If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?

Rebuild the foundation, stone by stone and layer by layer.

Isaiah 28:16 Ephesians 2:20 1st Kings 1:19
Nehemiah 2:17 Nehemiah 4:10 Daniel 9:25

Even Bruce Li couldn't live up to his expectations when his back was broken. None of the top warriors could do their deeds if their skeletal foundation had lost its integrity. When the angel wrestled with Jacob, Jacob could no longer contest when his hip was put out of joint. The inner core has to be intact. We don't see the inner core when external events happen, because those external events are touched by things external to the innner core; but though those things be external, yet they are dependent upon and connected from that inner core.

The inner core is more than sinew and bone, it also is heart and mind, guts and belief. The attitude of a wing determines whether it sends the eagle up or down.

Scripture tells us the people of this present world are wiser in their own ways than are the people of light. From this verse I find justification often to consider certain thoughts from reasonable thinkers of the world. Bruce Li was a philosopher. He was filming a movie to be called, The Dance of Death. An unexpected death, whether by poisoning or accident, some are not sure, prevented this master of martial arts from completing his film. But tonight I got to see portions of it and hear notes he made for the script.

1. Final victory was with a choke hold. Remember David cutting off the head of Goliath. 2. Later steps toward that victory involved the letting in of more light. 3. Bruce had to do what he could do, even when he was tired, attacking on the level he could reach. 4. Bruce's injury to his back was shown to have occured while lifting weights beyond his comfortable reach. At thirty-two, he was striving for even greater heights of accomplishment. He hurt his back. He overcame that problem, and returned with even greater talents learned while he was overcoming his problem.

My interest in fighting came from childhood. Watching wrestling with my dad, boxing, leg wrestling contests. I read my first martial art book in the summer of the seventh grade, 1955 at Sheppard A.F.B. I learned something of boxing at the base gym that summer. My dad had trained with Army Intelligence and some special services. He was ambidexterous and mightily talented with co-ordination. He was also very bright. Overall he was a hard man to beat, that's why the army trained him like they did for counter-intelligence work, both mentally and physically. And I guess that's where my interest was born, from things with my dad.

Well, the age old question arose. How can I beat someone if they're bigger than me? At that age, size seemed pretty important. And how can one man win against many? These were important questions.

From time to time over 50 years, I've come back to that question of how to win on quality of fighting when the quantity is against you.

Seeing Bruce's film and hearing his notes tonight, has perhaps given a lot of closure to that issue. He said some things that confirmed what my dad and I concluded thirty years ago. He said them with more detail, and more confirmation, but I am happy to say that generally we concluded the essence of it back in the late sixties. Just keep on moving, going with the flow of momentum, turning it to your advantage,...keep the flow of motion continuous ..... was about the best way I could put it back then.

Bruce, the master fighter, said use whatever's available, and continue flowing instead of starting and stopping in some rehearsed routine.

Thirty something years ago, I had a vague idea of this concept. In boxing I learned a few things. In wrestling, some more. In sports like football, baseball, track, and basketball, some more. Then in Judo, I finally learned balance and fulcrum's and leverage like never before, and even how to fall, for which I was exceedingly greatful on more than one occasion when it saved me from breaking my neck.

Five or so years after my first experience with Judo, having realized that Judo was not the all and all, I saw at least from it a way to roll and move, and have kind of a continuous flowing momentum, and saw some vision of taking advantage of that momentum with whatever part of my body happened to be available to fit into the accelerating motion, whatever that may be whether a hand, foot, knee, or elbow, shoulder or head.

But then I realized more than ever before the need to practice the basics of all those moves so they could be come forth with understanding and purpose at the appropriate time. Skills like that need to be practiced in each part. The flexing, the bending, the momentum spin, the circle torquing french-curve to become the center of the circle of motion and not the perimeter... the jab, punches all need training to develop the ability to do these things. Then when a storm comes, one can do whatever is necessary if the component parts are available. Like notes on a piano keyboard, the component building blocks of fighting must all be present.

To have such a master as Bruce Li expound upon this idea, and deny the superiority of any particular system .... that was wonderful to hear. He basically said, learn the component parts, master them, and put them together as you need them. Spelling whatever words you need at the time. The spelling being the transitioning of movement from one flow to another, and the word being a combination of basics which affects a resultant action in a particular situation.

How many vowels and consonants are there in physical fighting techiniques with the body? I don't know. Neither how many words. But make a beginning at learning a range of them, and train your mind to adapt your words to the present situation. Learn to spell to build the words that fit a situation.

If you are unwilling to pay the price to master yourself, then perhaps you'd be better off learning a particular set of words that fit a particular fighting style. If you would master yourself, then begin mastering the letters, the vowels and the consonants of motion of which the body is capable and for which you are willing to train. Those are the questions. What can you do? and what are you willing to train enough to be able to do? You can jump higher. Are you willing to train for it? You can turn faster, but are you willing to train in doing it?

Do not reach too high for yourself lest you be hurt. But stretch a little and grow.

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