Daily Reflection
"Be Water, My Friend.
Empty your mind.
Be formless, shapeless, like water.
You put water into a cup, it becomes the cup.
You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle.
You put it into a teapot, it becomes the teapot.
Now water can flow or it can crash.
Be water, my friend."—Bruce Lee1
About 300 years ago, a Buddhist Nun named Ng Mui founded a new school of martial arts.
Living at the famous Shaolin temple, Ng Mui “discovered” a new way of defending one’s self. One day she witnessed a stork repel an attack by a rodent. She watched as the stork was able to use its wings and legs to simultaneously block and attack.
She began to realize that much of Kung Fu at the time was based on unnatural (to humans) imitation of other animals. She decided to find only that which was necessary to stop an attack from happening and protect oneself with the most fluid and natural movements possible.
A student of hers used this efficient, direct, rapid-fire defense to successfully ward off a would-be attacker (who was much bigger than she), so Ng named this new style after her. Her name was Yim Wing Chun—Wing Chun roughly translating to “everlasting-springtime” in English.
Wing Chun is one of the youngest schools of self-defense to emerge from Chinese Buddhism/spirituality, but it quickly became and remained one of the 3 Great Styles of Southern China.
This style was handed down directly only to a few masters, who kept it alive over the generations.
Perhaps the most famous practitioner of Wing Chun is Yip Man, best known as Bruce Lee’s teacher.
Bruce Lee would develop a slightly nuanced style of Wing Chun which he would make famous in the first ever Kung Fu movies still enjoyed around the world today.
At its heart, this style is about efficiency. So much so, that it enables much smaller opponents to stop a much larger attacker often before a fight really begins.
The first attempted strike is often all it takes to end an attack.
At the heart of Wing Chun is the belief that the best energy available is the rage of a would-be attacker. As the quote from Bruce Lee references above, the point of Wing Chun is to be fluid and flexible, becoming and absorbing all that is around you.
Using the energy, momentum, and emotion of your opponent to swiftly end a violent situation is an idea which has deep roots in Chinese Taoism, Buddhism, and traditional spirituality.
To be reactive, to be patient, to be relaxed, fluid, and creative. This is the posture of Wing Chun self-defense.
It’s also a great posture to deal with any obstacle one faces in life.
Water is difficult to grasp, softer than silk, yet over time it can crack even the hardest of rock, finding its way into all of the weak points.
I hope you found this interesting, friends. Tomorrow we’ll continue the conversation as we consider Tai Chi—a philosophy and fighting style based strictly on Chinese Taoism.
Matt
References:
https://www.wingchun.edu.au/wing-chun/history
https://brucelee.com/podcast-blog/2016/7/20/2-be-water-my-friend