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Bruce Lee as philosopher

Email|Link|Comments (2) Posted by Joshua Glenn April 10, 2007 09:01 AM

Thanks for pointing out the Bruce Lee documentary, Evan!

Lee, of course, was not only a terrific fighter and charismatic screen presence, but a deep thinker. (He spent two years at the University of Washington in Seattle as a philosophy major, before dropping out to teach kung fu.) Alas, Lee's books are usually found in the martial arts section of the bookstore, but they belong in the philosophy section. Here's something I wrote about Lee-as-philosopher back in 1995.

"An artist's expression is his soul made apparent, his schooling, as well as his 'cool' being exhibited. Behind every motion, the music of his soul is made visible... A martial art is an unrestricted athletic expression of the individual soul." -- Bruce Lee, "Tao of Jeet Kune Do"

PS: There's been quite a bit of speculation, over the years, about Lee's mysterious brain swelling. How could a guy in tip-top physical condition die so suddenly? Was it a head injury, allergic reaction, stroke, acute liver disease, cardiac arrest, drugs, Chinese curse? Ever since 2002, when 28-year-old Cynthia Lucero died from drinking too much water during the Boston Marathon, I've had a different theory.

Hyponatremia is a sodium imbalance brought on by excess fluid consumption -- usually by Ironman types and marathon runners. As athletes absorb liquids while sweating out salt, diluted water floods the body's cells; swelling in the brain cavity can cause vomiting, confusion, seizures, coma, and even death. My diagnosis: Bruce Lee died of hyponatremia. You heard it here first.

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2 comments so far...

No, I didn't read it here first, I reached the same conclusion independently. But I will admit I have not read this anywhere else. Still, it can only be a hypothesis for the time being that hyponatremia was the cause of his death.

Lee would have been precisely so fanatic and disciplined, I think, that it would make perfect sense to go on a "no salt"-cure. Detox cures, now in fashion, can be very dangerous.

Posted by Mike Griebel January 27, 09 12:16 PM

Well, Bruce Lee was fascinated and learnt also about bodybuilding at that time. (collecting bodybuilding mags etc.) But ofc he wasn't bodybuilder,
and bodybuilding is all about body composition. Far apart from performance sport like runners or tri athlete and they know about electrolyte imbalance.

It is highly possible that Bruce Lee missed that part, cause he followed a bodybuilder eating habit, protein powders, low sodium, high potassium, lots of water. Plus he trained like a maniac.
Bodybuilders aren't the most knowledgeable imo, many things are just an outdated habit, like fasted cardio in the morning burns fat.

my 2 cents

Posted by Bosch April 22, 09 06:51 AM