Writing Feedback / What Is the Depth of Martial Arts..? [3]

-QUESTION- excessive copy-paste removed.

naturalness and unnaturalness

-ANSWER-

The depth of martial arts seems to depend on who perceives it. According to Lee, the depth is between physical perfection and physical imperfection. However, to Lee's master, the depth seems to be of a wider range, which lies between physical imperfection and spiritual level.

To Lee, martial arts should be a combination of naturalness and unnaturalness. According to lee, the ideal is unnatural naturalness or natural unnaturalness. If one is too precise and makes every movement perfectly, he would be considered mechanical or too perfect; there would be no naturalness. By the same logic, if one can barely make any clear-cut movements, he would be considered too natural. Lee provides examples of ideal martial arts performers by talking about two of his students when asked who the best performer is. Steven McQueen is a confident and bellicose performer, and James Coburn is a peace-loving and calm performer. Lee did not get to choose one, for both of them were at the very opposite side of the range. Coburn was too natural, and McQueen was too unnatural. Lee probably wanted someone who was neither too bellicose nor too peace-loving. In short, Lee preferred a fighter who lies exactly in the middle of the range, who is natural and unnatural at the same time.

To Lee's master, the depth of martial arts is somewhat deeper than that perceived by lee. To him, the range expands further and there is more to being physically perfect; after transcending being able to make perfect physical movements, the next domain would be spiritual level, as subtly implied when Lee's master said, "a correctly executed kick is like a finger pointing away to the moon."

Comparison can be drawn between martial arts and painting. Since Lee and Lee's master have two different depths for arts, they may have two different criteria for a good painting. To Lee, painting, too, should be natural and unnatural at the same time to be considered a masterpiece. For instance, if a painting is too mechanical and cannot be distinct from photographs, despite the mastery of meticulousness, it will be considered too unnatural and artificial. By the same logic, if a painter is too lenient on him or herself and makes many mistakes, his or her painting would look unprofessional and be considered too humanly and unprofessional. Therefore, a painting should be of a combination of realistic portrayal of the object and a trace of human labor such as imperfect lines and limited colors. On the other hand, to Lee's master, a good painting should have seamless lines and should portray the object as realistically as possible. On top of that, the painting should be able to help the viewers evoke certain emotions or themes that the painting embraces. In other words, the painting should be able to spiritually inspire its viewers to be considered a masterpiece.

In conclusion, Lee and Lee's master have different views on the depth of martial arts. Lee pursues a middle ground between perfection and imperfection, and a fighter can achieve that characteristic by being honest and earnest. To Lee's master, physical perfection is the precondition of being a good fighter. To him, a great fighter should be able to combine his physical perfection with spiritual appeals.