Wim ‘the Iceman’ Hof is a wonder of nature, a superman of sorts. He’s a man who incredulously bucks the trend by being able to withstand excruciatingly cold temperatures (that are likely to kill you or I) by regulating his inner/core temperatures with his mind. He has managed to, sit in a bin full of ice cubes for more than an hour, climb Mt Everest (and other mountains like Kilimanjaro) wearing only a pair of shorts and boots, swim 57 and a half meters under a metre thick ice flow (as cold as water gets without freezing) and run a half marathon barefooted and only wearing his trademark shorts in Finland’s sub-zero temperatures.

It does not stop there. It seems that Heros (tv show) is not so far-fetched either as the Discovery Channel has a series entitled the Real SuperHumans which read more…

Mr Roberto Sharpe is a martial arts guru, someone who has spent twenty five years of life honing his craft in New York. Over the years he has practiced Tai Chi, bagua, Xingyi, capoeira, judo, karate, boxing, jiu-jitsu, xuejiao and others.  What’s most notable about what he has to say concerning his art is that he has adapted many styles to form his own way of fighting (martial street art) which is more reminiscent of “western boxing” whilst still paying homage to the Chinese culture from which his main martial art (Tai Chi) is derived.

In the interview above he talks about his development as a martial artist and how this flourished into him becoming a full-time teacher and his martial arts philosophy. He says that its based on liberation - “liberation from crass materialism, stylisms and egoistic traps that we fall into as people when we become good at something” to quote him loosely. Like Bruce Lee, he has become so accomplished in the various arts that he has studied that he is now looking to free himself from their limitations.

read more…

One of the most common quotes that is helpful in explaining some of the principles embodied in Jeet Kune Do is “using no way as way.” Bruce emphasised the importance of emptying one’s mind of preconceived notions. He related this to any sphere of activity, not simply to the performance of a martial and was referring to the centuries of tradition and conditioning that can hinder an individuals’ progress along the path towards self-knowledge.

“Most martial arts instructors are so doggone stubborn, you know? I mean their attitude is ‘well, two hundred years ago it was taught like this, therefore it should continue to be taught like this.’ To maintain that type of attitude – I mean you’ve had it…You will never grow, because learning is a discovering thing. It’s a constant process of discovery.”

read more…

During his lifetime, Bruce Lee formulated a complex personal philosophy that was a synthesis of Eastern and Western ideas that promoted the virtues of knowledge and total mastery of one’s self. A clear example of this can be shown from Bruce himself, whilst talking about his son.

“Brandon is being brought up in the midst of two cultures. There are good points in Chinese culture; there are good points in Occidental culture. He will be taught to take some principles from one, some from the other. Brandon will learn that Oriental culture and Occidental culture are not mutually exclusive, but mutually dependent. Neither would be remarkable were it not for the existence of the other.”
read more…