Bruce Lee Podcast

This episode airs the day before what would have been Bruce Lee’s 80th birthday and so Shannon is thrilled to have as her guest, one of her father’s dear friends, students and co-stars, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Kareem is a legend in his own right. He was a student playing basketball for UCLA when he and Bruce Lee first became friends. He went on, of course, to become the NBA's all-time leading scorer. Kareem is a global icon that changed the game of professional basketball and went on to become a New York Times best-selling author, Emmy nominated filmmaker, 5x award-winning columnist for The Hollywood Reporter, and also writes regularly for The Los Angeles Times and The Guardian newspapers. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, our nations highest civilian honor by President Obama in 2016. Kareem also serves as the chairman of his Skyhook Foundation bringing outdoor environmental learning opportunities to underserved communities. See links below to connect Kareem and his many phenomenal accomplishment

On this week’s episode of the Bruce Lee Podcast, Shannon engages in conversation with Vietnamese American filmmaker Bao Nguyen. She first met Bao when she went to see the directorial debut of his documentary film Live From New York about Saturday Night Live in 2015. Bao was wanting to make a documentary about Bruce Lee way back then and they began talking about that possibility. One thing led to another and that project stalled out over time, as projects do, and Shannon wasn’t sure they would ever work together. But Bao’s passion for the subject matter and his tenacity to find a way to get it done, led to the creation of an ESPN 30 for 30 film called, none other than, Be Water. Bao interviewed Shannon for the project and asked her to read some of her father’s quotes throughout the film, but this film was all his vision. And the end result is beautiful. In this episode Shannon and Bao talk about how they became better friends as the film was taking shape, his be like water journey through the making of the fil

On this week’s episode of the Bruce Lee Podcast, Shannon’s guest is musician and wellness activist Khnum Ibomu also known as Stic. Stic is part of the duo known as dead prez as well as being a solo artist, producer, speaker, long distance running coach and author. His life experiences have led him to focus his life and music on promoting wellness and healthy living. Stic is someone who we at the Bruce Lee Family Companies have been in contact with for quite some time. He’s a martial artist and jeet kune do practitioner himself, and is an all around lovely soul whose friendship Shannon is grateful for. Stic has his own health and wellness podcast through his lifestyle and holistic brand RBG Fit Club and if you are looking for music to workout to, well look no more - his albums the Workout and the Workout II are here to keep you moving with his brand of music he calls “fit hop”. Check out the show notes for today’s episode to learn more about Stic and how to connect with him while listening to Shannon and him d

On this week’s episode of the Bruce Lee Podcast, Shannon’s guest is mountaineer and activist and dear friend of hers, Wasfia Nazreen. Wasfia and Shannon met last year at a conference they both were speaking at and they immediately connected. As it turns out, Wasfia had just moved to LA so they were able to hang out. Shannon soon learned that Wasfia is leading a full and extraordinary life. She is most known for being the ONLY Bangladeshi and first Bengali in the world to climb the Seven Summits – which are the highest mountains of every continent. Including Chomolungma (that’s Mount Everest to those of us who only know the colonialized name). Her passion, however, has always been driven by causes close to her heart, which are grounded in a strong foundation of meditation and self-realization practices. An outspoken activist since her late teens, Wasfia has risked everything for the causes she believes in. She has had the good fortune to learn meditation from some of the foremost teachers of our time, includin

On this week’s episode of the Bruce Lee Podcast, Shannon’s guest is actor and Warrior leading cast member, Andrew Koji. Andrew plays Ah Sahm on the Cinemax series Warrior based on Bruce Lee’s treatment. Shannon met Andrew for the first time in his casting session for the show, which she executive produces. Andrew has done such a great job of bringing his own artistry to the role that Bruce Lee would have played without trying at all to imitate him. He showed up in his full soulfulness and genuineness and won the role. Since being cast, Shannon has had the privilege of getting to know Andrew. Andrew is a good egg, as they say, a hard worker, and a thoughtful man. That soulfulness felt in the audition is real! He pushes himself to be better in his craft and in his life, and it’s working. Andrew will be getting to share his talents in the upcoming film Bullet Train opposite Brad Pitt, but you can catch him now in season 2 of Warrior on Cinemax Friday nights. Andrew resides in London and after a few technical dif

On episode 2 of the Bruce Lee Podcast, Shannon engages in conversation with middleweight UFC mixed martial artist Uriah Hall. Uriah and Shannon became friends last year when they met in New York at an event for Shannon’s tv show Warrior, and they hit it off immediately. Uriah is getting ready to step into the octagon with his long time idol Anderson Silva on October 31st  2020.  Considered one of the most devastatingly dynamic fighters out there, Shannon was reminded of this passage in her book: “Martial arts is a perfect metaphor for life. There are few disciplines where the stakes are so personal and so high as in a fight. Proficiency in martial arts is the practice of keeping centered and skillfully responsive under the direst of circumstances: The threat of physical harm. When you have mastery in combat, you not only meet a fight with composure and skill, you become an artist of movement, expressing yourself powerfully in the immediate, unfolding present with absolute freedom and certainty.”  Hope you enj

On this first episode of the new edition of the Bruce Lee Podcast, Shannon engages in conversation with comedian, actor, dancer, writer, rapper, and music producer Affion Crockett. You may know Affion from his work in such projects as Def Comedy Jam, A Haunted House, the wedding ringer, or in the flow. But Shannon only knew Affion from conversations they had on social media before they sat down to talk for the first time during this episode. This conversation reminded Shannon of this passage from her book Be Water, My Friend, “In order to engage with what is happening openly, we have to be able to be fully honest and fully sincere with ourselves. We have to approach every experience head on without prejudice. If you can be fully present and honest about your experience you can begin to truly research it.” Hope you enjoy this genuine discussion about life, therapy, flow, creativity, and keeping it simple with Affion Crockett. Check out Affion’s work here: @affioncrockett on IG, FB, T Subscribe to Affion’s YouT

FINALLY! A new season of the Bruce Lee Podcast drops OCTOBER 15th! What’s new? This season, I engage in conversations with special guests from all walks of life about their approach to living life fluidly and the wisdom they have gained along the way. In celebration of the publication of my book Be Water, My Friend and 80 years of Bruce Lee awesomeness, I continue to share my dad's philosophies as my guests and I dive deep into the challenges and joys of being human and the best practices for living a fulfilling life. Check out this brief teaser for season 2 and thanks for your patience everyone! I can’t wait to share these conversations with you!  xShannon   For updates and to listen to other episodes of the Bruce Lee Podcast visit: BruceLee.com/podcast #BruceLee #WWBLD #BruceLeePodcast

New Episode! This is a special quarantine edition podcast episode from Shannon Lee. Originally a video, it can be found on our Bruce Lee youtube channel. Shannon made this "What Would Bruce Lee Do?" video as a way to be helpful in this time we find ourselves in during the Covid-19 Pandemic. She set up an email address at WWBLD@Brucelee.com (What Would Bruce Lee Do?) and asked her followers on her Instagram to submit questions. After answering questions in her video, Shannon wanted to share it as a special podcast episode for all the podcast listeners too. She hopes that this episode is useful and that her father’s words are comforting and inspiring during this time. We hope that everyone is healthy and safe wherever you are. For our show notes and to listen to other episodes of the Bruce Lee Podcast visit: BruceLee.com/podcast #BruceLee #WWBLD #BruceLeePodcast

In this special episode Shannon and Sharon respond to questions from listeners wondering “What Would Bruce Lee Do?” With a mixture of Bruce Lee philosophy and personal experiences, Shannon and Sharon discuss choosing career paths, clarifying Bruce Lee’s philosophy on goals, how to share spiritual experiences, and seeking validation from those you admire. This is an applied philosophy podcast and these listener questions are real life examples of when we can apply Bruce Lee’s philosophy to our lives. Hopefully these listener questions and Shannon and Sharon's responses are helpful to all of our listeners, especially when they wonder, “What Would Bruce Lee Do?”   Go to our show notes to read the full notes of listener questions and responses from Shannon and Sharon: BruceLee.com/podcast Check out our Podcast Bundle on the Bruce Lee Store! Follow us @Brucelee & write us at hello@brucelee.com  

The “On Guard” position is what Bruce Lee called his resting stance in JKD. This is the optimal stance from which movement can initiate. The On Guard stance can be used as a metaphor for having the proper stance and orientation in life. With this stance you are poised to initiate movement in your life. Bruce’s On Guard stance was a strong side forward stance. For Bruce, he wanted his strongest weapon out front. His stance was a natural step apart and his rear heel was lifted like a “coiled snake, ready to spring."  “The on-guard position is that position most favorable to the mechanical execution of all the total techniques and skills. It allows complete relaxation, yet, at the same time, gives a muscle the tension most favorable to quick reaction time. The on-guard position must, above all, be a ‘proper spiritual attitude’ stance.” Bruce believed that this position was the most favorable for the execution of action. What is the stance for you that gives you a feeling of centeredness, knowingness, and confide

We return to Bruce Lee’s Library to examine another book that greatly influenced Bruce Lee’s philosophy. Bruce would underline and annotate his books, and would journal about them creating his own version of a book report after reading. In his volume of Zen in Japanese Art, A Spiritual Experience by Toshimitsu Hasumi, Bruce highlighted passages, made notes throughout, and wrote a long note at the beginning of the book. This book, Zen in Japanese Art, A Spiritual Experience by Toshimitsu Hasumi, is about the notion that Japanese Art, or Zen in Japanese art, is a spiritual experience that is connected to nature, the Tao, the artist, and the viewer of the art. There is a spiritual essence woven within the art so that through the simple nature of the art much more can be felt. The first excerpt that Bruce Lee highlighted in this book is: “Art is the form-language of the human soul.” For the full podcast notes and excerpts from the book go to: BruceLee.com/podcast Check out our Podcast Bundle on the Bruce Lee Stor

What does it mean to be healthy in our mind, body, and spirit? Health is not limited to our physical wellbeing, but encompasses our mind, body, and spirit. In order to get to optimal health, we have to be willing to look at the unhealthy parts of ourselves. Bruce Lee pursued not just his physical health, but also his mental and spiritual health. “Health is an appropriate balance of the coordination of all of what we are. A healthy person has both a good orientation (sensoric system) and ability to act (motoric system). So if there is no balance between sensing and doing, then you are out of gear.” We all experience the issue where we know in our heads what we should be doing for our health, but avoid acting on it because it is hard or inconvenient.  “Just as the maintaining of good health may require the taking of unpleasant medicine, so the condition of being able to do the things we enjoy often requires the performance of a few we don’t. Remember, my friend, it is not what happens that counts; it is how you

“Don’t think, FEEL.” This line comes from a scene in Enter the Dragon where Bruce Lee is instructing a student. He tells the student to throw a kick, the student kicks, and Bruce says, “What was that? What is this an Exhibition? You need emotional content.” The student kicks again and Bruce says, “I said emotional content not anger! Try again, but this time with me. Don’t think FEEL.” When Bruce Lee says, “Don’t think,” he means, “Get out of your head.” When he says, “FEEL,” he means really feel into the situation and sense what is happening here. When you are kicking you are kicking a person who is present, you are not trying to perform the perfect kick. That is what Bruce was saying when instructing the student to, “Don’t think, FEEL.” Often we are not fully present because we are instead trying to categorize, calculate, and think of the next five steps, or the situation is uncomfortable so we mentally checkout. When you “Don’t think, FEEL,” you are turning your body into a sensing organism. What you are fe

Taking action, the physical act of “doing” can be like salve to the soul. It can be a tool, a medicine, a cure, something that actually leads us on a path to healing and what we want to accomplish in our lives. If we get caught up in our thinking and thoughts it can be paralyzing. In order to free ourselves from that paralysis we have to take action and do something. A simple example is just to get up and move your body. If your body is feeling stiff, get up and stretch, go for a walk, and by moving your body will feel better. The actions can be small actions; they do not have to be big actions. Bruce Lee was a philosopher and he wrote a lot about his thoughts and how he thought that life should be lived. He did more than just write; he put his theories into practice and lived his philosophies. Bruce Lee was a normal person who lived his own philosophies and became a globally loved icon. “Action is a high road to confidence and self-esteem. Its rewards are tangible. The cultivation of the spirit is elusive an

“Using no way as way; having no limitation as limitation.” The idea of being limitless was a core tenet of Bruce Lee’s approach to his art and his life. He lived the philosophy of being limitless and took action. The idea of being limitless is a mindset and a sense of freedom within one’s own life; it does not mean that you have no boundaries or that you are negligible of your environment or others around you. Being limitless is the ability to make the decision to be and do anything that is centered in your heart and in harmony with you and the world. You do not have to ask for permission or get approval from any outside institution, person, or society. Most of our excuses or rationalizations for why we cannot do something is us giving voice to a fear we have about it. Sometimes we limit ourselves because we fear criticism. It is inevitable that we will receive criticism when we follow our hearts, and that can be really hard, but it is important to stay true to our hearts. “Limitless means infinite mobility.”

Happy New Year! To kick off 2019, Shannon and Sharon wanted to share their goals for the New Year and have a discussion surrounding creating goals, working towards them and maintaining momentum. When creating and pursuing goals it is important to have awareness, intention, clarity, and the will to take action.  Bruce Lee was a man with many goals. He had big, visionary life goals and he also had smaller daily goals. Bruce believed that goals often just serve as a target and that the important thing about goals is that they give you something to work toward, but not to lock you down if something is not working. Goals are as big as you want them to be to facilitate your dreaming, but it should not overwhelm you or make you feel trapped in any way, you should have freedom to pivot if needed. Bruce had the big goal to share the beauty of his art and culture with the world. Initially, his path to this goal was to open martial arts schools all across the US, but this shifted as Bruce learned how he liked to teach,

Thank you to all of our listeners for a wonderful year! In this episode Shannon and Sharon reflect on the lessons that they have learned in the past year. We want to encourage all of you to look back on the year and notice your progress. It is important to not only look forward, but to reflect on what we have learned. The end of a year is a good marker to reflect back on the progress we have made and we wanted to share the lessons we have learned over the past year with all of you. Bruce Lee was big on learning: constant discovery, self-knowledge, growth, maximizing one’s potential, and self-actualizing. Bruce Lee was conscious and optimistic about continuing his own evolution. “Learning is discovery, the discovery of the cause of our ignorance. However, the best way of learning is not the computation of information. Learning is discovering, uncovering what is there in us. When we discover, we are uncovering our own ability, our own eyes, in order to find our potential, to see what is going on, to discover ho

This week we share wisdom from our podcast listeners. We’ve selected a few stories to share about how listeners have incorporated Bruce Lee’s philosophy into their everyday lives and the impact that the philosophy has had on them. Thank you to all of our listeners who write to us sharing the impact that Bruce Lee and this podcast has had on their lives! We love reading how you all are living your lives fully and authentically. We wanted to share these pieces of listener wisdom because they are all interpreting Bruce Lee’s philosophy for themselves and using their own words. These pieces of wisdom resonated with us so we hope they resonate with you too. It is awesome and amazing that you all are taking the Bruce Lee’s philosophies and creating your own recipes for life. Thank you all for listening and working with these philosophies in your own lives. Please continue to share your stories with us!  Go to our show notes at brucelee.com/podcast to read the listener wisdom shared in this episode. Full Notes: Bruc

“The autonomous individual is only stable so long as he possessed of self-esteem. The maintenance of self-esteem is a continuous task which taxes all of the individual’s power and inner resources. We have to prove our worth and justify our existence anew each day. When, for whatever reason, self-esteem is unattainable, the autonomous individual becomes a highly explosive entity. He turns away from an unpromising self and plunges into the pursuit of pride, the explosive substitute for self-esteem. All social disturbances and upheavals have their roots in crises of self-esteem, and the great endeavor in which the masses most readily unite is basically a search for pride.” Bruce Lee had a lot of thoughts around the notion of self-worth and self-esteem. (Many of these quote and thoughts are from The Passionate State of Mind by Eric Hoffer.) Join Shannon & Sharon as they dive into self-esteem, taking action, and feeling worthy. Find our full show notes: BruceLee.com/podcast Check out our Podcast Bundle on the