Sifu Lee on Teaching Kungfu

The great thing about being a Kung Fu teacher is that it is about being a teacher of life, it is not just about teaching someone how to defend themselves physically. It goes much deeper than that. So being a chiropractor, teacher, or a translator is all relevant to Kung Fu & Martial Arts. A chiropractor will know how to heal the body from pain, this is extremely important in the Martial Arts. When you share your knowledge in Kung Fu & Martial Arts to others, that is teaching. When you study the Eastern cultures and way of life and share it with others in the West, you are being a translator.

We are not meant to be cogs in a machine who are designed to do one repetitive task over and over again. We are meant to be creative and artistic with many loves in life. That is why you have so many interests in career choices that you find it difficult to choose one. The beauty of Kung Fu & Martial Arts is that you do not have to choose one. As you practice… as you turn it into a way of life, you are simply living, enjoying, and teaching about life – you are not just limited to serving one specialized function.

A Martial Artist may make less money than a Chiropractor, but that depends on how successful you are. As a Martial Artist you can reach out to many people in different ways. The schooling required in order to become a Chiropractor I would imagine would be extremely expensive, if you put that into consideration, they do not make as much money as you would believe them to make. Whereas being a Martial Artist would not nearly cost you as much in schooling, so you can potentially live a comfortable lifestyle in that field.

Being a Martial Arts teacher is not just a dream that many seem to fail at, but rather it is not a common practice here in the West. They do not have a wide variety of schools that prepare you to be a full time Martial Arts instructor. They do not have the curriculum established. You cannot go to grade school, jr. high, high school, and college all for the preparation to be a Martial Arts teacher. It is just recognized as a hobby, not something that is seen to be a serious occupational goal to achieve, like a doctor, professor, electrician, etc.

They do not have the schools available because people here in the West still do not know what Martial Arts really is. All they really know about is sport, they know nothing about Martial Art. They cannot teach what they do not know. That is the primary reason many find it hard to achieve their goals in the Martial Arts.  They do not have the proper guidance. Those who are successful end up having to self-guide themselves. To develop themselves to be real Martial Artists.

Being a quality Martial Arts teacher is not a high paying job. If you are most concerned about money, then this is not the field for you. A big part of the spirituality in the Martial Arts is the balance between giving and taking. The more you make, the more you give. The goal is not to maximize profits in which to exploit others. You do not cheat people out of their money – you are fair in how you conduct business. Your success can grow through time, and you may eventually be profitable, but that is not the primary goal.

If you truly love Martial Arts, there is no other job that is more perfect than being a Martial Arts teacher. Real life is what you make it. Teaching Martial Arts is not just about giving kids self-confidence, it is about helping human beings grow to their potential.

I live modestly and I am able to make a living by teaching. It’s not easy, but neither is becoming a Chiropractor or whatever profession that requires an enormous amount of time for study and money for schooling. It may be better to work and teach on the side until you build enough of a student base in order to go full-time with it.

Yes, it is definitely a good job and yes, it is very realistic – much more realistic than you may think.

Without my notice, I had been training in Kung Fu since birth and all these years of training had led me up to this point, where all that I know and all that I have experienced is completely relevant to being in the position that I am in. I never planned to be a Martial Arts teacher, it just happened on its own. Sometimes in life you don’t plan for things. They just happen. I believe the key is to put your heart into what you love. If you do that, you should be fine.

– Freddie Lee

[via FMK’s Facebook Page]

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Sifu Lee on The Internet

The true desire I have within since I started practicing Martial Arts is to express myself as an Artist on a large scale. Without that opportunity, I would feel something within me would be in lack. Yes I would continue to practice while being hidden, but I would always feel something would be missing. I know Bruce had this drive & that is what pushed him towards Hollywood. For me, I have the Internet & social media, but I see that those in power are attempting to take away this Internet & our ability to communicate. The result would hinder much creativity in this world. I would then have to concentrate my energies on a local level but doing so I would not be enabled at all to connect with people who are miles away. It brings me great joy to see how I can connect with others in other states & countries through modern technology. I believe this to be nearly every Artist’s dream. To me it’s not even about making money, if anything, as a starving Artist you will always be spending money in order to share what you have grown to love so much, in my case it is Kung Fu & Martial Arts.

The simple label of “Tao” brings together so many people of like understanding. It was the Tao that liberated my mind from conformity. I believe I am here to complete what Bruce was unable to complete for the Martial Arts community. Yes it is an enormous task but I am willing to dedicate my entire life into completing this task. If those in power wish to take away the internet, it will be much more difficult to reach out to others on a mass scale as Bruce was able to do, as Hollywood would hardly ever knock at my door. But I see that publishing a few books will do, it may be so that some individuals may accidently discover my writings & possibly become transformed as what I have experienced with the Tao. In a library filled with thousands of books & movies, there will be the few that you will find that will guide you towards the way. But always remember that anything of great value is never something that is easily obtained. Continue on your journey towards the way, I will continue on mine, by doing so, our spirits will forever be connected.

Sifu Freddie Lee

[via FMK’s Facebook Thoughts]

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Sifu Lee on Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Mayweather (related article) is a great undefeated Boxer with over 40 wins in a row! That is amazing. If Bruce was a Boxer, he would box like Mayweather & Ali, if I was a Boxer I would Box like that too, utilizing grace, speed, talent & skill.  To dance around the opponent, not fight in anger & brute force.  But still, even though Mayweather is a great Boxer who is undefeated he does not inspire me, that’s all he is, just a Boxer, nothing more. Bruce & Ali were not just Fighters. They took their talents outside of their craft & inspired change.

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I am not inspired by Fighters or Artists who only fight for the money & nothing more. You see Ali & John Lennon stood up against the War; they inspired people to do the right thing against authority. Bruce stood up against racial discrimination; he inspired people to do the right thing against authority. Now these Fighters nowadays, they stand for nothing, all they want to do is make money from Fighting. Someone can win 100 fights in a row & it still will not impress me if he does not seek to make this world a better place.

Freddie Lee

“Thoughts via FMK Facebook“

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Boredom with Exercise : Sifu Lee

In order to achieve elite physical potential, one must liberate oneself from the feeling of boredom while exercising.  The foundational exercises to maintain a healthy state of physicality are simple and if an individual cannot be satisfied with this simplicity then there can never be enough “new” exercises to alleviate this persons feeling of boredom.  In order to be a great basketball player, a person cannot get “bored” of shooting.  The person would literally have to shoot thousands shots before achieving his true potential.  In order to become a great boxer, a person cannot get “bored” of punching.  The person would have to punch thousands of times in order to become great.  With exercising and physical fitness, it is the same concept.

If a person who is unfit wishes to become healthy and fit, the person cannot be bored of exercising.  If this person becomes bored, this person will eventually lose his interest to exercise and never become fit and healthy until he has learned to free himself from this inner feeling of boredom.  No personal trainer in this world can ever come up with enough varieties of exercise to satisfy a clients feeling of boredom.  Any and all exercises are simply variations from the foundational exercises that are required to achieve elite physical potential.

For example the foundational exercise to maintain cardio endurance is running, any other cardio exercise that heightens the heart rate is just a variation to the foundation.  No matter if it is biking, swimming, using the elliptical, using a stationary bike, jumping rope, doing jumping jacks, etc.  In order to achieve elite physical potential, one cannot become dependent on variations due to simply being bored of the foundation.  Many times a person will use excuses to not exercise because he does not have access to certain training equipment that he has become dependent on.  A swimmer may not exercise because the swimming pool has closed for the day.  A biker may not exercise because his bike had a flat tire.  An individual who frequents the gym may become dependent on an elliptical machine and will only exercise when she has access to an elliptical.  All these are examples of different forms of dependency that provide excuses for individuals to not exercise.  If one is satisfied with the foundation, which is running, then one always maintains cardio fitness no matter the location or circumstances.  One can run indoors, one can run outdoors, and one can run in place.  One is not dependent on other variations of cardio fitness; one is satisfied with the foundation.  This foundation will allow an individual to maintain cardio fitness for the entirety of one’s life.

In order to achieve elite cardio fitness, a runner must take thousands of steps.  In order to develop muscular strength in the chest and arms, an individual must practice thousands of pushups.  Being bored of certain exercises simply is not an adequate excuse to stop exercising, one simply needs to liberate oneself from any feeling of boredom and learn to appreciate and find joy in practicing the foundational exercises necessary to maintain physical fitness.  The truth to exercising and staying fit is that it is simple.  Others just wish to make you think that it is complicated so that they can somehow turn it into a profession in order to make profits.  What the majority of the population really lacks is not how to stay fit and healthy but rather the lack is in the motivation and discipline in which to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

– Sifu Freddie Lee

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Being Proficient In Combat : By: Sifu Lee

Ultimately Martial Arts should be for health preservation and spiritualism.  But it is my firm belief that a Marital Artist MUST be proficient in defending himself from a violent encounter.  And with that expectation, it requires very much physical training, technique training, cardio training, strength training, flexibility training, etc.  Basically a true Martial Artist should train like a competition fighter but do not compete.  It’s very easy for a weak inefficient Martial Artist to promote mental and spiritual development over physical development because they have the luxury of skipping a very important aspect that requires years of development.  To me, they are not complete.   In order to be complete and balanced a true Martial Artist must go through hard physical training, become extremely proficient in self defense, and then come to the realization that there is no need to fight.  As mostly all fights occur within the mind between the ego and the true inner spirit.

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We must realize the clear distinction between a Martial Artist and a Wise Sage.  For example Lao-Tzu, Buddha, J.Krishnamurti, and Osho are not Martial Artists, they are great spiritual sages.  Mentally and spiritually strong but physically weak.  Now someone like Bruce Lee, is a balanced Martial Artist.  As a disciple one must decide for oneself which path he wishes to partake in.  Does he wish to be a Wise Sage or does he wish to be a Martial Artist who has become a Wise Sage?  A disciple can skip over the physical if he wishes and come to the realization that physical combat training is no longer necessary, but if he does so, then he would no longer be a Martial Artist.  As specifically what sets the difference between a Martial Artist and a Wise Sage is that a Martial Artist has continued to realize the importance of self defense technique development and invests a balanced portion of his time to develop himself in that respect.

~ Sifu Freddie Lee

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