x
Contributed by Guest Blogger of the week, Soomi Kim.
Finding your JKD (no, it is not text talk for “just kidding dude”)
JKD was coined by Bruce Lee to describe his “style” of martial arts. It stands for Jeet Kune Do. The translation being “Way of the intercepting fist.” In a nutshell it means "To absorb what is useful and discard what is useless."
One definition of JKD says: “One of the theories of JKD is that a fighter should do whatever is necessary to defend himself, regardless of where the techniques come from. One of Lee's goals in Jeet Kune Do was to break down what he claimed were limiting factors in traditional martial arts training, and seek a fighting thesis which he believed could only be found within the reality of a fight. Jeet Kune Do is currently seen as the genesis of the modern state of hybrid martial arts. This ideology can apply to almost any art form, world view, religion or approach to life. Since my link to the IT Awards is through Lee/gendary, I thought I would spend a moment to honor and share one of the subject matters nearest and dearest to Lee and to relate how JKD pertains to my artistic process.
Lee was a martial artist, actor, writer, choreographer, dancer, producer, philosopher and teacher. His movement background was based in Wing Chun, but he also trained in Tai Chi, boxing, fencing, Cha Cha dancing, as well as other forms of unarmed combat. The term hybrid has been used to describe work that is indefinable. Everyone has their own history, talents and skills. To me, what is important in truly and honestly expressing oneself is to find that unique link to your personal style. I believe it is really a worthwhile thing to deeply investigate and creatively explore what you are made of—to put it on paper, or canvas, improvise in a studio—that in turn, will be the germination of building your own identity.
My background to a certain extent parallels Lee’s: I am a theater artist, trained gymnast, coach, musician, choreographer and now martial artist. But how could I satisfy all these needs and different personalities within myself? For some time I thought I had artistic schizophrenia. Ironically, I had the good fortune in discovering my own voice through the long creative process of making Lee/gendary. That process began with my performing the transcription of the Pierre Berton/Bruce Lee interview at the Nuyorican Poet’s Café’. That then led to the collaboration with writer Derek Nguyen in creating the full length version of Lee’s story. I wanted to create a show incorporating the skills that have been the culmination of my personal history (or herstory) and to bring it to life on the stage. I found other artists who supported this vision and was then on another path of experimentation through collaboration. Working and developing in the Off-Off-Broadway realm has allowed me to realize this truly personal aspiration. I found my way through festivals, work in progress programs like The Field and HERE’s (now defunct) American Living Room Festival. This developmental process brought me to the most recent run at HERE that was awarded the IT Award Outstanding production of a play. Through Bruce’s journey I was able to find a place to express my hybrid art and personal JKD.
x
Showing posts with label Bruce Lee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bruce Lee. Show all posts
Friday, March 12, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
How about a window?
x
Contributed by Guest Blogger of the week, Soomi Kim.
I had never heard the now overused phrase “breaking the glass ceiling” until Hillary Clinton ran for president. But I can be a little slow... Anyway, the reason I bring this up is because a few of my Asian actor friends on Facebook asked (in response to the Academy Awards) “Where are the Asians??” I began to read and hear everywhere again “the glass ceiling has been broken” after Babs said “It’s about time” and read Kathryn Bigelow’s name in the Best Director category (by the way, was it really necessary for Streisand to be escorted down 3 steps?) Congrats to Kathryn for her well deserved award! But seriously... where are the Asians? I did see some Asian women in the audience dutifully supporting their nominated spouses. All I can say is, Asian American actors/artists are alive and well and thriving in the Off and Off-Off-Broadway world in NYC. Many of my talented, smart, ballsy (not to mention sexy) colleagues are busy thrusting their creativity into their craft, making groundbreaking, risk taking work. They are realizing that in order for the tide to turn, they must be self producing entities. The Asian American experience is such a vast terrain that no one can tell these stories better than... well, Asians. Perhaps I, like many of my fellow AA colleagues, became disenchanted with the less than interesting and inaccurately depicted roles that have been written by non Asians.
When I was a young budding actress I auditioned for many stereotypical roles. Needless to say, it left me feeling unfulfilled and ... weird. I knew I was not tapping into my potential, which at some point caused me to turn inward and ask “Do I want to be a pawn or a pioneer?” Around the time I was having this existential crisis, I watched the famous interview between Bruce Lee and Pierre Berton shot in Hong Kong, 1971. This was a turning point for me. Bruce Lee was the first Asian American actor/martial artist to star in a major Hollywood picture (“Enter the Dragon” shot in Hong Kong 1972). In one of Lee’s responses to Berton’s questions, he says something to the effect of “Maybe 30 years ago if you were to ask about a Chinese guy starring in a television show it wouldn’t seem possible. But now I say ‘maybe man’.” It really hit me that that interview took place about 40 years ago. Things are changing very slowly (not surprisingly) in the mainstream world of entertainment. But in the wonderful Off-Off-Broadway scene, creative diversity flourishes. My long journey in creating Lee/gendary (my gender bending multidisciplinary play based on Bruce Lee’s life) has brought me the gratification of being able to create a dream role and bring it into fruition --with the collective support and collaborative effort namely of writer Derek Nguyen, director Suzi Takahashi (IT Award recipient for Outstanding director) and composer Jen Shyu. Being acknowledged (2009 IT award for Outstanding Production of a Play) gives me confidence that there is a place outside of the commercial industry at large- that is pure and real; where diverse voices are heard without compromise. This is the place of genesis for larger things to come. My aforementioned lack of fulfillment and frustration has been replaced with hope. .. Patience is next on the list.
x
Contributed by Guest Blogger of the week, Soomi Kim.
I had never heard the now overused phrase “breaking the glass ceiling” until Hillary Clinton ran for president. But I can be a little slow... Anyway, the reason I bring this up is because a few of my Asian actor friends on Facebook asked (in response to the Academy Awards) “Where are the Asians??” I began to read and hear everywhere again “the glass ceiling has been broken” after Babs said “It’s about time” and read Kathryn Bigelow’s name in the Best Director category (by the way, was it really necessary for Streisand to be escorted down 3 steps?) Congrats to Kathryn for her well deserved award! But seriously... where are the Asians? I did see some Asian women in the audience dutifully supporting their nominated spouses. All I can say is, Asian American actors/artists are alive and well and thriving in the Off and Off-Off-Broadway world in NYC. Many of my talented, smart, ballsy (not to mention sexy) colleagues are busy thrusting their creativity into their craft, making groundbreaking, risk taking work. They are realizing that in order for the tide to turn, they must be self producing entities. The Asian American experience is such a vast terrain that no one can tell these stories better than... well, Asians. Perhaps I, like many of my fellow AA colleagues, became disenchanted with the less than interesting and inaccurately depicted roles that have been written by non Asians.
When I was a young budding actress I auditioned for many stereotypical roles. Needless to say, it left me feeling unfulfilled and ... weird. I knew I was not tapping into my potential, which at some point caused me to turn inward and ask “Do I want to be a pawn or a pioneer?” Around the time I was having this existential crisis, I watched the famous interview between Bruce Lee and Pierre Berton shot in Hong Kong, 1971. This was a turning point for me. Bruce Lee was the first Asian American actor/martial artist to star in a major Hollywood picture (“Enter the Dragon” shot in Hong Kong 1972). In one of Lee’s responses to Berton’s questions, he says something to the effect of “Maybe 30 years ago if you were to ask about a Chinese guy starring in a television show it wouldn’t seem possible. But now I say ‘maybe man’.” It really hit me that that interview took place about 40 years ago. Things are changing very slowly (not surprisingly) in the mainstream world of entertainment. But in the wonderful Off-Off-Broadway scene, creative diversity flourishes. My long journey in creating Lee/gendary (my gender bending multidisciplinary play based on Bruce Lee’s life) has brought me the gratification of being able to create a dream role and bring it into fruition --with the collective support and collaborative effort namely of writer Derek Nguyen, director Suzi Takahashi (IT Award recipient for Outstanding director) and composer Jen Shyu. Being acknowledged (2009 IT award for Outstanding Production of a Play) gives me confidence that there is a place outside of the commercial industry at large- that is pure and real; where diverse voices are heard without compromise. This is the place of genesis for larger things to come. My aforementioned lack of fulfillment and frustration has been replaced with hope. .. Patience is next on the list.
x
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)