Articles
Articles
Spider Strategy
Most animals attack along a straight line; the spider weaves a web, adapted to its location and spun in a pattern, whether simple
or complex. Once the web is woven, the work is done. The spider has no need to hunt; it simply waits for the next fool to fall into the web’s barely visible strands!
Couple this with Patton’s philosophy of command:
“Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity!”
Contrast this with The Ocean’s Tide:
It ebbs and flows so powerfully that no one in its path can escape its pull or move against it. Like the moon, you are the force that sets the tide, which carries everything along in its wake!
What about the Bull?
It is large, its stare is intimidating, and its horns can pierce your flesh. Attacking it and trying to escape it are equally fatal. Instead stand your ground and let the bull charge your cape, giving it nothing to hit, making its horns useless. Get it angry and irritated – the harder and more furiously it charges, the faster it wears itself down. A point will come when you can turn the game around and go to work, carving up the once fearsome beast!
Spider strategy wins, mostly when the fight is hard to lose and tough to continue but time is the key!
Inspiration
Should inspiration be derived or extracted? Can there be unending sources of inspiration? This quest leads to looking around nature! In acts of survival, live for the sake of living, we cant ignore the influence of components of nature : The FIVE forces – Sky, Earth, Water, Wind and Fire! It is interesting to see a warriors perspective on deriving inspiration from these five forces. An interesting compilation from various verses on strategy:
The Sky denotes the Ruler! Dont mess with it. Derive the inspiration of fighting the enemy by considering the vastness and the spread the sky has to offer. Be strong, wide, and clear from the ground without too much being distracted or detracted.
The Earth. The enemy is the ground beneath your feet. It has a gravity that holds you in place, a force of resistance. Root yourself deep in this earth to gain firmness and strength. Without an enemy to walk upon, to trample, you lose your bearings and all sense of proportion.
Water. Adapting its shape to whatever it moves in the stream, pushing rocks out of its way, smoothing boulders, it never stops, is never the same. The faster it moves, the clearer it gets!
The Wind. The rush of unexpected events, and the doubts and criticisms of those around you, are like fierce wind at sea. It can come from any point of the compass, and there is no place to go to escape from it, no way to predict when and in what direction it will strike. To change direction with each gust of wind will only throw you out to sea. Good pilots do not waste time worrying about what they cannot control. They concentrate on themselves, the skill and steadiness of their hand, the course they have plotted, and their determination to reach port, come what may!
Fire. By itself it has no force; it depends on its environment. Give it air, dry timber, a wind to fan the flames, and it gains a terrifying momentum, growing hotter, feeding off itself, consuming everything in its path. Never leave such power to chance!
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The Earth. The enemy is the ground beneath your feet. It has a gravity that holds you in place, a force of resistance. Root yourself deep in this earth to gain firmness and strength. Without an enemy to walk upon, to trample, you lose your bearings and all sense of proportion.