The ‘game of wealth’
By being flexible, one can look for different financial solutions that will match his financial needs
In 1973 the late Bruce Lee did not finish the filming of his last project, The Game of Death, due to his untimely death.
The original plot involves Lee playing the role of Hai Tien, a retired champion martial artist who was confronted by South Korean underworld gangs. Against his will, he has to help the underworld recover a valuable item. They tell him the story of a pagoda where guns are prohibited, and is under heavy guard by highly skilled martial artists, who are protecting the item held on its top level. At the base of the pagoda, Hai and his two friends fight 10 people, all black belts in Karate. While inside the pagoda, they encounter a different opponent on each floor, each more challenging than the last. Hai defeats the Filipino Eskrima master of the “Temple of the Tiger,” the Korean Hapkido master of the “Temple of the Dragon,” and, finally, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the “Temple of the Unknown,” who fights with a free and fluid style mirroring his fighting style.
The goal of the plot was to showcase Lee’s principles of martial arts. As each martial artist is defeated (including Lee’s allies), the flaws in their fighting style are revealed. Some, like the Eskrima master’s character, rely too much on fixed patterns of offensive and defensive techniques, while others lack economy of motion. Lee defeats his opponents by having a fighting style that involves fluid movement, unpredictability and an eclectic blend of techniques. His dialogue often includes comments on their weaknesses.
During his fight with Dan Inosanto, the Eskrima Master, he emphasized in the script the value of being flexible as illustrated in his bamboo stick as opposed to the wooden stick. He said his bamboo stick, which is longer, is more flexible and is more alive.
In the “Game of Wealth,” flexibility plays a major role. Although there are sets of rules to be followed, it does not necessarily mean that a person has to strictly follow everything. He can be flexible in his approach since a lot will depend on his present condition. It must be noted that what is good for one may not be for another.
This is proven later in the fight as Hai also mentioned that flashy routine is no match for speed…. It will be very difficult to match rehearsed routine with a broken rhythm, since rehearsed routine lacks the flexibility to adapt. I recalled Pacquiao-Marquez 3, where Marquez, smarting from their last encounters, was successful in breaking Pacquiao’s rhythm. He connects and Pacquiao misses. By being flexible, one can look for different financial solutions that will match his financial needs. If not, it will be a mismatch and the sure loser is himself.
Later in the fight, his ally decided to leave him fighting the Korean and go for the item, which is guarded by Kareem. Due to his greed, he lost his life. In reality, a lot of people succumb to greed and fall prey to scams, which figuratively kill the money that is supposed to work for them. Due to greed and the lure of high reward, people fail to think before acting, only to regret later the error they committed. It must be noted that a high probability of having a reward will have a higher degree of risk. If only Hai’s ally had the patience to wait and leverage on Hai’s fighting skills, he would have been alive and can partake if the coveted item. The same goes for the Game of Wealth. If the people have patience and look for financial mentors, then their finances will not be in a messy situation.
Reaching the top, he encounters a formidable opponent, one who has no fighting style. To Hai, this fighter is a mystery as unlike the others with style, he can study, predict and break the fighter’s rhythm. Here is where he must use his wits and determine the weakness of his adversary in order to defeat him. In the end, he was able to win when he discovered that Kareem’s weakness is sunlight. In our case, we need to determine first our enemy. As Rocky asked Apollo Creed in Rocky 4,
“Isn’t it you fighting against you?”
Most of the time, in the Game of Wealth, our worst enemy is us. Knowing ourselves is the key to winning this game. By knowing our weaknesses, we can then make adjustments in our financial decisions.
After defeating the last man standing, instead of going up for the reward, he went down instead. This is the most important lesson from the movie.
Here, we are shown that the object a person is pursuing is not as important as what he think it is; however, the journey is worth taking, the energy is worth expending, because during the course of his quest, he just may catch a glimpse of something of far greater worth than the task at hand. The final scenario can be seen to represent man’s greatest obstacle: his ego, which is what causes suffering and fear. This lesson, being fully alive in the moment than being materialistic, is the real treasure the hero had been seeking all along…
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Edmund Lao is a Registered Financial Planner of RFP Philippines. A sales engineer by profession, he is an advocate of financial planning.
Source: http://businessmirror.com.ph/index.php/en/business/banking-finance/30222-the-game-of-wealth
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