Learn the Art of Winning without Fighting
The wise warrior avoids the battle. Sun Tzu
In the movie, Enter the Dragon, Bruce Lee is on a boat when an obnoxious bully who had been bullying other people on the boat, comes up to Lee. He is being obnoxious and throwing fake punches towards Lee’s face. Lee did not respond except to say, “Don’t waste yourself.” The bully asked Lee what his style is, and Lee responds saying, “The art of fighting without fighting.”
The bully, not wanting to let it go, said, “Show me some of it.” Lee tries to walk away, but the bully continues to harass him. Lee then states that the boat is too crowded and that they should take the dingy to a nearby beach for more room. The bully agrees and gets into the dingy, and Lee unties the dingy and lets it drift away with the bully sitting helplessly in it while everyone on the boat laughs at the guy who was harassing them. This is the art of winning without fighting.
Sun Tzu taught this as well, stating that the wise warrior avoids the battle. Bruce Lee could have beat the guy up or thrown him overboard, but chose instead to win without fighting the battle. The vast majority of the time, there is a way to fight without fighting, to win while avoiding the battle. And winning without fighting is always best if you have the skill to manage it.
Learn to control explosive situations without being sucked into the battle. It is your ego that wants to totally destroy and humiliate the other person. But I can tell you from experience that it is even more satisfying to avoid the battle and win in such a way that the other person never realizes he has been defeated until it’s too late. This only occurs when you use the art of fighting without fighting.
If you are wise, you can win without the other person even knowing that you were in control of the situation the whole time. Learn to control your enemies without them knowing they are being controlled. Then you can sit back and enjoy your victory, many times without the other person even realizing they have been defeated until much later.
An example of this would be de-escalating a volatile situation in a bar. If some guy is trying to pick a fight with you, your goal should not be to destroy him, but to go peacefully on your way. If you de-escalate the situation and walk away with your head held high and your honor intact, you controlled and defeated the bully without lifting a finger. You won the fight without fighting.
I can tell you from experience that defeating someone in this way is even more satisfying than defeating him with your martial arts techniques. You win by avoiding the battle, and yet you totally defeat your opponent. The sweetest victories are won with the mind. Learn the art of fighting without fighting. Warrior up! Bohdi Sanders ~ author of the multiple award-winning book, The Art of Inner Peace, available from Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1937884279. Signed copies are available from: https://www.the-art-of-inner-peace.com/.
