Bruce Lee: "The Art of Living Fearlessly"

fear it coils in your gut like a serpent tightening its grip each time you hesitate to take action I see it in every student who walks into my Quon that silent enemy that Whispers you cannot when your spirit screams you must listen closely my friend for what I'm about to share with you is Not Mere philosophy it is the ancient wisdom of Warriors forged in combat and tempered by time today I will show you how to transform this Serpent of fear into a dragon of power that propels you forward are you ready to begin this

journey you see most people misunderstand fear they try to eliminate it destroy it push it away but this is like trying to break a rock with your fist you only end up hurting yourself instead observe how water deals with rock water does not fight it flows adapts and yet over time it carves through the hardest Stone in my years of combat training I discovered that fear is like your opponent in the ring the more you resist it the more energy you waste the more you tense up against it the harder it strikes you but when

you learn to move with your fear to understand its Rhythm its nature ah that is when everything changes think of the last time fear gripped you perhaps before a crucial moment in your life did you feel your heart race your breath shorten good these are not your weaknesses my friend they are your body preparing you for greatness just as a Fighter's heightened senses before combat are not his weakness but his strength I teach my students do not be a victim of your fear become its Master like water flowing around rocks in a stream let your

fear guide you to paths you never knew existed this is the first step in The Art of Living fearlessly now observe the bamboo in a great storm while Mighty Oaks resist and break bamboo bends With the Wind touching the ground without breaking and springs back stronger than before this is not weakness this is true power the power of adaptability your mind must become like bamboo I learn this truth not in moments of ease but in The Crucible of intense training when your muscles burn when your lungs scream for air when every fiber of your being

says stop this is where you find your true strength this is where you learn to master fear let me teach you a technique I use when fear Rises do not fight it instead be like bamboo acknowledge the pressure Bend with it take three slow breaths on each exhale picture your fear as energy flowing through you not against you this is Not Mere meditation my friend this is the Warrior's Way of transforming fear into focused power remember the stiff tree breaks but the bamboo dances with the storm and survives your fears are your storm learn to

dance with them when I first began teaching in America many doubted my methods they said a man of my size could not teach effectively that my ideas were too radical too different but I knew something they did not an empty cup has the greatest potential to be filled this brings me to my final lesson picture your mind as a cup of tea filled to the brim with preconceptions with old fears with limits others have placed upon you how can you add anything new when your cup is already full you cannot you must first empty your

cup I did not create Jet kadoo by clinging to old ways I emptied my cup I Stripped Away all that was unnecessary all that was rooted in fear of breaking tradition and what remained was truth pure simple powerful ful this is what I mean by living fearlessly it is not the absence of fear but the absence of limits you place on yourself because of fear like water finding its path you must break free of the vessel that contains you your potential my friend is Limitless but only when you have the courage to empty your cup

and flow like water the time for mere philosophy has ended now you must act take what I have shown you the wisdom of water the strength of bamboo the potential of emptiness and apply it to your life not tomorrow not when you feel ready now remember this fear exists only in our minds but courage manifests in our actions with each step you take toward your fear it loses its power over you and one day you will look back and smile knowing that what once seemed like an insurmountable wall was merely a door waiting to be

opened my friend become like water flow fearlessly Break Free for in the end all paths lead to self- knowledge and self- knowledge shows us that there was never anything to fear at all