The Warrior Within : The Philosophies of Bruce Lee [Paperback]

John Little (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1996

During his lifetime, legendary martial artist Bruce Lee formulated a complex personal philosophy--a synthesis of Eastern and Western ideals--that extolled the virtues of knowledge and total mastery of one's self. However, most of his philosophical writings could be found only within the personal library of the Bruce Lee estate--until now. The Warrior Within is the most comprehensive volume of these teachings, meant to help you apply Lee's philosophies to your own life. This unique guide reveals such life-affirming secrets as:

• Seeing the totality of life and putting things into perspective
• Understanding the concept of Yin and Yang
• Defeating adversity by adapting to circumstances
• Tapping into inner spiritual forces to help shape the future

With a foreword by Linda Lee Cadwell and photographs and other memorabilia from Bruce Lee's short but celebrated life, The Warrior Within is an engrossing and easy-to-understand guide to the little-explored world of Bruce Lee. John Little has been identified as "one of the foremost authorities on Bruce Lee in the world" by Black Belt magazine. He edited a three-volume series for the Bruce Lee estate and has written articles for several publications, including Men's Fitness, Official Karate, and Inside Kung Fu.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

While Bruce Lee is generally thought of as a martial arts specialist who made movies and at 33 died under mysterious circumstances, his public perception does not usually include that of a master philosopher. Little (Precision Training: The New Method To Achieve Optimum Muscularity, Power Factor Pub., 1995) attempts to remedy that in this compelling and interesting book, written with the blessing of Lee's estate. A student of Lee's "jeet kune do" form of martial art, Little was given access to heretofore unreleased personal notes, sketches, and reading annotations. What is revealed is a man who read extensively and was well versed in the philosophies of both East and West. Little arranges his narrative under such headings as "See the Totality," "Defeating Adversity," and "The Warrior Within." There is also an excerpt from an interview Little conducted with the late Brandon Lee (Bruce's son), as well as appendixes detailing Lee's principal works and a chronology of his life. While not an essential purchase, it is a worthwhile addition to public library collections.?David M. Turkalo, Suffolk Univ. Law School Lib., Boston
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

John Little is uniquely suited to the task of relating the philosophy of Bruce Lee and his approach to life. Little has a degree in philosophy from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, is the author of two books on health and fitness (having spent over fifteen years as a writer for several fitness magazines), and is himself a student of Lee's art of jeet kune do. Selected by the Bruce Lee estate, Little is the only person who has ever been authorized to review the entirety of Lee's personal notes, sketches, and reading annotations and to edit books on the subject of Lee's martial art and its far-reaching philosophical underpinnings. Little's keen awareness of the subtleties of both Eastern and Western philosophy coupled with a respect for the preservation of the essence of Lee's words and meaning give this book an integrity that is all too rare.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (April 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809231948
• ISBN-13: 978-0809231942
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,495 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #12 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Individual Sports > Martial Arts

More About the Author

John Little is uniquely suited to the task of relating the philosophy of Bruce Lee and his approach to life. Little has a degree in philosophy from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, is the author of two books on health and fitness (having spent over fifteen years as a writer for several fitness magazines), and is himself a student of Lee's art of jeet kune do.

Selected by the Bruce Lee estate, Little is the only person who has ever been authorized to review the entirety of Lee's personal notes, sketches, and reading annotations and to edit books on the subject of Lee's martial art and its far-reaching philosophical underpinnings. Little's keen awareness of the subtleties of both Eastern and Western philosophy coupled with a respect for the preservation of the essence of Lee's words and meaning give this book an integrity that is all too rare.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

70 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book that changed the way I see., January 5, 2001

By 

"[e-mail]" (Texas USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Warrior Within : The Philosophies of Bruce Lee (Paperback)

The book basically describes concepts of how Bruce Lee lived his life, and John Little shows how you can apply them to your life. The main concept in the book is to 'be yourself'. It is about easing up, and not adding complication to things that should occur naturally, such as in breathing. Do we think about how we breathe, and how to take a breath in and how to breath out? No, it is a natural process, and works its best when done naturally.

The primary concept Bruce applies is the empty mindedness concept. Instead of theorizing how to drink each time he drank, ie. hold a cup, tip it slightly, sip, Bruce says to learn to do this naturally. As in, you might have to learn it mechanically at first, but to truly drink or do anything successfully, you have to integrate it into a natural process, without you thinking about it. A quote that I made to sum the book up: "A man's purpose is to find himself and then become totally unconsious of himself."

A story used to illustrate that example is one of a centipede. If a centipede thought about all 1000 of its legs, and which one should go in front of the other in order to walk, he would be forever stumped. This applies to other areas too, such as fighting, etc. If you always think about how to throw a punch each time you threw one, you wouldn't be trusting yourself, and your thoughts would slow you down, it probably would be too late to throw the punch anyhow.

The book is about freedom, as in using what works for you, and not following in his or any other person's footsteps. How can you be unsatisfied when your goal in life is to learn about yourself? Among the only goals in life that can't be achieved is learning about yourself. This is, why in fact Bruce didn't leave an extremely extensive journal of all his techniques, because he wanted everyone to find themself, as he got to where he was at by not copying anyone else. He particularly disliked styles, because it prohibits true expression. A style only lets one to get good to the epitome of that style, yet learning and developing is ever constant. You don't use elementary math for high school algebra, as you don't use fighting skills that were developed for hand to hand combat in a war with guns.

My favorite part about the book was in accepting yourself. If you accept yourself, then you won't worry about what other people will think of you, or what to do here and there. Everything is much more natural and A LOT more stress-free for me. I read this book in about 3 days, and learned more from it than any other book I've read, and hopefully it can inspire you all as much as it has me. A few days prior to reading the book, I was struggling with an idea on how to do things. I let my mind clutter my head with excessive thoughts that prevented me from doing things such as speaking my desires or anything else that was on my mind. Reading the book, I've learned to accept myself, and I stopped being so self-conscious and act on my natural self. I've been able to speak freely now, and act a lot more freely, and because I've learned to accept myself, others are more accepting of what I do. This does not mean to be like animals, and act on emotions, but it does mean to act on what YOU believe, and in the end, become unconscious of yourself, which allows you to act fluidly, and truly express yourself.

A great part about this book is that it doesn't use inflated diction to show how smart the author is, and goes straight to the point. The content matters the most, and this book delivers in spades, unclouded by excessive wordings. Buy this book if you want to learn to live by your true self, and in the process, become more confident in yourself. If you found all the things I've put in the review about the book interesting, check the book out for more detailed understandings and other concepts on how to live positively. With all my heart, I definitely recommend this book, and although you may not get as much from the book as I did, who knows what you may get? Understanding is simple, yet tough.. a short process, yet eternal.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "MIND-OPENING" BOOK, November 16, 1999

By 

Grant Reynolds (Warrensburg, MO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Warrior Within : The Philosophies of Bruce Lee (Paperback)

This book proves that philosophy can be both powerful and relevant to everybody's life! I'm a teenage girl who has suffered from low self-esteem but Bruce Lee's teachings have opened my eyes to a whole new way of looking at life! Now I see and..more importantly.. understand that we are all the same and that looking at others as "different" or "better" or "worse" than us is truly the mind's worst disease. John Little is a masterful philosopher himself to have seen and presented such a deep philosophy in such an enjoyable manner. And with this book, he has shared Master Lee's brilliant and penetrating observations on love, relationships, racism and life. What a mind-opening book. I call it "therapy for the sane!" Read this book and really get to know about life.

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Timeless, July 21, 2001

By 

MSU_L1 (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Warrior Within : The Philosophies of Bruce Lee (Paperback)

I would like to thank the authors for presenting such useful information. A few things that really impacted me were: 1. Bruce Lee felt that to strike back to people who are aggressive shows weakness. 2. He really worked his stomach. I have worked out for years and once I read about his stomach work I felt the affects immediately. 3. I love his thoughts on stress managemnt. I always kind of knew when I ate junk food that it was somehow related to stress. Now that I practice stress reducing excercises, I eat less junk food and I have no desire to eat it. 4. I appreciate his philosophy on total health. Like I said, what I read has totally changed my ideas on a lot of things. Thank you for an awesome book!