Exactly what Bruce Lee means....

On this Easter's Eve, in the good year of Our Lord 2025, I think of young Manny Furious, 14 years old, in the midst of his "awkward years," electroshocked hair leaping from his skull, eyes in a constant squint because dumb 14 year old boys think weird and untrue things like squinting constantly is less embarrassing than wearing glasses. I think of young Manny Furious on this Easter's Eve, because I think of him on the start of his spiritual quest wandering the streets of Rio Frio, half in a daze because he can't stop thinking about what Bruce Lee meant when he said, "Be water, my friend." 

"It can flow, or it can crash," little Manny Furious whispers to himself several dozen times per day. 

His father, Roland Furious, had failed to properly edify him of the phrase's meaning, despite all his best and appropriate efforts. Little Manny Furious was just too dense, too obtuse. He needed someone who had both the wisdom to know what "Being like water" meant, as well as the moral clarity to know that young Manny Furious needed the meaning explained to him in...well...special ways. 

Young Manny Furious, on his search, walked into the only karate class in Rio Frio. 

"What better place to find out the secrets of kung fu and of the Universe than in a karate dojo?" He thought to himself. 

He entered. The dojo seemed to him to be a kaleidoscope of bright colors--blue and red mats, white karate uniforms (which he knew were called "gis") which were held together with belts of varying colors--white, yellow, green, purple, red and black. There were punching bags of different colors, and some of the students were wearing sparring gear, with one participant wearing read gloves and headgear, and the other wearing blue. There was a mirror that ran the length of the rear wall and which reflected all of the colors back to little Manny Furious. In fact, because he wasn't wearing his glasses, all he could really see were the colors, and not the shapes in which they habited. 

The class seemed to be in something of a disarray. There were students in one corner practicing one thing (kata), students in another corner practicing another (side kicks), and students sitting at the edge of the mat watching the two in sparring gear getting read to spar. 

Young Manny was in close enough proximity to the instructor that he could see he was a paunchy pink man with a mullet and cop mustache.  At the time, little Manny assumed the instruct was "middle-aged" but in retrospect was probably in his mid-to-late 30s. He had a toothpick in his mouth and was wearing what little Manny thought was a bandana of the confederate flag, but this was primarily an unconscious conjecture based on the color scheme of the bandana.

The instructor didn't notice young Manny for some time. He was watching all the various goings-on of his class and muttering curse words under his breath. 

When he finally noticed little Manny the instructor asked him if he were looking to join the class. 

"I don't know. Maybe," said little Manny. 

"You don't know, maybe? What kind of response is that?"

Little Manny shrugged. 

"You don't know, maybe? My god. Do I know your parents?"

"Do you watch Bruce Lee movies?" Young Manny asked. 

"I teach Karate. What do you think?"

"When he says, 'be like water,' what does he mean by that?"

The mustachioed karate instructor became gorgonized in thought. 

"Well," he said finally. "It means you can flow, or you can crash." 

"That's exactly what Bruce Lee said." 

"Well that's exactly what Bruce Lee means." 

"That doesn't answer my question." 

"It's the only answer to your question." 

 But little Manny found no solace and no insight in the karate instructor's verbatim mimicry of Bruce Lee's philosophy, so he told the karate instructor that he didn't believe he, the karate instructor, knew his, young Manny Furious's, parents, and then he left the class and continued on with his search for someone who could tell him what it meant to "be like water."