Applying Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do Combat Philosophy in Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery—7 Principles for Success

Abstract

At first glance, it may appear that martial arts and surgery do not relate to each other at all. However, martial arts and surgery are all one on the path of knowledge and self discovery. Innovations are constantly being developed; some techniques stand the test of time while others are relegated to history. Martial arts and surgery have also branched out for example boxing, taekwondo, jujitsu and wrestling for martial arts whereas surgery has branched out to ortho- paedics, paediatrics, cardiothoracic and neurosurgery to name a few. Some choose to specialize while others choose to be a generalist. Learning methodologies in martial arts and plastic surgery are similar. Martial arts students are the equivalent of surgical residents, and both have to enroll in a school that prepares them to be practitioners of their respective arts. In the last century, formal martial arts academies and surgical residency training programs have sprung up. The standards and entrance requirements vary from school to school as do training methodology and philosophical concepts. In this article, we seek to analyze Bruce Lee’s martial arts’ philosophy of Jeet Kune Do (JKD) and that how we can apply it to our personal path in Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery.