The Greatest of Ease

from Hollywood Connect

At the beginning of this year, I started taking lessons in a Chinese martial arts form called Wing Chun. My sifu (or teacher) is my good friend, Brian, who is a man of many talents – among other things, he is an artist and an author, a pastor, a college professor, and a double black belt in wing chun.

I’ve been working on a film project that will require some martial arts for my role, and Brian very generously stepped in to help with the fight choreography and to whip me into shape. I’d always wanted to learn some martial arts. I think that maybe a part of that has to do with my genetic disposition, but if I’m to be truly honest with you, mostly it’s because, and I say this with all seriousness, it looks really cool. (Click HERE for a demonstration.) The precision, the balance, the fluidity of motion. When done well, kung fu is – like dance – poetry in motion.

I’ve seen a lot of martial arts movies over the years, going back to when I was just a little kid. At that age, those films left me 1) full of hyperactivity, and 2) with the same thought that washed over me any time I watched a film with one of my many heroes – Superman, Indiana Jones, Luke Skywalker, Robin Hood, or Rocky the Flying Squirrel – and that thought was an enthusiastic Hey! I could do that!

It was enough to fill me with aspiration and my mother with terror. Having on her hands an easily inspired son with a penchant for pointed projectiles and free flight, she learned quickly to limit my viewing habits.

Unfortunately, watching kung fu and doing kung fu are two very different things, requiring two very different sets of abilities, a fact that I’m learning under Brian’s patient guidance now. I’m coming along slowly but surely, but I’ve got quite a bit more practice ahead of me before I can say that I’m proficient.

It’s that way with everything in life, however, and it is especially true in the creative arts, whether it is acting, writing, film, dance, music or any of the other art forms. It can look pretty easy while we are watching it, but when we try our own hands at it, we find that easy has nothing to do with it.

That’s because all the things that are worthwhile – artistry, creativity, and faith, to name but a few – require focus, passion, persistence, attention to details, dedication to the craft, and practice, practice, practice. Talent, that wonderful asset that you and I both possess in our own ways, is only the beginning; talent is a blunt instrument that can be wielded clumsily or with finesse, depending on the amount of time, effort, and dedication the practitioner has spent with it.

Whatever your particular craft is, whether it is acting or dance or writing or kung fu, what will make you impressive is not that it is something that is done with ease. Rather, what will make you impressive is that you have undertaken something difficult and somehow made it look easy. And before you can reach the point of doing so, much like with my kung fu, you will have to stretch yourself, fall down a lot, and even take it on the chin a few times.

So as I sit here gingerly tending the large bruise on my forearm from yesterday’s workout, I’m reminded of this fact:

Good art, like any act of faith, does not come easily. The very fact that it is difficult is what, at least in part, makes it worthwhile. It would be a mistake to think otherwise.

All my best,

Shun Lee
Actor & Writer

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