In a special gathering to commemorate the 45th anniversary of Bruce Lee's passing, Emmy Award-winning comedian and author W. Kamau Bell, Bruce Lee biographer and cultural critic Jeff Chang, Bruce Lee's daughter Shannon Lee, along with moderator and cultural anthropologist Sharon Ann Lee held a discussion on Bruce Lee's long-lasting legacy and how he became an unexpected icon for Afro-Asian unity. This special event was hosted by AloudLA in July 2018. AloudLA is a series of dynamic conversations,...
Sep 12, 2018•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 115
What would Bruce Lee Do? This is a question that many of our podcast listeners have wondered. Over the course of this podcast, people have written us with different life questions asking what would Bruce Lee do if he were in their situation. In this special episode of the podcast, Shannon and Sharon answer listener questions based on their personal opinions, life experiences, and their knowledge of Bruce Lee, his life and his philosophy. Full notes: BruceLee.com/podcast Help support the Bruce Le...
Sep 05, 2018•47 min•Ep. 114
How did Bruce Lee become a philosopher? Bruce wrote an essay on why he got interested in philosophy and what he hoped to do with it. Bruce Lee majored in philosophy at the University of Washington. At the beginning of this essay Bruce addresses the question people kept asking him after the completion of Big Boss : "What was it that made me give up career in the States and return to Hong Kong to shoot Chinese films?" Bruce writes: "Perhaps the general feeling was that it was all hell to have to w...
Aug 29, 2018•42 min•Ep. 113
This topic comes from an essay that Bruce Lee wrote about how to choose a martial arts instructor, but the advice can be applied in general to mentors, teachers, or guides. "I sincerely give this advice to all who are about to take up martial arts. Believe only half of what you see and definitely nothing that you hear. Before you take any lessons from any instructor, find out clearly from him what his method is and politely request that he demonstrate to you how some techniques operate. Use your...
Aug 22, 2018•46 min•Ep. 112
The invention of an empirical self that observes itself Viewing one's thoughts as a kind of object or possession, situating it in a separate, isolated part of itself – I "have" a mind The striving to wipe the mirror These three faults are the mistakes and obstacles that we make in our seeking for consciousness. Fault 1 is about ego-consciousness and our identification with our egos and our intelligence. Fault 2 is about giving too much power to our thoughts and our cleverness. Fault 3 is about b...
Aug 15, 2018•39 min•Ep. 111
As we have mentioned before, Bruce Lee was an avid reader and pursuer of knowledge. Bruce had a passionate intensity around his desire to learn. He had an extensive library and would annotate many of his books. After reading these books, Bruce would write journal entries about what he had read. Bruce would read these books and synthesize the ideas, he would take the bits he liked, and you'll notice that he used similar language in his own writings. Now we have those books as a part of the Bruce ...
Aug 08, 2018•43 min•Ep. 110
"Gung fu is so extraordinary because it is nothing at all special, it is simply the direct expression of one's feeling with the minimum of lines and energy. Every movement is being so of itself without the artificiality with which we tend to complicate them. The closer to the true way, the less wastage of expression there is." What did Bruce mean by the extraordinary being nothing at all special? Join Shannon and Sharon as they discuss the ordinary day and what is "Nothing Special." Full notes a...
Aug 01, 2018•37 min•Ep. 109
"The true gung fu master aims his blows at himself, and when successful, he may even succeed in knocking himself out. The primary function of one's tools is really revealed when they are self-directed and used to destroy greed, fear, anger and folly. Manipulative skill is not the goal. After years of training, one hopes to achieve a vital loosening and equability of all powers." "In every day life the mind is capable of moving from one thought to one object to another. However, when one is face ...
Jul 25, 2018•38 min•Ep. 108
"In the long history of martial art, the instinct to follow and imitate seems to be inherent in most martial artists – instructors and students alike. This is due partly to being human and partly due to patterns of styles. Ever since the establishment of institutes, academies, schools and their instructors, the need for a "pointer of the Way" is echoed." "Each man belongs to a style that claims to possess the truth to the exclusion of all other styles, and these styles become institutes with the...
Jul 18, 2018•41 min•Ep. 107
"The void may be said to have two aspects: It simply is what it is. It is realized; it is aware of itself. And to speak improperly, this awareness is "in us," or better, we are "in it."" Void = Nothingess = Emptiness = The Origin of Things = Tao The first form of the Void where 'it simply is what it is,' is to cultivate an acceptance of reality as it is; to engage in simplicity and everyday mind; to simply be with acceptance and without force. The second form of the Void is aware of itself – thi...
Jul 11, 2018•40 min•Ep. 106
This episode is a follow up to episode #87 Becoming a Warrior . In this episode, we revisit what it is to Become a Warrior, Shannon shares her progress on Becoming a Warrior, discusses different self-experiments she's trying, and what it's like to develop your own warrior code. "The successful warrior is the average man with laser-like focus." We would love to hear about your path to becoming a true warrior! If you would like to share your own stories about your path to becoming a true warrior e...
Jul 04, 2018•45 min•Ep. 105
This week we have a special episode where Shannon and Sharon share wisdom from Bruce Lee Podcast listeners. We asked for our listeners to share their #BruceLeeMoments and we've gotten emails from around the world! Shannon and Sharon love reading the stories about how Bruce Lee has affected so many people's lives. It is wonderful when listeners share their wisdom and insights they've gained from listening to the Bruce Lee Podcast. By implementing Bruce Lee's philosophy into their lives, people ar...
Jun 27, 2018•42 min•Ep. 104
"Fluidity of mind – the moon in the stream – where it is at once movable and immovable." Your mind is the moon and all the thoughts and awareness that move through it is the stream. The goal is to cultivate a mind that is both still, but also able to move and take in everything at the same time. Bruce Lee thought that the mind was endowed with infinite mobility. "The mind itself is endowed with infinite mobilities that know no hindrances." Bruce had a story about the many-armed Kwan Yin. All of ...
Jun 20, 2018•39 min•Ep. 103
"An intelligent mind is an inquiring mind. It is not satisfied with explanations, with conclusions; nor is it a mind that believes, because belief is again another form of conclusion. An intelligent mind is one which is constantly learning, never concluding – styles and patterns have come to conclusion, therefore they have ceased to be intelligent." Bruce Lee trained his mind as diligently as he trained his body. An intelligent mind is a curious mind that is constantly learning. "Knowledge is th...
Jun 13, 2018•45 min•Ep. 102
"The conformer seldom learns to depend upon himself for expression; rather he faithfully follows a pattern. As time passes, he will probably learn some dead routines and be good according to his set patterns, but he has not come to understand himself." If you follow patterns in life to seek approval and to be "good" you can be shutting down your true essence. This is just going through the motions of living life, and then we do things we do not want to because we are trained to please. In the bu...
Jun 06, 2018•50 min•Ep. 101
It's the 100th episode of the Bruce Lee Podcast! For this monumental episode Shannon and Sharon discuss freedom. Freedom, both what it is and how we can work towards it, was very important to Bruce Lee. Within freedom rests peacefulness and harmony, and Bruce wanted to live in harmony. What freedom feels like will be different for everyone because it is based on what makes you personally feel at peace. "Although I can tell you what is not freedom, I cannot tell you what is because that you must ...
May 30, 2018•46 min•Ep. 100
"Somehow, one day, you will hear, "Hey, now that is quality. That is someone REAL." I would like that." We are still drawn to Bruce Lee and his performances are so magnetizing because there is authenticity and energy emanating from him. It was Bruce's ultimate goal that he be known for quality and realness. In order to achieve realness Bruce had to really know himself and not get distracted by performing a fake image or shortcuts in life. It was a big part of Bruce's life work to stay in the rea...
May 23, 2018•48 min•Ep. 99
Bruce Lee was a prolific reader; we have around 1,700 books in the Bruce Lee Archive. In the Bruce Lee Library series we will explore different books from Bruce's library, sharing his annotations and underlined passages, and discussing how these books contributed to Bruce's philosophy and life. Bruce Lee was extremely well read, his library had a range of topics on things he was interested in from philosophy to fighting techniques to self-help to acting and directing. The first book that we will...
May 16, 2018•51 min•Ep. 98
This week we have a special guest on the podcast, Shannon's mom Linda Lee Cadwell! Linda joins us to share her firsthand stories of Bruce and their life as a family. She talks about Bruce's back injury, how Bruce was better than her at English grammar, and how Bruce charmed his way up to first class with the Cha Cha. It is always a pleasure to have Linda on the podcast, and we love that she was able to join us for this episode. Thank you Linda for sharing your stories with us! We'd love to hear ...
May 09, 2018•49 min•Ep. 97
Five Ways of Flow The highest truth is inexpressible. Spiritual cultivation cannot be cultivated. In the last resort nothing is gained. There is nothing much in the teaching. In throwing punches and moving, therein lies the wonderful Tao. 1. The highest truth is inexpressible. The highest truth, your truth, is an experience, a knowing, it is a reverberation in the soul and heart of man. "When both the man and his surroundings are eliminated, neither man nor his surroundings are eliminated – Walk...
May 02, 2018•48 min•Ep. 96
"A struggle of any nature can never be settled satisfactorily until the absolute fact is touched. Where neither opponent can affect the other – not neutrality, not indifference, but TRANSCENDENCE is the thing needed." The dictionary definition of Transcendence is: Extending or lying beyond the limits of ordinary experience; transcending material existence; universally applicable or significant The 19th century movement of Transcendentalism had the core belief that there is an inherent goodness o...
Apr 25, 2018•49 min•Ep. 95
Help support the Bruce Lee Podcast and check out our Podcast Bundle on the Bruce Lee Store! Any item is 15% off and if you buy the entire bundle it is 20% off. A portion of all proceeds go to support the Bruce Lee Foundation and the Podcast Bundle helps support the Bruce Lee Podcast! "Centering is the reconciliation of opposites so that they no longer waste energy in useless struggle with each other but can join in productive combination and interplay." Often we waste energy by engaging in the s...
Apr 18, 2018•49 min•Ep. 94
"A man is born to achieve great things if he can conquer himself." Last episode we talked about the things with which we shackle ourselves, and this episode we discuss the keys that will unlock our fetters and liberate us. "True mastery stems from mastery of oneself." Although you can apply this idea to the mastery of a skill, this quote is really about the knowing and the freeing oneself. But in mastering a skill, knowing oneself masterfully, will only make one more artful in that discipline. T...
Apr 11, 2018•44 min•Ep. 93
"A man is born to achieve great things if he can conquer himself." When Bruce Lee says "conquer" it is not about subjugating yourself, but instead it is about knowing yourself in order to liberate yourself. "Each man binds himself – the fetters are ignorance, laziness, preoccupation with self and fear. You must liberate yourself." Fetters are a chain or manacle used to restrain a prisoner. In this quote the fetters are our own restrictions of ignorance, laziness, preoccupation with self, and fea...
Apr 04, 2018•44 min•Ep. 92
This is a special episode of the Bruce Lee Podcast honoring Brandon Bruce Lee. We just celebrated Brandon's birthday February 1st and coming up on March 31st is the 25th anniversary of his passing, so Shannon wanted to share some stories of growing up with Brandon as her big brother and share some excerpts from Brandon's journals. Shannon and Brandon had a very special relationship and Brandon viewed himself as her protector. Brandon was also the typical older brother in that he loved to mess wi...
Mar 28, 2018•45 min•Ep. 91
Broken Rhythm is Bruce Lee's technique for creating an opening in combat. "Ordinarily, two people (of more or less equal ability) can follow each other's movements. They work in rhythm with each other. If the rhythm has been well established, the tendency is to continue in the sequence of the movement. In other words, we are "motorset" to continue a sequence. The person who can break this rhythm can now score an attack with only moderate exertion." The notion is that there are rhythms in fightin...
Mar 21, 2018•39 min•Ep. 90
"The Tools" are what you have in your arsenal at your disposal to tackle life head-on. Bruce Lee repeatedly wrote about different Tools he used in life. We have talked about these tools separately on the podcast, but what is it to have these tools in your arsenal and to use them? "Your tools have a dual-purpose, to destroy whatever is in front of you that stands in the way of peace, justice, and humanity, and to destroy your own impulse of self-preservation, to destroy anything bothering your mi...
Mar 14, 2018•39 min•Ep. 89
Most people know Bruce Lee as an actor and martial artist, but he defined himself as an Artist of Life. This term comes from a series of drafts of his essay "In My Own Process" which we discussed in Episode 29 . In Bruce's essays on "In My Own Process" he stated that being an Artist of Life was his overall goal and how he identified himself. It is because he was an artist of life that we still know about Bruce Lee today. He was intentional about cultivating his life and who Bruce Lee was. "I am ...
Mar 07, 2018•44 min•Ep. 88
Bruce Lee is a true warrior. A warrior is often thought of in the physical sense, as a fighter and physically strong. But it is possible to be a warrior in the mind, body, and spirit. Shannon comes from a lineage of warriors and has been exploring what being a a true warrior means for her. What does it take for us to become true warriors? "The warrior is the average man with laser-like focus." There is no language about fighting or physical prowess in this quote, but what does Bruce Lee mean by ...
Feb 28, 2018•45 min•Ep. 87
In our final Core Values at Work Episode Shannon and Sharon discuss Relationship, Communication, and Trust. These Core Values are derived from Bruce Lee's philosophies and Shannon has adjusted them for her workplace. Shannon has put together these Core Values based on how her workplace functions best, incorporating the philosophy and essence of her father, including what was important to him and what is important to Shannon. For many of us, work is where we spend most of our time. It is importan...
Feb 21, 2018•44 min•Ep. 86
