They say that Bruce Lee was challenged to a fight almost every day. He never lost. Hundreds of unknown fighters looking to make a name for themselves would come at him and give it their all in the hopes of being the man who beat Bruce Lee. The fight never ended the way they hoped and the legend of Bruce Lee grew with each fight. No one is sure how many people Bruce Lee actually defeated. I do know that one of them was Chuck Norris.
In an interview for Chinese Television, Bruce said that the challengers were getting smarter about how to beat him and that he was worried that someday he might lose. He said the challengers were watching his fights and learning the best ways to counter his moves. This motivated Bruce to get better to avoid such a calamity. Bruce concluded that eventually there would come a day when some challenger could defeat him, but not because the opponent would be better than he was, but because he would simply forget what he was fighting for.
You must be motivated.
Bruce Lee died without ever having lost that fight. The circumstances surrounding his death are sketchy so nothing I'm going to say would be the gospel truth. Bruce's death is like that of Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, Micheal Jackson and Whitney Houston - obscured on purpose to keep their legacy pure. Bruce died and that's all we need to know.
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Earl "The Goat" Manigault is probably not a name you've ever heard of. I'm sure you could google him and hear a few of his amazing stories which will then be followed by his tragic one. They made a movie about him.
Earl was the greatest basketball player to never play professionally. When we think of basketball we think of the NBA or college basketball; we think of Micheal Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson or March Madness. We think of basketball in a structured environment played by superstars who make it look easy. Basketball is made great by these people. However, these superstars came from somewhere and each legend had a playground where they honed their skills before they took their game to the next level. And yet... the greatest players who have ever played the game... never left his playground.
The greatest was Earl. The Goat. He wasn't very tall in basketball terms, but legend has it that in order to earn extra money he would bet anyone that he could jump up and touch the TOP of the backboard, which he did often. So why didn't this extraordinary talent ever play in the NBA? He never made it through school. Never even tried. Instead he took a lot of drugs and just let the legend of his amazing basketball skills spread in basketball circles.
Mr. The Goat said that he got good at the game because he needed to get good. He played games for money which he didn't have so he couldn't afford to lose. Eventually people began coming to him to challenge him to games just so they could beat him. He had to improve just to take down the best of the best who were coming from all over the country to challenge him. Then he felt he needed to win just to keep the influx of high paying challenges coming his way. If he lost, he was worried that the challengers would start challenging someone else to play. So Earl became an unstoppable bad-ass. He never lost these games and all of his money went to drugs. Eventually the drugs took him down, but his legend lives on.
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Like Earl, Lee Trevino was a hustler. But instead of basketball, Trevino used golf as his gambit. A young latino kid from El Paso, Texas, Trevino learned how to play the game by watching players he was caddying for. Eventually he bet the rich white kids that he could beat them, and then he had to beat them because he also didn't have a dime to cover the bet if he lost the match. In time, Trevino's game improved so much that he could play the game professionally. He said he still played like a hustler which is why he was so successful. Rarely do you hear about someone using golf to rise out of the depths of poverty but Trevino did it. He wasn't thinking about becoming a Pro, but he was so good that he had to play the best players in the world to feel that urgency. He won six majors. That's two more than Phil Mickelson and four more than Rory McIlroy (who is presently the number one player in the world). Trevino always kept in mind that if he lost he would be sent back to where he came from.
Trevino said that the people he would play had more talent than he had, but they didn't have care if they lost. It was their lack of proper motivation that made him successful. He said he never took one bet, one dollar or one game lightly. Trevino said this is probably why he has never been a good coach because he didn't know how to teach motivation to someone - you either have it or you don't.
---
You must be ready.
"Castles can fall by the slightest movement of a grain of sand."
In an interview for Chinese Television, Bruce said that the challengers were getting smarter about how to beat him and that he was worried that someday he might lose. He said the challengers were watching his fights and learning the best ways to counter his moves. This motivated Bruce to get better to avoid such a calamity. Bruce concluded that eventually there would come a day when some challenger could defeat him, but not because the opponent would be better than he was, but because he would simply forget what he was fighting for.
You must be motivated.
Bruce Lee died without ever having lost that fight. The circumstances surrounding his death are sketchy so nothing I'm going to say would be the gospel truth. Bruce's death is like that of Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, Micheal Jackson and Whitney Houston - obscured on purpose to keep their legacy pure. Bruce died and that's all we need to know.
---
Earl "The Goat" Manigault is probably not a name you've ever heard of. I'm sure you could google him and hear a few of his amazing stories which will then be followed by his tragic one. They made a movie about him.
Earl was the greatest basketball player to never play professionally. When we think of basketball we think of the NBA or college basketball; we think of Micheal Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson or March Madness. We think of basketball in a structured environment played by superstars who make it look easy. Basketball is made great by these people. However, these superstars came from somewhere and each legend had a playground where they honed their skills before they took their game to the next level. And yet... the greatest players who have ever played the game... never left his playground.
The greatest was Earl. The Goat. He wasn't very tall in basketball terms, but legend has it that in order to earn extra money he would bet anyone that he could jump up and touch the TOP of the backboard, which he did often. So why didn't this extraordinary talent ever play in the NBA? He never made it through school. Never even tried. Instead he took a lot of drugs and just let the legend of his amazing basketball skills spread in basketball circles.
Mr. The Goat said that he got good at the game because he needed to get good. He played games for money which he didn't have so he couldn't afford to lose. Eventually people began coming to him to challenge him to games just so they could beat him. He had to improve just to take down the best of the best who were coming from all over the country to challenge him. Then he felt he needed to win just to keep the influx of high paying challenges coming his way. If he lost, he was worried that the challengers would start challenging someone else to play. So Earl became an unstoppable bad-ass. He never lost these games and all of his money went to drugs. Eventually the drugs took him down, but his legend lives on.
---
Like Earl, Lee Trevino was a hustler. But instead of basketball, Trevino used golf as his gambit. A young latino kid from El Paso, Texas, Trevino learned how to play the game by watching players he was caddying for. Eventually he bet the rich white kids that he could beat them, and then he had to beat them because he also didn't have a dime to cover the bet if he lost the match. In time, Trevino's game improved so much that he could play the game professionally. He said he still played like a hustler which is why he was so successful. Rarely do you hear about someone using golf to rise out of the depths of poverty but Trevino did it. He wasn't thinking about becoming a Pro, but he was so good that he had to play the best players in the world to feel that urgency. He won six majors. That's two more than Phil Mickelson and four more than Rory McIlroy (who is presently the number one player in the world). Trevino always kept in mind that if he lost he would be sent back to where he came from.
Trevino said that the people he would play had more talent than he had, but they didn't have care if they lost. It was their lack of proper motivation that made him successful. He said he never took one bet, one dollar or one game lightly. Trevino said this is probably why he has never been a good coach because he didn't know how to teach motivation to someone - you either have it or you don't.
---
You must be ready.
"Castles can fall by the slightest movement of a grain of sand."
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