Your One Inch Punch

Preface

"Defeat is a state of mind; no one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality."

–Bruce Lee

In 1964 at the Long Beach International Karate Championships Bruce Lee shocked the world by demonstrating the application of his power and technique with the execution of a unique exercise involving his famous one inch punch. 

This was an impressive feat as Bruce Lee demonstrated that the punch was initiated towards an opponent at a distance of less than finger length, yet it still produced a substantial amount of punching power that sent a sizeable man that was involved in the demonstration flying backwards into a chair and sliding across the floor of the arena. 

As shocking as this was to the audience Bruce took it a step further as he then invited Karate legend Joe Lewis onto the floor to perform the movement again on him so that he could experience it firsthand. The idea here was that if there was any doubt about the technique then that doubt would be eliminated by successfully performing the maneuver on arguably one of the greatest Karate fighters of all time with Lewis being a solid test and challenge. The result was the same and as the two legends shook hands after the feat the one inch punch was immortalized throughout the martial arts world. 

Such an impressive individual feat that was demonstrated by the great Bruce Lee was the product and end result of many years of study, training, focus, and creativity that culminated into a singular moment that left the martial arts world in awe. 

As a GenXer and martial arts practitioner myself I can say that Bruce Lee was a huge influence on my life and, like many GenXers saw, he was a symbol of positive strength and one that was trained and designed for the full purpose of teaching others on how to overcome life adversity. 

At least this was the impact of his attitude and influence on me as the way that I interpreted it. Regardless, that same influence in many ways is why I write and engage in this hostile arena of a culture now that’s currently on fire along with the burning world we all reside in that surrounds that very culture. 

You see Bruce Lee wasn’t just a martial artist, but he was also a teacher, philosopher, and writer. His discipline towards experimenting with different aspects of physical fitness, fighting, and the human will was a noble cause that not only brought him success, but brought success to those around him. In short, he contributed to the world in order to make the world a better place by advocating for the advancement and growth of the individual. He strongly encouraged individual expression. 

Sadly enough in today’s world we’ve become a society where individuality has given way to the herd mentality and this is a big reason why society is in the shape that it’s in because people tend to follow the direction of the crowd a lot faster than they will rely on their own instincts and problem solving abilities to handle many life situations. 

The reason many people tend to follow the crowd so quickly is because they’ve been conditioned to follow the crowd through the education system which has cultivated this culture that has favored this type of groupthink over individual expression now for many decades. 

The Elimination of Individual Sustainability

I’ve been in the fitness business as a fitness and strength coach now for well over twenty years and I have noticed this trend of thinking with many people over the years that get entrapped by the herd mentality and often don’t even realize it. 

As if the pandemic wasn’t a big enough example of bringing such an observation into focus I’ll part from that example for the moment and give you another example that you can marinate on for a while after reading this article. 

You see, part of my business is that I develop physical training programs for people of all ages and from a variety of different backgrounds. Many of the students that I train consist of being self-employed while others have successful careers inside the corporate world in a variety of different fields. 

For the sake of discussion and to communicate my point here I want to focus on those people who have careers inside the corporate world of big business.

Over the years I’ve noticed a common theme with many students, friends, and even family members in regards to them working within the model of the corporate world. 

The theme I’m referring to isn’t a positive theme and it’s one that often every single one of the people I know communicate to me in one form or another on a regular basis. The theme, or problem, that I’m referring to often has to do with the reality that unnecessary drama is often caused by other people within the corporate structure due to the fact that they invest more energy and time placing more emphasis on trying to impress someone above them rather than doing what’s best for the company. 

As a result of these actions the people that want to perform and do well end up having to deal with unnecessary drama and are often directly prevented from doing their jobs and being afforded the opportunity to perform for their company in a way that would be mutually beneficial for them and their employer.  

In my best observation as an outsider this is a common problem within the structure of big corporations where the motivation for big business to perform is often replaced with a culture of bureaucracy along with the direct inhibition of ambition in regards to individual performance. In short, there is a common environment that has eliminated the prospect of the individual’s ability to sustain themselves within their profession because they are simply being seen as a cog in the wheel rather than being viewed as a shining prospect of opportunity. 

Not only is this NOT a myth, but we’ve witnessed the world of big business regularly toss out the idea of meritocracy while replacing it with an identity that fuels the herd mentality with the likes of DEI and ESG programs. 

However, even before any of this disastrous groupthink became so blatant with the likes of DEI and other disastrous social justice programs the herd mentality in terms of society at large was already cemented into the fabric of our culture which largely built Corporate America as we see it today.  

So you’re probably thinking Brandon, what exactly do you mean? 

Now before I answer that question I want to be clear that my intention here is NOT to insult anyone that chose a career inside Corporate America. Instead I am aiming to point out an observation that has become more apparent to me based on both my own experiences as a small business owner, as well as the experiences of those people I know who’ve worked inside Corporate America. 

I don’t know about you, but I can clearly remember a common message as a kid growing up that was regularly communicated to me by many educators that I believe laid the initial groundwork for much of the disaster we’re seeing with our society today. 

As I remember it, the message that was commonly being communicated to us as kids in school was that the goal should be to make good grades, to then go on to college to get a degree, and then to move on to getting a nice little job in the field specified by our degree working for someone else most likely in Corporate America. In a nutshell this was the mantra. 

However, in my view looking back this message was an obvious exercise in getting most of society to join in on propping up big business and big government. After all, why not communicate the message of going out to blaze your own trail and to start your own business in order to contribute and even propel society forward on your own terms? 

Once again, I’m not trying to insult anyone who chose to pursue a career in government or Corporate America, but rather I’m simply pointing towards a common theme that shaped the zeitgeist that obviously contributed to building up the government and corporate world to the disastrous level that it is today.  

In my view this messaging from the education system earlier in my life laid the foundation that probably misguided many in society that may have preferred a different path outside of government and Corporate America, but they probably decided otherwise due to the messaging that was coming from this corporate culture and this form of widespread groupthink.  

As a result of all of this I hear the complaints from many people in my life concerning the environment of Corporate America and merit has been thrown out the window. Granted, I believe this will eventually catch up to many of these big companies in terms of retaining quality help. Regardless, the reality is that many of these big companies that currently dominate Corporate America can withstand a lot of failure and turnover due to the fact that they have the money and resources, although I firmly believe that won’t keep them afloat forever. 

The Wrap Up

I believe that mantra pitch from the educators earlier in my youth of going to college to get a degree which was followed up with the steady encouragement to pursue a job in either government, or Corporate America was sold in a sort of way that it was supposed to be the “safe plan” to pursue. 

Although many may have accepted that idea to be a “safe plan” it wasn’t a plan that I bought into, or perceived as being “safe” at all.

Granted I did go on to college to pursue a degree, but I was never really sold on the idea of getting a degree in order to go out into the real world and provide all of my labor for someone else for the rest of my life. My ultimate goal was to eventually be self-employed and to use my labor and skills in order to grow my own business and to do my best in blazing my own trail in the world to create my own stability without having to rely on someone else for that. 

I will say that my journey has been full of bumps and bruises with what you would consider to be a serious learning curve and all kinds of growing pains, yet I’m still here and am writing about it for you now in this very article. 

Even though this was the case I’ve always been competitive in sports and understood that I was going to be tested. In that process of being tested I had also accepted that I would find myself in those moments where I’d have to prove myself just as Bruce Lee did that day in the arena with Joe Lewis with the demonstration of his one inch punch. 

In short, I embraced the mindset and idea of being more independent in my life pursuits rather than being dependent on some corporate suit to sign my checks and to dictate the direction of my life for me.  

I’m not saying my choice would be the right choice for everyone, but I am saying that I desired the opportunity to be recognized and rewarded for demonstrating the success of my own idea of a one inch punch and I would recommend that you seek, or create a fertile environment for you to do the same. 

You see many of the big mega companies that dominate Corporate America combined with this current federal government are transforming the country by trying to make the entire population with you and me as being nothing more than many cogs in their own giant wheel. 

The only way to defeat this is for you and myself to have the courage to support and sustain our individuality rather than continuing to cultivate big corporate sustainability. Many of these big corporations haven’t been tested, or challenged by new and fresh economic competitors because our culture hasn’t favored such an idea for quite some time, but I believe that’s changing. 

It’s our job to give big Corporate America their own Joe Lewis moment. However, unlike the passion and laser focused individual(s) that would share an inner drive and creative process similar to Bruce Lee I don’t believe this is a test that they can pass. 

After all, they’ve already demonstrated that they are allergic to shining prospects of opportunity and would prefer the ongoing groupthink mentality that has been eroding their culture of merit for quite some time now. 

We know this because they’re more concerned about what group you identify with instead of how well you can do your job.

Do you think the culture is awakening and shifting back towards embracing a world of meritocracy?

Drop a comment below and let me know what you think.

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