I dated my mum on Mother’s Day to go to the movies. Being educated in Chinese, the most obvious choice of show at that time was Ip Man 2. I had watched Ip Man 1 and found it a good show and hence, I have good vibes about part 2 being good too.
Not sure if it is me, I tend to find meanings and principles in movies or experiences that I am exposed to. Likewise for this movie, I had learned some lessons from it.
I maybe poor but I am not cheap
I would think the most significant and moving phrase that was said in the movie was “人的地位有高低之分，但是人格不能有贵贱之别”. In English, it means there may be difference in social status, but there should not be a difference in morality between a rich man and a poor man. Being poor is not something shameful. A poor person must come into terms with his social status but at the same time, possess a strong and moral character, in order to achieve success. If a poor person mire in lack, he constantly feels himself as unworthy, and this man will forever be poor.
It isn’t more superior
It is human instinct to compete and compare. The survival of the fittest theory fits nicely to this human trait. Specifically to investing, I do not understand why people like to compare who is better, the trader or the investor? To most people, a trader is someone who go in and out of a market frequently while an investor take a longer timeframe in his investment. There is no official definition and it’s as loosely used as this definition. So are you better off as a trader or an investor? To me it is an invalid question.
In the show, Ip Man said, “今天的胜负，我不是想证明我们中国的武术，比西洋拳更加优胜。我只是想说，人的地位，虽然有高低之分，但是人格不该有贵贱之别。我很希望，从这一刻开始，我们大家可以学会懂得怎样去互相尊重”. By winning the fight against the British Boxer, he is not trying to show Chinese Kung Fu is more superior than Boxing. His point is that the poor should not be bullied and it is important to have respect for one another. In other words, no method is better than the man himself. Ip Man won not because Chinese Kung Fu was better, but because he mastered martial arts at a higher level than the Boxer did in boxing.
So it is not the method that the trader/investor uses that matters. It is how well the person master the method. There are rich investors and traders alike. So why say one method is better than the other? The only valid question is how well can you be as a trader/investor.
Family is your life’s goal
Family is the nucleus of our life and Ip Man emphasized it in the show 2 times. In the midst of sparring with Master Hung, the Hung family interrupted them. Ip Man then said, “你认为分输赢重要，还是跟家里人吃饭重要” (do you think winning the fight is more important than having a meal with your family?).
And after he defeated the boxer, the journalist asked, “叶师傅，请问你现在最想做什么？” (what do you most feel like doing now?”) and he replied,”我现在最想回家” (I want to go home).
The power of focus
A subtle lesson that I picked up was Ip Man’s ability to have a high situational awareness of the surrounding. This is why he can react quickly to punches and kicks. He does not talk much and spends his time observing and observing. He keeps calm at all times which helps him to focus on the important things. There are many things in life that distracts us, such that we fail to see what are truly important. In investing, there are so many ideas, opinions, formed by analysts, brokers and the media. By keeping calm and focus on the important things, we can see the real message through the fog.
We are all average humans but Bruce Lee said, “the successful warrior is the average man with laser like focus”. I couldn’t agree more.
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- Lessons Learnt as a Trader (so far)
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