Bruce Lee taught in his Stages of Cultivation that there were three levels while learning Martial Arts: Primitive, Sophistication, and Artlessness. I will use this concept to trace a journey of a martial artist.
When a student first begins training they are in the Primitive stage. You can throw a punch instinctively but have no real technique. A student is in this stage for a long time as they progress through the lower belts and gained knowledge of stances, footwork, chambering kicks, and using the whole body to punch.
As the student rises and perhaps receive a black belt they eventually enter the Sophistication stage. They have acquired martial techniques and can teach others to properly kick and punch. This undoubtedly gives much pride, but the student is still overthinking how to position the body or through a punch. Even though they may have mastered the basic techniques they still haven’t reached the ultimate stage of learning.
The hope is to reach the Artlessness Stage. In this stage a person can enter a “flow” and react to an opponent without thought as an echo follows a sound or a shadow follows a shape. When an opponent attacks, you instinctively contract without rational thought. When the opponent contracts you instinctively expand without thinking. You simply act and become fluid.
Bruce Lee described his three stages by saying, “A punch is just a punch, a punch is no longer a punch, and a punch is just a punch.” In the first stage a punch is just a punch because I the student doesn’t know the right technique. In the second stage the student knows a punch is no longer a punch because there is a proper technique. If the student eventually reaches the third stage they will know that a punch is just a punch because it will execute it without thinking and in a fluid reaction to an opponent.
Resource:
Jeet Kune Do: A Comprehensive Guide to Bruce Lee’s Martial Way, John Little, Editor, Tuttle Publishing, 1997, 2020. Volume 3 of the Bruce Lee Library. Excellent and detailed description of Bruce Lee’s martial art before he passed. Put together by John Little, Bruce Lee historian.
AI Narration provided by elevenlabs.io. Bruce Lee quotes read by AI voice over.
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