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Be water, my friend.

Bruce Lee, Longstreet (1971)

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The story behind the card

Bruce Lee spoke this line as the martial arts teacher Li Tsung in the American television series Longstreet in 1971, at the end of a short speech about water taking the shape of whatever holds it. Later that year he repeated the idea in a television interview with the Canadian journalist Pierre Berton. The image echoes Taoist writing such as the Tao Te Ching, where water is soft yet wears away what is hard. Lee's own martial art, Jeet Kune Do, rests on the same idea: adapt to the opponent instead of holding to fixed forms.

Türkçe oku
Su gibi ol, dostum.
Bruce Lee, Longstreet (1971)

Bruce Lee bu sözü 1971'de Amerikan dizisi Longstreet'te, dövüş sanatları öğretmeni Li Tsung rolünde söyledi. Replik, suyun içine konduğu kabın biçimini almasını anlatan kısa bir konuşmanın sonunda gelir. Lee aynı yıl Kanadalı gazeteci Pierre Berton'la yaptığı bir televizyon söyleşisinde bu düşünceyi yineledi. Benzetme, suyun yumuşak olduğu hâlde sert olanı aşındırdığını anlatan Tao Te Ching gibi Taocu metinleri akla getirir. Lee'nin geliştirdiği Jeet Kune Do adlı dövüş sanatı da aynı fikre dayanır: Kalıplara bağlı kalmak yerine rakibe göre uyum sağlamak.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Bruce Lee
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