Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

This is a good book for academic discussions on the philosophy of Bruce Lee, both in philosophy and theology. At last, there's a book that takes Lee seriously as a thinker.

John Little's comment in this book is important: Lee's thoughts might have more impact to the world (especially those who don't know what a straight blast or a pak sao is), more than his ideas on efficient self-defense.

A student of Theology
at Graduate Theological Union
Berkeley, CA