Dynamic Becoming: Reflections on the Philosophical and Historical Legacy of Bruce Lee [Paperback]

James C. Bishop (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2002

For the average person, Bruce Lee was a brief star in the entertainment industry who spawned a pop culture kung fu craze. What most people don't know is that Bruce Lee was also an author, scholar, educator, and philosopher as well as a groundbreaking martial artist, and a person whose creative energy and desire to grow brought him the respect of hundreds of thousands of people. Dynamic Becoming is the culmination of several years of research into the philosophy of Bruce Lee.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bishop is an adjunct college instructor and multicultural advisor in Dallas, Texas and a member of the Association of Humanist Psychology. He is the author of the book, Remembering Bruce. Bishop lectures on the areas of psychology, philosophy and Bruce Lee throughout the United States and abroad.

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Writers Club Press (January 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595215882
• ISBN-13: 978-0595215881
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,524,083 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Starting Pt. for Lee's Thought in Acad. Conversations, April 22, 2002

By 

Donnel Miller-mutia "curious thinker" (Richmond, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dynamic Becoming: Reflections on the Philosophical and Historical Legacy of Bruce Lee (Paperback)

Since this book takes Lee as an intellectual very seriously, it is a good resource for students in philosophy and theology, such as myself, who draw on his thought in their writings. I've been trying to find a book that would list the books in Lee's personal library, and I've found one.

It's inspiring to know that there are academics like Bishop who are interested in giving space to Lee's thought in academic discussions in Philosophy or Theology.

With regards to Lee's relationship with the non-martial art world (i.e., those who don't know or have no interest in the significance of the "straight blast" in JKD), I agree with John Little who, in this book, says that there are more people who can learn from Lee's "motivational philosophy" than from efficient self-defense techniques.

Student of Pacific School of Religion
(Graduate Theological Union) in Berkeley, CA.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a Favorable Review, January 5, 2003

By 

Ken Bomar (Bakersfield, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dynamic Becoming: Reflections on the Philosophical and Historical Legacy of Bruce Lee (Paperback)

I was challenged in reading Mr. Bishop's book not because of his academic ability, but because I had to respect his objectivity yet respect for the subject and the phenonenon of Bruce Lee. i do know what a pak sao and straight blast are. And I still found the book essential in understanding those concepts and activities as well as the activities of people in the JKD world. Perhaps this is why Mr. Lee dissolved his organizations before he died. Still, i was troubled by Mr. Bishop's compartimentalization and fragmentation, if you will, of martial arts from martial arts philosophy. They are inextricable and essential to understanding the whole. Until one experinces the martial art he left to many of his students, it will be difficult to understand how martial arts is not pugilism.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lot of new Information!, March 13, 2002

By 

David Priluck (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dynamic Becoming: Reflections on the Philosophical and Historical Legacy of Bruce Lee (Paperback)

I was quite surprised by this book. It had a lot of new information about Bruce Lee and the people associated with him that I had never read before. I particularly liked the list of books that he owned. It was interesting seeing what types of stuff he read. I also liked all the discoveries that Bishop made about things that have been published under Bruce Lee's name that are not Bruce Lee's words. Some of them were very surprising.