Tell Bruce Lee Not All is Lost
9:47 AM Sunday, January 9, 2011
There is just a large metaphorical canyon in today’s world. This canyon has a rapid laden river, craggy canyon walls, poisonous snakes, carnivores of all sizes and strong winds that separate the sides.
On one side of the above described canyon are the folks that are declaring their infirmities, and finding their power via a codification.
On the other side of this canyon are a different species of person, yeah I use the word species because they are not the same. These people have crossed the canyon and are pushing onward.
There are many that have pushed on to the other side of the canyon. And several have passed though the door of my dojo. I have one guy that comes into the dojo that can't eat solid food, oh and he has MS, I like this guy a lot, and his demeanor bellies the struggles that he goes through, he has a steadiness that I am not sure under the same situation, I could muster.
I have another student that has cerebral palsy, another needs special hearing aides, he is six. And then still another that is legally blind without his glasses.
And one of my students, was killed by his disease. He would sleep during the day so he could save his energy for class. He did this until his liver actually disintegrated, falling apart inside his own body and bleeding him to death.
These folks, are examples for us, and they stupefy me.
Did you know:
Ludwig van Beethoven was deaf
Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Woodrow Wilson (U.S. President), all where Dyslexic
Stephen Hawking, is addled by Lou Gehrig's Disease
John F. Kennedy had Addison's Disease, an adrenal insufficiency
Sir Winston Churchill, Clara Barton, and Carly Simon, all stutters
Homer, the Greek Poet, he was blind
Some people just blow me away, with the way they can will the disparate aspects of their lives into one cohesive focus... and I am fortunate, and blessed, to come into contact with them.
So go tell Bruce Lee that not all is lost. However he needs to know there are two types of people in the world. One group stands on the canyon edge looking at the insurmountable obstacles that block their path. The others have crossed and are pushing on to their future.
Oh, and did you know that one of Bruce Lee's legs was shorter then the other? And it didn't stop him.
Did you know we all have one leg shorter than the other?
It is all in how you measure, how you choose to see yourself in the world.
And now for the kicker...
The picture used in the installment of, “The Striking Post” is of the knees of a guy that rode his bike to the dojo and joined the Judo class, at fifty-nine years of age.
Hey Bruce, not all is lost!
:-)
Joshkie January 9, 2011 12:35 PM
Did you know that in 1970, with The Green Hornet series cancelled and finances tight, Bruce failed to warm up properly during one of his weight-training routines and severly injured his back?
The doctors told him to rest in bed, and to forget kung fu: he would never kick again.
With financial worries bearing down on him, Bruce could only lay flat on his bed for the next three months, and for another three months be confined indoors.
But even then, he refused to let this stop him. If he couldn’t work out his body, he could work out his mind. In those six months he wrote furiously, penning down his own thoughts and methods of the martial arts which he so loved.
In six months’ time, he had written eight, two-inch volumes of notes. And in all that time, with evidence to the contrary, he refused to believe that he wouldn’t heal; he was an avid believer that our thoughts create our reality.
After those six months he started working out again, moderately at first, and resumed teaching afterwards.
And even though his back would remain a source of pain throughout his entire life, you wouldn’t think it to see the man blazing faster in his movies than any able-bodied person.
This is what I find most inspiring about the man; that he not only reached physical heights most of us would deem impossible, he did it in spite of an injury that did make it impossible.
Alvin January 9, 2011 6:13 PM
Teddy Roosevelt was an asthmatic and chronically underweight as a child.
Quint Oga-Baldwin January 9, 2011 7:37 PM
Excellent additions to the post, some good history, thanks guys.
Kris Wilder January 9, 2011 9:04 PM
Great post Kris...I grew up with "disabilities" in my family...have seen the struggles and triumphs.
My greatest teacher was a young man with schizophrenia who was tormented with voices, paranoia and a lifestyle many would consider pure hell. Yet, he could find in himself that place to keep up on going...day in day out.
David "Shinzen" Nelson January 10, 2011 4:22 AM