Synopsis: Bruce Lee’s famous “be like water” quote isn’t just a poetic line—it’s a guide to achieving flow state. The idea is to stay adaptable, relaxed, and responsive rather than rigid or forceful.
-Flow state shows up in art, music, endurance sports, and—at Lee’s highest level—martial arts, where training and instinct merge into effortless action.
-Lee’s approach emphasized timing, flexibility, and using an opponent’s energy against them. Over years of practice, that mindset becomes automatic, letting movement “find the opening” the way water slips through cracks.
Bruce Lee’s Quote Has a Message: Flow State Wins Fights
“Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it.” – Bruce Lee
Have you ever entered into a flow state?
You may have, if you are an artist or musician. The paint strokes and words come out of you surprisingly.
You remember your training and all the rehearsals, and the lyrics and painting have a way of leaving the body that astounds the viewers and listeners.
What Is Flow State?
Flow state also comes from physical activity. Run for a long distance, and you can achieve a runner’s high, especially when listening to music as endorphins multiply.
Muscle memory takes over and you flow to the next step, and a sense of wonder enters your mind that carries you to new distances unthinkable from when you first started.
Bruce Lee Had Flow State to the Max
Bruce Lee had that sense or flow state when performing martial arts. The image I have of Lee is of him wearing black pants without a shirt.
He glares at his adversary in a ready stance for fighting, with his left hand prepared to strike and his right hand curled up while motioning a “come here” gesture.
He seemed to believe that fighting was like a flowing of water that could find openings to rush through.
But Lee was also relaxed and even humble during a fight. He had respect for even his greatest enemies on film.
The feeling electrified his movements that spurted out with power and precision.
Lee’s flowing period was a stimulating thing to watch during movies and in his teaching.
Lee Inspired Many to Achieve Flow State
It inspired many young people to enter kung fu, karate, or taekwondo training. The idea is to use an opponent’s strength against them.
Flow state is achieved after numerous years of training. Lee was the giant of martial arts, and he allowed the “water” to flow “through the cracks.”
A Reluctant Fighter
Lee must have enjoyed his films, but his overall philosophy of martial arts was understated and minimal.
He was effortless and confident at the same time. Lee had no real enemies, even though his movies were filled with violence against adversaries. The master of his craft did not want to fight for real until he was pushed into action, and when no other way to resolve conflict was possible.
Adaptable and Not Rigid
Lee was adaptable to challenging adversaries. He did not focus on just one strategy during a confrontation.
He could move in and out of different fighting styles depending on the skills of his opponent.
He was flexible and not rigid. Lee was innovative in his combat style and used movements unseen in martial arts. He believed that strong and continuous movement could move mountains. Lee was also able to “empty his mind” in a deep form of mindfulness that led to his flow state.
Lee developed his own martial art, Jeet Kune Do, and starred in many movies, including Enter the Dragon and Fists of Fury.
Beyond the Quote: The History of Bruce Lee
Lee Jun Fan was born in 1940 in San Francisco, California, in the Year of the Dragon. His father was an opera singer, and Lee was born while his father stopped on tour. Lee got his nickname “Bruce” from a hospital worker. Lee started film work very early as a three-month-old infant stand-in.
In the early 1940s, his family moved to Hong Kong, and Lee became a child movie star. Beginning in 1946, he appeared in 20 movies.
He also excelled at dancing and writing poetry that would later influence his martial arts career.
Not all was fun for Lee. British students ridiculed him because of his Asian heritage. To defend himself, he started taking kung fu lessons.
His teacher was the famed Ip Man. Lee finally gave up on Hong Kong and moved to Seattle, Washington, to work as a dancer.
Lee thought that he would eventually become an intellectual. He attended the University of Washington as a philosophy major. Inspired by Ip Man, he opened a martial arts studio and taught his students Wing Chun.
He moved to California and opened up two more schools in Los Angeles and Oakland. This is when Lee’s creative juices took hold.
He was still motivated by Ip Man, but he wanted a more tailored martial art that he could call his own. Lee then developed Jeet Kune Do, translated as the “Way of the Intercepting Fist.”
Hollywood beckoned as word spread about Lee’s charisma and skill as a teacher. In 1966, he landed the role of Kato, a skilled fighter, in The Green Hornet. He even appeared in early episodes of Batman.
Lee kept teaching and was known for instructing James Garner, Steve McQueen, and James Coburn. Garner helped Lee get introduced to directors and screenwriters. The martial arts wizard then appeared in the movie Marlowe starring Garner.
Lee injured himself at one point, and he focused on writing while in recovery. “He came up with the idea that became the basis for the Buddhist monk TV series Kung Fu; however, David Carradine got the starring role initially slated for Lee due to the belief that an Asian actor wouldn’t pull in audiences as the lead,” according to Biography.com.
Lee grew frustrated and decided to try his luck back in Hong Kong, where he won a starring role in Fists of Fury. The movie was a huge hit and showed the world that Lee could carry a picture as the main character. Hollywood was impressed, and a role in Enter the Dragon followed. That was a great success, but tragically, it would be his last leading role in a significant production. Lee died of cerebral edema at age 32 in 1973.
Lee was a living legend and influenced many people to enter martial arts training. His brand of peaceful but violent (at times) charisma was inspiring to many. No one will forget how skilled he was as a teacher and actor.
The “flow state” force was strong in him, and Lee made people look twice at Asian cultures, and many ended up emulating the Far East way of life. Lee will always be remembered as a completely charismatic figure and role model.
He never experienced failure and was always an epitome of honor, humbleness, and grace.
About the Author: Brent M. Eastwood
Author of now over 3,000 articles on defense issues, Brent M. Eastwood, PhD is the author of Don’t Turn Your Back On the World: a Conservative Foreign Policy and Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare plus two other books. Brent was the founder and CEO of a tech firm that predicted world events using artificial intelligence. He served as a legislative fellow for US Senator Tim Scott and advised the senator on defense and foreign policy issues. He has taught at American University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. Brent is a former US Army Infantry officer. He can be followed on X @BMEastwood.
