In one of the episodes Chris says that his master teacher gave him a riddle while he was training and it took him 14 years to find out what it meant. Does anybody know what he means by "The sparrow never lands when the tiger roams" in relevance to marshall arts?
shareHmmm.
I assumed it meant you should avoid conflict or danger no matter how skilled you are. If you (the "sparrow") seek ("land") to use your training for fights ("where the tiger roams"), you will eventually be killed.
That could be too easy a metaphor though.
[deleted]
I just presumed that it meant:
When a sparrow is not flying it is more vulnerable to attack. Therefore, one must make sure that all threats (tiger) are far away or defeated, before dropping your guard.
JD
My thought was that it meant that you can not be the best, instead you should pick your fights to appear that way. I mean he did ask how he could be the best and that was the answer he got.
shareIn the art of war it says.
"The Perfect General is one who wins a war without ever having a battle"
(or something along those lines it's been a while since i read it)
It was an answer to his question which is relevent to the understanding of it.
His Question was "How can i become undefeatable"
"The sparrow never lands when the tiger roams"
It just means if you don't want to be defeated don't get in to trouble.
I'ld agree with this statement. Infact I have heard that exact sentiment from a martial arts instructor. If you don't want to ever lose a fight, never get in one.
shareI think you other fellas are barking up the wrong tree - that saying is the martial arts equivalent of "A watched kettle never boils"
shareIn my opinion his quote means:
The sparrow represents the (arrogant) person - Chris in his case at the time.
The tiger is a stronger person (as no matter how good you are at an MA, there is *always* someone better).
Therefore, the sparrow is better staying in its own separate existence up in the sky, way above the tiger that would surely destroy it, below. And no matter how hard a sparrow would train of course, it will never beat a tiger, which perhaps proves my point about there always being someone stronger than you too. :-)
In summary, avoid fighting altogether really. :-)
There's another theory I've been pondering though, that could tie-in more with the different styles of martial arts and the aspect of adapting to your opponent. Basically it involves the sparrow only ever fighting in its own 'world', never going 'toe-to-toe' with the tiger, but perhaps observing from above, working out movements then countering accordingly to outwit a stronger opponent.
I think it means that you should pick your fights wisely
shareBasically dont pick a fight you cant win!
shareYes, i agree, it is stay out of trouble and dont pick a fight.
At first i thought, the sparrow is trying harder and harder to fly and stay away from the tiger, as in the guy training really hard, but will still always loose the fight.
But then the idea popped into my head, that you should stay out of trouble, and walk away, thats how you will be undeafted and the best, as you can walk away. You will be the bigger man. When i thought of that, i just knew it was right, i had some gut feeling that it was correct
I always took it as "be aware, don't PUT yourself in obvious danger."
Another time in the series, Chris says "you may think you're good but there'll always be somebody better than you, and if you go out throwing your weight around and bullying people, you'll find them."
I think it was another quote from his teacher. As perhaps overly simplistic an interpretation as it is to simply not put yourself in danger, I think with the two quotes to strengthen each other (in my mind at least, they confirm each other), I take it as something along those lines.
I like this thread, some good thoughts bouncing around in here :) Least we all have some clue about survival, eh?
Kung fu movies are like porn. There's 1 on 1, then 2 on 1, then a group scene...
I think it basically just meant you can never be invincible, there will always be someone/something bigger and more powerful than you.
shareAt first i thought, the sparrow is trying harder and harder to fly and stay away from the tiger, as in the guy training really hard, but will still always loose the fight.