TV Series Kung Fu

https://anuradhaedirisuriya.wordpress.com/2012/04/08/kung-fu-1972-tv-series-quotes-season-1/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung_Fu_(TV_series)

In 1972 a TV series called Kung Fu was made that all my generation watched. The best part of the series was not really the fighting but the jewels of Chinese philosophy that mostly came from a book of ancient Taoist philosophy attributed to the sage Lao-Tzu. everyone should read that. Above is a link of a BLOG that someone posted for some of the many sayings that occurred in the series. I was most impressed with this ancient wisdom. Kung Fu is not just about fighting, but it is about how to live your life. Ray Van Raamsdonk

Of all things, to live in darkness must be the worst.’ -Young Caine
‘Fear is the only darkness.’ -Master Po
‘Never assume that because a man has no eyes, he cannot see.’ -Master Po
‘Close your eyes. What do you hear?’ -Master Po
‘I hear the water. I hear the birds.’ -Young Caine
‘Do you hear your own heartbeat?’ -Master Po
‘No.’ -Young Caine
‘Do you hear the grasshopper which at your feet?’ -Master Po
‘Old Man, how is it that you hear these things?’ -Young Caine
‘Young Man, how is it that you do not?’ -Master Po

To hit a target… is to exercise the inner strength. Indeed there are two kinds of strengths. The outer strength is obvious: it fades with age and succumbs to sickness. Then there is the ch’i, the inner strength. Everyone possesses it, too. But it is indeed much more difficult to develop. The inner strength lasts through every heat and every cold. Through old age and beyond. -Master Kan

In the Shaolin temple there are three kinds of men: students, disciples and masters. Development of the mind can be achieved only when the body has been disciplined. To accomplish this, the ancients have taught us to imitate God’s creatures…. From the crane we learn grace and self-control. The snake teaches us suppleness and rhythmic endurance. The praying mantis teaches us speed and patience. And from the tiger we learn tenacity and power. And from the dragon we learn to ride the wind. All creatures, the low and the high, are one with nature. If we have the wisdom to learn, all may teach us their virtues. Between the fragile beauty of the praying mantis and the fire and passion of the winged dragon, there is no discord. Between the supple silence of the snake and the eagle’s claws, there is only harmony. As no two elements of nature are in conflict so when we perceive the ways of nature, we remove conflict within ourselves and discover a harmony of body and mind in accord with the flow of the universe. It may take half a lifetime to master one system. -Master Kan

‘Master Tae, What is the best way to deal with force?’ -Disciple Caine
‘As we prize peace and quiet above victory, there is a simple and preferred method…. Run away.’ -Master Tae

Perceive the way of nature and no force of man can harm you. Do not meet a wave head on: avoid it. You do not have to stop force: it is easier to redirect it. Learn more ways to preserve rather than destroy. Avoid rather than check. Check rather than hurt. Hurt rather than maim. Maim rather than kill. For all life is precious nor can any be replaced. -Master Kan

Remember always that a wise man walks with his head bowed; humble like the dust. -Master Kan

Weakness prevails over strength. Gentleness conquers. Become the calm and restful breeze that tames the violent sea. -Master Kan

‘Master, our bodies are prey to many needs: hunger, thirst, the need for love.’ -Disciple Caine
‘In one lifetime a man knows many pleasures: a mother’s smile in waking hours, a young woman’s intimate, searing touch, and the laughter of grandchildren in the twilight years. To deny these in ourselves is to deny that which makes us one with nature.’ -Master Kan
‘Shall we then seek to satisfy these needs?’ -Disciple Caine
‘Only acknowledge them and satisfaction will follow. To suppress a truth is to give it force beyond endurance.’ -Master Kan

What is a tree without roots? The deeper into the earth the roots reach, the stronger the tree. -Master Kan

He who knows how to live need not fear death. He can walk without fear of rhino or tiger. He will not be wounded in battle…. In him the rhino can find no place to thrust his horn, the tiger no place to use his claws, and weapons no place to pierce…. Because a man who knows how to live has no place for death to enter. -Master Po

If a man dwells on the past, then he robs the present; but if a man ignores the past, he may rob the future. The seeds of our destiny are nurtured by the roots of our past. -Master Po

Each journey begins and also ends. -Master Po

‘Ignore the insulting tongue. Duck the provoking blow. Run from the assault of the strong.’ -Master Kan
‘Are these not the actions of a coward?’ -Caine
‘The wild boar runs from the tiger knowing that each being well armed by nature with deadly strength may kill the other. Running he saves his own life and that of the tiger. This is not cowardice. It is the love of life.’ -Master Kan

‘Where is evil? In the rat whose nature it is to steal the grain. Or in the cat, whose nature it is to kill the rat?’ -Master Po
‘The rat steals. Yet, for him, the cat is evil.’ -Caine
‘And to the cat, the rat.’ -Master Po
‘Yet, Master, surely one of them is evil.’ -Caine
‘The rat does not steal, the cat does not murder. Rain falls, the stream flows, a hill remains. Each acts according to its nature.’ -Master Po
‘Then is there no evil for men? Each man tells himself that what he does is good, at least for himself.’ -Caine
‘. . . a man may tell himself many things but is a man’s universe made up only of himself?’ -Master Po
‘If a man hurts me and I punish him, perhaps he will not hurt another.’ -Caine
‘And if you do nothing?’ -Master Po
‘He will learn he can do as he wishes.’ -Caine
‘Or, perhaps, he will learn that some men receive injury but return kindness.” -Master Po

What is cowardice but the body’s wisdom of its weakness? What is bravery but the body’s wisdom of its strength. The coward and the hero march together within every man. So to call one man ‘coward’ and another ‘brave’ merely serves to indicate the possibilities of their achieving the opposite. -Master Po

Those who speak convincingly of peace cannot go armed. Those who speak convincingly of peace must not be weak. So we make every finger a dagger. Every arm a spear. And every open hand an ax or a sword. -Master Kan

In every loss there is gain. As in every gain there is loss. -Master Po

http://www.with.org/tao_te_ching_en.pdf

The actress who will play the lead has not yet been announced, but it is hard to imagine that in this day and age a Hollywood studio would want to risk the inevitable backlash that would follow were they once again to cast a white actor in the role – especially in light of the "whitewashing" furore that greeted Scarlett Johansson's turn in the film of Japanese anime Ghost in the Shell earlier this year. - The Sydney Morning Herald.

In her memoirs, Bruce Lee's widow, Linda Lee Cadwell, asserts that Lee created the concept for the series, which was then stolen by Warner Bros. There is circumstantial evidence for this in a December 8, 1971, television interview that Bruce Lee gave on The Pierre Berton Show. In the interview, Lee stated that he had developed a concept for a television series called The Warrior, meant to star himself, about a martial artist in the American Old West (the same concept as Kung Fu, which aired the following year), but that he was having trouble pitching it to Warner Brothers and Paramount. Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung_Fu_(TV_series)

For me, Martial Art is not pounding someone’s face into pulp. As you can see by the various topics on this website , there are all kinds of facets or aspects of martial art that can take you a lifetime to explore. We were given brains for a purpose. There really is no end to it all. But if your goal is to win an MMA trophy and then to retire then there is an end to that. Classical Martial arts have no end.