong Kong now seemed inadequate incomplete the challenge wasn't just the physical displacement it was the shattering of my identity in in Hong Kong I was known as the promising student of Yip Man with a clear path ahead but America Stripped Away these comfortable labels here I was just another Asian face
in a country that often saw us as interchangeable the martial arts schools rejected my desire to teach non-chinese students clinging to traditional boundaries that I knew in my heart were artificial my first attempts to establish myself Prof professionally were met with closed doors and skepticism I would demonstrate my skills only to be told that Americans wouldn't accept Chinese martial arts instruction from someone so young each rejection forced me to question not just my Approach but the very Foundation of what I was trying to teach then came the moments of deepest doubt living in Oakland I
would spend hours walking by the bay watching the waves crash against the shore the water's constant movement its ability to adapt and flow around obstacles began to speak to me in ways my rigid training never had I realized that my struggles weren't just about survival in a new land they were about the transformation that only comes when everything familiar is Stripped Away the hunger for recognition the need to prove myself these were not just professional desires they were the outward manifestations of an inner battle each time I modified a technique to make it more effective
each time I questioned a traditional approach I felt the weight of centuries of tradition judging me yet something deeper within urged me forward Whispering that true growth only comes through honest questioning the moment that changed everything came during a sparring session in 1964 as I executed a perfect traditional technique my opponent untrained In classical Styles landed a simple direct strike this single moment shattered my worldview I realized that all my years of structured training all the complex forms and rigid patterns had perhaps become beautiful chains chains that were binding rather than freeing me I began
to question everything why do we block this way why do we stand in these positions why do we follow these patterns each question was like breaking a link in those chains the more I questioned the more I saw how martial arts had become a prison of classical mess the traditional approaches were like a finger pointing to the moon but practitioners had become so focused on the finger that they had lost sight of the Heavenly Glory itself this questioning spread Beyond martial arts into my very identity who was I really was I the dutiful son carrying
forward ancient Traditions the rebel breaking from the old ways the bridge between east and west or something else entirely these questions burned inside me like fire consuming everything I thought I knew about myself but here's what I discovered through this crisis when you question deeply enough when you dare to look beyond what you've been taught something remarkable happens you begin to touch truth that isn't secondhand you start to understand not what others have told you but what your own experience reveals this led me to my breakthrough realization true martial arts like true living must be
about honest self-expression not the rigid imitation of forms but the dynamic alive responsive expression of One's Own being I began to develop what would become jet kunu not as another style to be followed but as an expression of freedom from style the path revealed itself not through adding more knowledge but through stripping away what was unnecessary as I often say it is not daily increase but daily decrease the closer to the source the less wastage there is I discovered that the highest aim is not to add more but to hack away the unessential until you
reach the core truth of your own being my friend what you call being lost is actually a Sacred Space like The Emptiness inside a cup that gives it its useful think of the caterpillar entering the darkness of its chrysalis does it know it will become a butterfly no in that moment it is completely lost to itself dissolving into formless potential this is exactly where you are now I remember the day I stopped treating my confusion as my enemy it was during my recovery from a severe back injury that had left me bedridden un able to
train for months I was lost in darkness my identity as a martial artist Stripped Away but in that darkness something profound revealed itself to me just as a seed must be buried in dark soil before it can grow toward the light our moments of being lost are actually moments of germination let me share with you what I discovered being lost is not a state of failure it is a state of possibility when you are truly lost you are finally free from the prison of who you think you should be you are free from the limitations
of your past understanding you are free from the chains of others expectations consider this before I created jet kunu I had to first become lost to all I knew about martial arts I had to enter a state of not knowing so profound that it terrified me every technique I had learned every principle I had absorbed I had to be willing to question all of it this uncertainty was not my weakness it was the source of my greatest Innovation the mistake most people make is trying to escape this state of uncertainty too quickly they grab onto
the first answer the first Direction the first Comfort they can find but I urge you stay in this space a little longer let it teach you let it transform you like water that must reach its boiling point before it can transform into steam you must fully experience this state of being lost before you can transcend it your uncertainty is not a Darkness to be feared it is the darkness of dawn just before the sun rises is every great transformation in history every breakthrough every evolution of understanding has come through this same Darkness the old must
be lost before the new can be found the known must dissolve before the unknown can reveal itself listen carefully for what I'm about to share with you took me years of struggle to understand the world will always try to shape you to mold you into something recognizable something safe but water my friend does not ask permission to flow and neither should you ask permission to be who you truly are I faced this battle when I began teaching martial arts in America the traditional Masters said you must not teach non-chinese students this is our way but
something deep within me rejected this artificial boundary you see truth doesn't belong to any culture any system any tradition truth belongs to anyone who dares to seek it honestly here is the first principle I want you to understand your authenticity is more valuable than your acceptance when I created jet kadu many called it blasphemy they said I was betraying traditional Kung Fu but I realized that true betrayal would have been denying what I had discovered staying silent about what I knew to be true your unique path May offend others who are invested in keeping you
within their comfortable boundaries let them be offended the bird doesn't apologize to the cage it leaves behind second principle the validation you seek from others is actually the power you have given away from yourself in my early days in Hollywood they wanted to make me into their idea of what a Chinese martial artist should be they offered me roles that would have made me Rich but would have made me untrue to myself each know I said was really a yes to my own inner wisdom every time you choose your truth over others expectations you grow
stronger in your own power and here is the third principle perhaps the most important growth is not comfortable it is not meant to be just as a muscle must be torn to grow stronger your comfort must be challenged for you to evolve I spent countless hours in physical pain pushing my body Beyond its limits but the deeper pain and the deeper growth came from challenging my mental limits my beliefs my assumptions about what was possible remember this every challenge you face is actually a question asking you how badly do you want to discover who you
really are when I had my back injury doctors said I might never kick again this challenge asked me is Bruce Lee only a man who can kick through that injury I discovered I was much more I developed new training methods deeper understanding and ultimately greater strength your challenges are not obstacles on your path they are the path itself each limitation you encounter is an invitation to transcend who you think you are each doubt is a door each fear is a threshold the question is not whether you will face these challenges but how you will use
them to fuel your growth now let me share with you the Practical tools I developed through my own journey of self-discovery the these are not theoretical Concepts they are methods I practice daily techniques that transformed my understanding of myself and my path first begin each day with what I call the art of mindful awareness when you wake before the world rushes in with its demands sit in complete Stillness for at least 10 minutes don't try to solve your problems don't try to find your path instead simply observe your thoughts as they flow like watching leaves
float down a river I practice this every morning in my backyard watching the sun rise over Oakland letting my mind settle into Clarity second develop the practice of active questioning take any belief you hold about yourself any limitation you accept and write it down then ask yourself is this true or is it merely something I've accepted without testing when I questioned the traditional stance that martial arts must follow rigid forms it led to Revolution your questions will lead to your Revolution third Embrace what I call physical meditation this isn't just exercise it's a dialogue with
yourself through movement find a physical practice that challenges you it could be running swimming martial arts anything that demands your full presence As you move pay attention to the resistance you feel both physical and mental your body will teach you about your mind here's a daily practice I used stand in front of a mirror look into your own eyes speak your deepest truth about what you want who you are what you fear don't Look Away don't soften your words this mirror practice will show you where you hesitate where you doubt where you need to grow
stronger another crucial technique keep a battle Journal each night write down three things a moment when you chose truth over Comfort a question that challenged your assumptions and an action that pushed your boundaries I filled countless notebooks with my observation ations discoveries and questions these writings became the foundation of My Philosophy finally practice what I call the art of Detachment choose one thing each day that you're holding too tightly a belief a goal a relationship and practice loosening your grip on it like a fist that must relax to strike effectively your mind must learn to
release its rigid Holdings to discover new possibilities my friend let me share with you the traps I've seen many fall into traps I myself had to learn to recognize and avoid these are not failures but rather signposts on the path that can either stop you or teach you depending on how you approach them the first and most dangerous Pitfall is the death desperate rush for immediate answers I see this in Martial Arts students who want to master a technique in one day and I see it in people searching for their life's purpose they are like
someone dying of thirst who drinks salt water their very desperation makes them grasp at solutions that will harm them when I was developing Jeet kuna do I had to resist the urge to quickly replace old techniques with new ones ones true understanding cannot be rushed it must be allowed to ripen in its own time the second Pitfall is equally treacherous the tendency to follow others blindly even those who appear successful or wise I encountered many Masters who demanded absolute obedience from their students they would say this this is the way it has been done for
centuries but remember the fact that a path has been walked by many does not mean it is your path even now people try to exactly copy my movements my techniques they miss the point entirely the essence of my teaching is not to create followers but to inspire Seekers the third Pitfall is perhaps the most subtle the resistance to uncertainty many of you try to escape uncertainty by creting elaborate Plans by seeking guarantees by trying to control every variable I see students who won't Spar until they've mastered every form who won't take action until they're completely
sure but understand this uncertainty is not your enemy it is the space where growth becomes possible when I was forced to rebuild my entire approach to martial arts after my back injury it was my willingness to enter uncertainty that led to my greatest Innovations here's what I learned about avoiding these traps instead of rushing for answers cultivate the art of living with questions let them work on you when I was questioning traditional martial arts I didn't immediately create Jeet Kune Do I allowed myself to exist in the space of not knowing to be humble enough
to start again as a beginner instead of following others blindly learn to distinguish between guidance and imitation a good teacher shows you where to look but doesn't tell you what to see when others offer you their truth accept it as their truth test it against your own experience but never accept it as your final truth and instead of resisting uncertainty learn to use it as your ally think of it as water formless able to adapt to any container yet powerful enough to carve through Stone your uncertainty is not a weakness it is your potential taking
form my friend let me share with you the deepest insights I've gained through years of contemplation and practice everything I've discovered about life's Tru true nature can be understood through the wisdom of water be water my friend but understand this is not just a poetic phrase it is the culmination of everything I've learned about human potential water teaches us the highest truth about adaptability put water into a cup it becomes the cup put it into a teapot it becomes the teapot put it into a river it flows endlessly why is this profound because water never
argues with reality it never fights against what is instead it finds the way through around or over any obstacle while remaining true to its essential nature think deeply about this water is the softest substance in the world yet it can penetrate the hardest rock how not through Force but through persistence and adaptability when you feel lost be like water don't fight against your circumstances flow with them while maintaining your essential nature this is true power but to become like water you must first empty your cup this brings us to another essential truth the usefulness of
a cup lies in its emptiness most people are like cups so full of their own opinions prejudices and assumptions that nothing new can enter they say I know this already or this is not the way I learned it their cup is full I discovered this truth painfully when I had to unlearn much of what I thought I knew about martial arts every technique I had mastered every principle I held dear I had to be willing to pour them all out only then could I discover something new only empty cups can be filled the principle of
adaptability goes beyond mere flexibility it is about maintaining your essential truth while responding to Life's everchanging circumstances like water that remains water whether Frozen or flowing your core truth remains unchanged while your form adapts this is why I say no way is way because the moment you become fixed in any one way you have lost the principle of adaptability consider how water deals with obstacles it doesn't break against them in frustration it doesn't stop flowing in defeat it finds the path of least resistance while maintaining its essential Journey forward this is not weakness it is
the highest expression of intelligence when you feel lost remember even in darkness water Finds Its way to the ocean not because it can see the path but because it follows its nature while remaining adaptable to circumstances let me share with you the true story of jet kuna do not just as a martial art but as a journey of personal Liberation what began as a search for more effective combat techniques became a path to the deepest truth I've ever discovered about human potential the birth of jet kadu came through a moment of crisis in 1964 I
faced an opponent Who challenged everything I thought I knew the traditional techniques I had mastered over years of dedication proved inadequate in that moment of failure I had a choice defend my limitations or transcend them I chose Transcendence but the cost was everything I thought I knew about martial arts breaking from tradition wasn't just about changing fighting techniques it meant facing the Judgment of my peers the criticism of traditional Masters and the weight of centuries of martial arts history they said I was arrogant to question the old ways they called me a heretic for teaching
non-chinese students each step away from tradition felt like walking on broken glass painful but necessary for the path ahead but here's what I discovered tradition is a messenger carrying wisdom from the past but too often we worship the messenger and forget the message the real purpose of martial arts isn't to perpetuate forms and styles but to cultivate personal truth in movement and combat Jeet kuna do emerged not as another style to replace the old ones but as a recognition that true Mastery lies in transcending style itself my Evolution through this process taught me something profound
about finding personal truth truth cannot be given to you it must be experienced each person must walk their own path of Discovery this is why I say junad do is not about adding more it is about discovering what is essential and real for you the hardest part wasn't developed new techniques it was letting go of the security that traditional systems offered in traditional martial arts everything is laid out the forms the progression the hierarchy but in seeking your own truth you must be willing to stand alone to test everything against your own experience to be
your own master and your own student my friend as we come to the end of our time together hear these final words not just with your mind but with your heart and spirit the feeling of being lost that brought you here today it is not your weakness it is your Awakening remember this truth the path you seek is not somewhere out there in the distance it is not in the approval of others not in the traditions of the past not in the expectations of society your path is alive within you right now speaking through your
doubts your questions your deepest longings I discovered this truth through years of martial arts through breaking from tradition through facing my own Darkness now I give you this gift permission to trust yourself completely permission to question everything permission to break from any path that doesn't serve your truth no matter how ancient or revered it may be your inner wisdom like water already knows the way it knows when to flow gently and when to crash through barriers it knows when to be still and when to Surge forward trust this wisdom it has been waiting for you
to listen you are not meant to be a copy of anyone else not even me you are meant to be the fullest most authentic expression of yourself this is not selfish it is your gift to the world for when you free free yourself to be who you truly are you give others permission to do the same so go forth now not as someone who is lost but as someone who is Awakening to their own truth let your questions be your guide let your doubts be your teachers let your challenges be your strength the world doesn't
need another copy of someone else it needs the authentic powerful unique expression of who you truly are now my friend the time has come for Action not tomorrow not when you feel ready not when the path becomes clear but right now in this moment exactly where you are as I learned in my own Journey the perfect moment is not coming the perfect moment is now begin exactly where you are if you can only take small steps take small steps when I was rebuilding my body after my injury I began with the smallest movements possible each
tiny motion done with full awareness contain the seed of Mastery your Journey Begins the same way with one conscious Choice One authentic action one step in the direction of your truth here are your immediate steps tonight before you sleep write down one truth you've been afraid to face to tomorrow morning take one action that expresses your authentic self start your day in silence listening to your inner wisdom choose one habit one belief one pattern that doesn't serve your growth and challenge it not next week not next month tomorrow remember this the process you're entering is
like the flowing of water some days it will surge forward other days it will seem to St stand still trust both movements equally I spent years developing jet kunu facing criticism doubt and uncertainty what carried me through was not certainty of the outcome but trust in the process of honest investigation you have everything you need right now to begin your doubts are not obstacles they are your tools for Discovery your questions are not weaknesses they are your compass your dissatisfaction with the old ways is not wrong it is your wisdom speaking the time is now
the place is here and you exactly as you are in this moment are ready not because you have everything figured out but because you have finally given yourself permission to begin without having everything figured out this is is the true beginning this is your moment take it
