Jeet Kune Do for the Polymath: Life Long Learning

As I've been pushing this thing now called EduBacon, I've been researching Bruce Lee and Jeet Kune Do. It's an interesting approach to martial arts that can be applied to teaching and learning of all sorts. This is very much my own personal style to learning, though I have absolutely no training in such a style. It is to study, learn, improve, refine, be honest, be aware and be flexible.

Polymath

Wikipedia Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymath

A polymath is a person who has gone past the Jack of all trades. Rather than being a jack of all trades and master of none, they are a jack of all trades and master of some. People like , Einstien, Leanardo da Vinci and Archimedes were all polymaths, especially Da Vinci. Like the knights of the high middle ages and the romanticized versions, learning about social, martial, artistic, philosophic and scientific topics is expected.

Jeet Kune Do

The name translates to "Way of the Intercepting Fist".
Wikipeia Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeet_Kune_Do

Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do Documentary
1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4CVTq44icg
2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDCyGHmGP2k
3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lArIcs92rA
4) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGkgQuYtqtk
5) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07OurW8xllg
6) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeEf6O3dsXA
7) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itK_D7HxkLI
8) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg1VlaETzC0
9) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWrxFEEiB9k

This isn't a passive or aggressive approach, but rather an assertive approach. You move and flow with the events as they happen and when opportunity comes you flow into the opening. This is why the strike would be said to just happen instead of being done. You stay in a functional state of mind so that you are unhindered to express yourself through those things you have learned.

It is also a process of self improvement based on your current state. Absorbing those things which are useful to you increases your effectiveness. Rejecting those things which are useless makes you more efficient. Learn what you can from using that which is useful and grow. This is how you add your own touch to it. As you improve, what is useful and useless will change, thus you should not write something off because of it's current uselessness to you. Remember it, but do not be limited by it.

Wider Application

By taking the Jeet Kune Do approach and using it in a wider scope you can become a more well rounded individual. Whether or not the teacher helps you use this method, you can. When learning, they are not the important part, because they are merely the help for you to grow and learn. "Be real." Think AND do.

"It's not how much you have learned but how much you have absorbed in what you have learned."

"Man, he is constantly growing and when he is bound by a set of pattern of ideas or way of doing things, that's when he stops growing." Bruce Lee

I don't understand these concepts as something taught to me, but as something inherent to my way of life. I work on my body to work on my mind. I work on my mind to work on my understanding of life. I work on my understanding of life to work on my body. By starting in one area a person can learn about it in a narrow way. Having "mastered" it, they can apply that to other things they learn in a broad way. Then they can use the other things they have learned to gain a broader understanding of the first.

Learning Science Meets Game Design

"A few simple techniques well presented, an aim clearly seen, are better than a tangled maze of data whirling in disorganized educational chaos." Bruce Lee

This quote sums up so much of good game design and teaching. You give enough to learn without overwhelming. You make sure to properly share the concepts, ideas, with others. This gives the opportunity for the students/players to grow and learn through doing. This is where the knowledge gained through study meets the knowledge gained through experience. Those give the driven individual the ability to grow.

Have fun, spread the word and tell me what you think,
Igen Oukan

Jeet Kune Do for the Polymath: Life Long Learning

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