March 3, 2015

The Sayings of Bruce Lee

I read over these quotes from Bruce Lee and was amazed at how many of them apply to table tennis. I picked out the 30 most pertinent to our sport, in no particular order. I guess you can say that Bruce Lee is ghost-writing my blog this morning. Which are your favorites?

  1. "The successful warrior is the average man with laser-like focus."
  2. "Be happy, but never satisfied."
  3. "Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own."
  4. "Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend."
  5. "If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." 
  6. "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who had practiced one kick 10,000 times." 
  7. "Don't fear failure. — Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail." 
  8. "A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at." 
  9. "Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it." 
  10. "The great mistake is to anticipate the outcome of the engagement; you ought not to be thinking of whether it ends in victory or defeat. Let nature take its course, and your tools will strike at the right moment." 
  11. "Be self-aware, rather than a repetitious robot" 
  12. "Time means a lot to me because you see I am also a learner and am often lost in the joy of forever developing." 
  13. "The spirit of the individual is determined by his dominating thought habits." 
  14. "Life's battles don't always go to the stronger or faster man. But sooner or later the man who wins, is the man who thinks he can." 
  15. "Those who are unaware they are walking in darkness will never seek the light." 
  16. "Everything you do, if not in a relaxed state will be done at a lesser level than you are proficient. Thus the tensed expert marksman will aim at a level less than his/her student." 
  17. "Do not deny the classical approach, simply as a reaction, or you will have created another pattern and trapped yourself there." 
  18. "Obey the principles without being bound by them." 
  19. "The less effort, the faster and more powerful you will be." 
  20. "Preparation for tomorrow is hard work today." 
  21. "If you think a thing is impossible, you'll only make it impossible." 
  22. "Remember no man is really defeated unless he is discouraged." 
  23. "Practice makes perfect. After a long time of practicing, our work will become natural, skillful, swift, and steady." 
  24. "Put 'going the extra mile' to work as part of one's daily habit." 
  25. "Emotion can be the enemy, if you give into your emotion, you lose yourself. You must be at one with your emotions, because the body always follows the mind." 
  26. "Don't fear failure...in great attempts it is glorious even to fail." 
  27. "Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them."
  28. "A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer."
  29. "Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do."
  30. "The doubters said,
    'Man cannot fly,'
    The doers said,
    'Maybe, but we'll try,'
    And finally soared
    In the morning glow
    While non-believers
    Watched from below." 

Stepping Around Footwork

Here's the coaching article by Han Xiao, with a link to a short video everyone should watch.

Ask the Coach

Episode #87 (20:35) - Returning Serve with Your Own Heavy Spin (and other segments)

Jack Wang Credits Tournament Play and Innovative Training Techniques for Recent Success

Here's the story by Barbara Wei.

Richard McAfee Returns to India

Here's the ITTF story of his coaching course in India.

Texas Wesleyan Sweeps Texas Division

Here's the USATT article. Texas Wesleyan is going for its twelfth consecutive national title.

Knights Come Out on Top

Here's the USATT article on the University of Central Florida Table Tennis Team.

Sensational Rally Between Ovtcharov and Persson

Here's the video (1:18).

ITTF Legends Tour

The Legends Tour starts up again tomorrow, March 4, in Halmstad, Sweden. Meanwhile, here are short video highlights they've put together of some of the stars:

ITTF Video Channel

Here's the page - you could spend the rest of the day week month year your life watching these!

Panda Pong

Here's the picture, probably the only one ever that shows a Panda doing a proper forehand pendulum serve. Note how he's not trying to hide the serve, and even has pulled his non-playing paw out of the way? But the Panda kid hitting a backhand needs some work on his foot positioning.

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