“The moment I engaged in combat with an opponent, my mind was completely perturbed and unstable. After a series of exchanging blows and kicks, my theory of gentleness was gone. My only thought at this point was, ‘Somehow or other I must beat him and win!’ My instructor at the time, Professor Yip Man would come up to me and say ‘Relax and calm your mind. Forget about yourself and follow the opponent’s movement. Let your mind, the basic reality, do the counter-movement without any interfering deliberation. Above all, learn the art of detachment.’

‘That was it!’ I thought. ‘I must relax!’ However, right then I had done something that contradicted against my will. That ocurred at the precise moment I said ‘I must relax.’ The demand in effort in must was already inconsistent with the effort-lessness in relax.”

Bruce Lee

Published by wakafightermma

Married father of two beautiful kids and Freelance Writer/Reporter who has covered MMA for over 12 years. An extensive background in studying mixed martial arts and a graduate of print journalism. I also write stories of inspiration and the fighting spirit. Author of three short books. "The Toughest Guy In Here", "Finding Bruce Lee and My JKD" and "Cate's Weekends with Daddy" Studied Bruce Lee and Jeet Kune Do from an early age and am a Lee historian. Covered mixed martial arts at every level from youth jiu-jitsu right up to being fully credentialed media member by the major organizations like the UFC, Bellator, WSOF, MFC and Score Fighting Series. View all posts by wakafightermma