'Training Like Bruce Lee'Be Water My Friend
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Bruce Lee – Be Water My Friend

by Kane T 0 Comments

I said: “Empty your mind…Be formless, shapeless, like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes a cup; you put water into a bottle, it becomes a bottle, you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow, or it can crash. Be water my friend.” – Bruce Lee

This is one of his most famous quotes in an interview. In my opinion, these are the greatest words ever spoken. There are so much to learn from these words if you really think about it. Lee is a firm believer in self-expression. For this reason, I can’t just start to go with “What he is basically saying is…”. Adaptation is the best style of fighting as Lee created Jeet Kune Do (1967), the Hybrid Martial Arts aka freestyle fighting. Lee also wrote a book about this hybrid fighting systems “Tao of Jeet Kune Do”, if you have not read this book, please read it, it will open your mind. You can get it here at Amazon:

The development of Jeet Kune Do that uses aspects derived from several particular martial arts, is the root of what we have today mixed martial arts (MMA). Lee brought the idea of hybridization and all of the credits attached to his name, “The father of MMA”.

Again, Be Water My Friend

The sky is the limit. The meaning of “be like water” can apply to many aspects of life. The water can be so calm as water in the pool or it can be so aggressive like waves in the ocean. Only when you can “empty your mind” like overcome your ego-self and stay in the present moment, you can see things more clearly without passing judgment, the good the bad or the past the future; you are at your best self “be formless, shapeless”. By being a free mind like water, you then able to achieve so much more, a step closer to your goals: meditation, training, work, habits, social interaction, etc…

Self lesson: I should realize it sooner.

The Benefits of Drinking Water

Do you drink enough water every day? It’s a simple question with no easy answer. It also seems an easy task but difficult to do. The average amount of water in the human body is about 60%. The older you grow, the water percentage drops. Since water is the principal chemical component, your body requires water consumption desperately.

Dehydration (lack of water) causes your body unable to carry out normal functions. If you feel fatigue or energy drained, drink more water.

The recommendation water intake according to CDC is 3.7 liters (125 oz) for average adult male and 2.7 liters (91 oz) for average adult female. So if a water bottle capacity is 16.9 oz, you need to drink 5-7 bottles a day. I already do the math, all you have to do is taking the action.

My favorite sports water is the Premium Purified Water by LIFEWTR, each of the bottles is beautiful with feature arts fused on it. There are a total of 5 series.
LIFEWTR

Besides, Essentia Ionized Alkaline 9.5 pH Bottled Water is the #1 choice for the picky drinker. The removal of the bitter-tasting sets this supercharged alkaline drinking water apart. Essentia water is listed under Physicians’ Desk Reference (PDR) since they are unique or simply the best. Hence, they are little pricier compared to others.

 

Drink more water my friend.

Till next time.

Shadow Boxing for Beginners – The Martial Arts Skills

by Kane T 0 Comments

Shadow boxing is the skill needed to strengthen the mind, endurance and other benefits. This may be too early to go into this topic because we need to improve the overall physical condition first before focusing on shadow boxing. So I will keep this post short and go straight to the point to let you know how Lee had done it.

Bruce Lee Stance

How To Perform Shadowboxing?

See the photo of Lee above and mimic his stance. This is also called the on-guard position, this stance is the best form that Lee has illustrated in his book, I will cover about this stance in deep in another post.

At first, concentrate on the stance, make sure you perform the stance correctly. Lee is right-hander so his stronger hand and foot are at the front, if you are a left-hander, just switch to the opposite position. The next step is learned to relax your body and start to move back and forth (to the front then back to original position) and throw the punch too! The purpose of doing this is to build up the lightness on feet, at the same time increase your speed. Keep practicing till it feels natural then you can move sideways too.

Improve Agility

Shadowboxing is a good agility exercise that anyone can practice regardless of age (well, with a mind of a fighter). Shadowboxing can be applied as a warm-up exercise to loosen muscle before a workout. Just 5 to 10 minutes could drive you out of breath, this means burning some good amount of calories too!

Your footwork can be improved over time and you will definitely find a sense of balance in each of every move.

I’m A Fighter Not A Quitter

A strong sentence isn’t it? Once you start practicing shadowboxing, you will be able to establish the idea of intense focus. Always keep in mind that only by continuous exercise will you become better at maintaining the stamina.

Lee used heavy punching bag for his training. The muscles grow stronger when they meet resistance. Shadowboxing can be very effective with a punching bag. A 70 lbs punching bag is more than adequate for your needs, the whole kit can be found here at Amazon (includes Single Station Stand). A punching bag alternative is a floor training dummy, BOB is the number 1 choice.

Get the BOB by Century here:

Train Hard!

Awaken Your Inner Hero

by Kane T 0 Comments

The purpose of this post is to identify and kill your inner villain who are living inside you and put a roadblock on your way to achievement. There are so many things happen in our every day lives that stop us from our goals. We need to really feel what is our hearts desired to take upon action. Hence, you are here on this website, you already know what you want to become, but sometimes you need a little push to move forward.

What is “Inner Hero”?

First of all, you need to understand the meaning of these two words: Inner and Hero. According to the universal definition:

Inner (adjective): situated inside or further in; internal.

Hero (noun): a person, typically a man, who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievement, or noble qualities.

Now, you understand what is an inner hero. Lets burying this word into your thought, always keep this in mind as a courage to not allow the doubt and fear stopping you from commitment. Stop reading this for a few seconds, close your eyes and tell yourself that you have the capability to do it.

How to Awaken Your Inner Hero?

Confidence is the answer.

If you are a true Lee’s fan, then you already know about his life story and you probably watch all of his action movies. Tell me if you ever find a detailed moment of his level of confidence is down. Heck no! Lee’s confidence in his martial skills is what shows his dedication through his entire life, that makes him interesting as a character to follow.

So how to build confidence? Now the 4 C’s take place. If you pay attention to every single word I have written, then you will notice that I already mention about those above (in the What is “Inner Hero”). They are (in order): Courage, Commitment, Capability and finally, Confidence.

You wonder how to apply this 4 C’s into real-life practice? The great thing about 4 C’s principal is that you can implement them in every aspect of life. For instance, it takes “courage” to take the first step in a workout, remember the time when you first decide to lose weight, to want a nice physique, to want the power to protect what you love. In order to keep that fire running, you stay “committed” to your decision, this is the point in life your destiny is shaped. Then it comes down to “capability”, ask yourself why you are reading this post? What can you acquire by sticking with the training? By training, you will find the way around the obstacles, see the faster path to obtain the result you are looking for.

The last C is confidence, once you acquire the first three, it becomes naturally your confidence level is up and running. This is the feeling that you know deep in your heart and soul that nothing can stop you. Nothing in external forces that can sway your want and need. Imagine how good it feels when you have the unstoppable power of confidence.

Take Up the Challenge

Bruce Lee is the type of man who not fears any kind of challenge coming in his way. Either conquering by force/action or in his philosophical words, “Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.“. I bet you have experienced at least one moment in your life that your family, spouse or friend admired the action you did because they didn’t fully believe that you could. And when they realize that you have finished what you started, they like you as a man who is not scared of any condition of being difficult.

Right now you might not see your goal at the present. Instead of thinking of the past, whether it is a good experience, let’s fast-forward to the future, at one point you can look back and laugh at your fear. We all have the power to change sleeping inside us, so lit it up, use it, rely on it. Don’t overthink it, take upon any challenge!

Empower Your Subconscious Mind

Do you know your subconscious mind is stronger than your conscious mind? What does it mean?

Don’t you have a case of motivation so strong but it doesn’t last long? That because your subconscious is so powerful that it overrides the conscious mind. For example, the day that you sign up for a gym membership, you think it will help you get back in shape but in the end, you have other better things to do so you almost forget about it. Your subconscious knows fully well that a gym membership won’t help you to lose a pound of fat a day or two. In most case, you tend to allow the subconscious to overtake your state of mind and it leads you to the different direction.

Since the subconscious is so powerful, it doesn’t mean the conscious is at the second place. In fact, the conscious goes first but you need to create a finish line that it can remain in the first place. The subconscious is such a burden, you can’t just throw it away in the trash because we need them both. Both of them need to cooperate together to build an ultimate form of power.

Don’t keep sitting around with an empty thought, that is what your subconscious is telling you to do, stand up and do what you need to do, such as a good workout, buy your exercise equipment, spend time with family, have a conversation with a dear friend, etc… Let the conscious mind gain power by practicing over and over again what you truly want most.

At this point, you really gain the motivation to keep pushing you to train harder. Be like Bruce Lee.

Recommend exercises: Jumping Jack, Run in Place, High Knee

Time: 1 minute for each.

 

Looking forward to your success. Share your story and don’t forget to check out my other articles!

Enter The Dragon – The Initial Phase

by Kane T 0 Comments

If you want to be a dragon, then you have to teach yourself how to be one.

If you want to be strong, then you have to take action. There’s no way around it.

Enter The Dragon

First and foremost, you need to have a clear vision of who you want to become. Without it, you will get nowhere. When you have that vision anchored, then works toward that goal with persistence.

As Bruce Lee has said: “Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself.”

I can promise you one thing that you will notice your body and your health changing for the better in only 2 weeks after complete reading this initial phase AND implement it. Do you want a nice, rigid body like Bruce Lee? Don’t worry, it won’t take you years to achieve it. There may be not a second Bruce Lee but there is a stronger second version of yourself waiting.

OK, enough with the pep talk. Ready to empower your mind with powerful thought, stay consistent with the training.

The Warming-up Exercises

This is a very important task that many people ignore. What is the last time that you see people actually doing proper warm-up at the Gym? For a weightlifter, he would start with a lighter weight then increasing it, but still, it is not a warm-up. The main purpose of warming-up is to loosen the muscles, so you can avoid being injured.

Bruce Lee’s daily routine exercise always come with a warm-up first. He is a specimen of health. In fact, he trained every day. There is no smart athlete run into the “battlefield” without heating up his or her body carefully first. Lee’s warm-up exercise is rather extreme for a starter. I don’t recommend it. We are here to take one step at a time to awake the power sleeping inside you. Read on!

Recommend exercises: Jumping Jack, Run in Place, High Knee

Time: 1 minute for each.

The Aerobic Exercises

Running is one of the best to develop the cardiovascular system. Lee’s favorite daily training exercise including running four miles a day, ride an Exercycle for 45-60 minutes (this is #1 Best Seller Exercycle on Amazon) and skipping rope for 10 minutes. If you want to train like Lee, these three exercises are what you want to put on your list of training. On the side note, if you want to build muscle and get stronger at the same time, don’t spend over 30 minutes of running because it will decrease your muscle gains, this is a fact!

The average time of 1-mile run is between 7 to 10 minutes but it is varied due to age, health condition, environment, weather…so don’t overthink it too much. If you can run 4 miles a day every day, does not matter where you do, at a park, on the street or on the treadmill, then you accomplish what Lee used to do. My hat’s off to you!

For me, skipping rope is my favorite exercise and it always comes first. 10 minutes is sufficient enough to call it a warm-up. Do you know that 10 minutes of skipping rope equals 30 minutes of jogging? Lee trained his sense of balance by doing skipping rope. You can buy a jump rope for a really cheap price at Amazon, they have a great selection of jump ropes. Keep in mind that you should get one with an adjustable size only.

Recommend exercises: 4 Miles Run, Exercycle, Skipping Rope

Time: 4 Miles Run (any), Exercycle (45-60 minutes), Skipping Rope (10 minutes)

Lee Skipping Rope

Jump Rope by Pulse:

Bruce Lee’s fighting style was developed by these basics training first. They help a big play in physical participation. Warming-up helps loosen muscle tension for an efficient workout; running improves stamina, Exercycle improves leg muscle, skipping rope improves agility and sense of balance. Doing these exercises consistently five days a week, give your body a break for two days.

After 1 week, you will notice how stronger you become, then give yourself a pat on the back. Happy training and take pride in it.

Bruce Lee’s Background

by Kane T 0 Comments

Since you are here on this website, chance is you already know the name of Bruce Lee and how great he is as a person. Still, many others don’t know about Bruce Lee’s background, only heard of the name. So I want to provide some basic information about Bruce Lee in this post. I promise I will keep this short.

Bruce Lee’s Chinese Name

Born as Lee Jun Fan (李振藩, the family name is Lee), known as Bruce Lee (李小龍).

Bruce Lee’s Day of BirthBruce Lee Timeline

Born on November 27, 1940 in Chinatown, San Francisco, California, United States.

Bruce Lee’s Day of Passing

The iconic hero passed away on July 20, 1973 at the age of 32.

Bruce Lee’s Nicknames

Throughout his entire life, Bruce was known and given with many nicknames including Sai Fon (Little Peacock), Mo Ti Sing (Never Sits Still), Sai Fung (Little Phoenix) and the most popular one Lee Siu Loong (Little Dragon Lee).

Why “Little Dragon”?

Besides performing as an actor at a young age under the stage name Lee Siu Loong. Bruce Lee’s mother gave birth to him in the Year of the Dragon during the Hour of the Dragon. The nickname Little Dragon just fit Bruce’s image perfectly well.

PS: If you wonder what year and hour when you were given birth to, do a quick Google search then you will know. Let me know whether or not you are the next Dragon!

Also, this is a good book to read this summer: