I remember hearing this for the first time in 1971. For a year, I practiced Kung Fu and learned even my diminutive 100lbs could be a force to be reckoned with….    Most important in my development was going with my nature – choosing goals that I was likely to do. Example: It does not matter how good for me tofu may be, or how many times it got to my refrigerator, if I could not get it down my mouth, trying to make myself eat it was a useless goal. Now when choosing changes to eating, exercise, etc, I start with what am I likely to actually do.

Be Like Water: The Philosophy and Origin of Bruce Lee’s Famous Metaphor for Resilience

“In order to control myself I must first accept myself by going with and not against my nature.”

With his singular blend of physical prowess and metaphysical wisdom, coupled with his tragic untimely death, legendary Chinese- martial artist, philosopher, and filmmaker Bruce Lee (1940-1973) is one of those rare cultural icons whose ethos and appeal remain timeless, attracting generation after generation of devotees. Inspired by the core principles of Wing Chun, the ancient Chinese conceptual martial art, which he learned from his only formal martial arts teacher, Yip Man, between the ages of thirteen and eighteen. When he left Hong Kong in 1959, Lee adapted Wing Chun into his own version, Jun Fan Gung Fu – literal translation: Bruce Lee’s Kung Fu – and popularized it in America. (I bought his book this morning.)