Monday, August 4, 2008

Law 22: USE THE SURRENDER TACTIC: TRANSFORM WEAKNESS INTO POWER

How do you escape a bear attack?

  1. Play dead or lay motionless on the ground
  2. Pretend you are Steve Irwin and wrestle the animal
  3. Run home crying to your mother

Law 22 says: Option A

Why option A? The most probable reason bears have for attacking you is self-defense. A male bear will attack if it believes you are intruding on his personal space. A female bear will attack you if she identifies you as a danger to her cubs. If you lie still, the bear will be less likely to attack you. You will not be a threat to the bear.. You can scamper off to the safety of your La-Z-Boy later.

Law 22 states that if you are the weaker party in a struggle for power, your best chance for survival is surrender. Surrender doesn’t mean giving up the fight.. To your enemy, it will seem like you have granted him victory. In reality, you have done three things: A) bought yourself time to formulate an exit strategy B) irritated your enemy by not giving him the fight he expected you to put up, and C) initiated the wait for his power over you to wane. If you are weak and decide to meet your enemy with aggression, you give him the satisfaction of bloodying you with defeat. If you meet him with arms raised, either he will be more amenable or he will be unsettled. YOUR SURRENDER IS NOW A TOOL OF POWER.

The Problem with Martyrdom

The reversal of surrender is martyrdom. Martyrdom is a passive-aggressive way to deal with your enemy. It is like saying that you would rather die than switch loyalties. But, the problem with dying for a cause you support is that you don’t instantly gain the renown of Joan of Arc or Lorenzo Ruiz. Dying for something you believe in doesn’t mean you’ll instantly strike inspiration in the hearts of people. Your death will not always mean something great. Imagine all the people who have died fighting for a cause. There are millions of them, yet they are nameless to us.

When you face the enemy and decide to take the path of martyrdom, that’s it for you. There is no Plan B, in case Plan A goes up in smoke. If you choose to use surrender as a tool, you will live on to exact revenge on those that smote you. If you choose to live, you can see your plan through. If you surrender and live on, there’s a good chance you’ll get the upper hand back if you play your cards right.



-Camille Martinez

18 comments:

think politics said...

Nice analogy with the bear by the way.

Politicians nowadays utilize this sort of method. The Hypocritical mask helps them to survive and preserve in order for them to fight another day.

vince

ninefingertips said...

I think what one should keep in mind in this law would be the implications of surrender in a given situation.

what if in your surrender, all your options would naturally be exhausted by your opponent? In a sense that your enemy does not necessarily have to respect your yield, or if they decide you're too dangerous to keep alive.

I think a very good application if this in real life, would be in gathering sympathy.

like Jun Lozada. He surrendered. he made himself look oppressed to get sympathy and of course. save his ass.

kirag. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
kirag. said...

I agree that this tactic is effective. And that this tactic is most effective in battle.

I remember a scene in the movie, 300, that supports the advantage and usefulness of this law.
When Xerxes demands Leonidas' and his men's surrender for the last time, the latter, seemingly adhering to the demand, drops his shield and removes his helmet. Xerxes thought he finally won, but then, suddenly, Leonidas surprises him and the latter's men by hurling his spear straight to his head. Shocked and petrified, he was unable to move and was wounded (too bad Leonidas missed).

Leonidas acted like he was surrendering but he really wasn't; Xerxes was caught off guard. By making Xerxes and his men think he was surrendering, he was able to hurl his spear without having anyone able to stop him.

I am convinced that this law is a cunning ploy to get your opponent off guard. When you surrender in a battle, you appease your opponent, and convince him to lay down his arms momentarily and smell the victory, but unbeknownst to him you suddenly jump at him, and with no moment to lose you go for the kill. With little or no time at all, he is unable to raise up his arms in defense; you strike and he falls.

Victory is yours!

KIRA GOCHUICO
HI 18 N

princess joan said...

Yes, it is very true that your own weakness can be your greatest strength, but then again, we should always be aware that sometimes, are strengths can be our greatest weaknesses. This is true especially in emotions. True that it is a strength to be able to love and give your all, but then again, it can be a hindrance, it can be your greatest weakness.

Joan Medalla
Hi 18 N

alex salaveria said...

This is my understanding of the law: It's better to be humble.
Your enemy would underestimate you and not prepare.

alex salaveria
HI18 - N

Anonymous said...

Surrendering is a survival tactic but it depends on the victor's demands. It means he/she has to comply with the victor's wishes and maybe it lead to one's death. The victor has the decision on what to do with the surrendering party. I mean he can do almost anything with them. He can spare them or kill them. It's risky but you have a 50-50 chance for survival.

Don Faylon
Hi18N

Unknown said...

The advantage of the surrender tactic is that it puts the enemies' guard down, and as you said, gives you the opportune moment to either do a surprise attack, or run away. A good tactic to do when you're in a pinch.

Trixie Cruz
Hi18 O

Dan Vitan said...

I agree with Don with regards that this law is risky. By surrendering, you are hoping that your enemy will feel some sort of sympathy for you making him also defenseless creating a perfect chance for you to attack. But then again when you surrender, you will also be defenseless, giving your enemy the opportunity do anything they want with you including you getting yourself killed. There is also the possibility you might never see the “perfect chance” and would hastily attack in the wrong opportunity then get yourself killed. This law is about gaining sympathy from your enemy while not getting killed in the process. And if you do manage to survive, you still have to wait for the perfect opportunity to strike then make the most out of it otherwise you’ll get killed. Just as Don and I said, it is very risky.

Dexter Tanengsy said...

I agree exactly with what this law is saying. The question I always ask people is if you don't think you have a fighting chance, why proceed? People who do proceed do it for the sake of their beliefs and principles but how good is these beliefs and principles if you die in the process. This is why this law is very important. As the saying goes, you might have loss the battle but not the war. In the midst of laying low, reinforce your army. Strengthen whatever needs to be strengthen. Observe your enemy and wait. This way you turn the table and provide yourself a fighting chance.

Dexter Tanengsy, Hi18-N

majic said...

this law is the most clever of them all. but in the context about martyrdom, i think that popularity is not the goal of martyrdom. In the short story "the crucible," it can be seen that martyrdom by john proctor is not brought about by the goal of popularity. He shows the readers that just wants to live up to is words. He did this because of his personality. he could not take it for himself to lie. I think that people dying for something they believe did this so that an idea would be given importance. the dying should not be wasted and should cause change in the society.

marion adalia
bs mgt
N

camille martinez said...

@ Marion: That's the point I'm trying to make. People die the deaths of a martyr. But, sometimes aren't they just wasting their time? Millions have people have probably died defending a cause, but not all these deaths have instigated change in society. If all these deaths were recognized and caused change, then this would be a perfect world.

But it's not.

think politics said...

martyrdom is not the point of this law. this is supposedly an act not mt. calvary. The theatrics in the stage of politics best manifest this power.

vince suelto

Sean Paul Baldemeca said...

For me, the use of this law gives the weaker party an upperhand since time is on their side. Time is a great resource when it comes to battle. By buying time, you are given a chance to totally change your fate. This is evident to sports game such basketball where many things happen in just a span of 2-minutes.

MiRz Reyes said...

I think, this law overlaps law 46.
However, I still agree; in the sense that appearing not to be perfect is like surrendering FOR THE MEAN TIME. It's like promising your enemy "I shall return".

"B) irritated your enemy by not giving him the fight he expected you to put up"

It is a fun way of gaining power, I mean, having actually done that, irritating your enemy is just as annoying as bringing your ex a box of rotten tomatoes instead of Red Ribbon cakes in the same packaging.

It's a way of saying "surprise, i surrendered, looser" !

-Miriam R. Reyes
Hi 18-O

alan mamonluk said...

This law is quite good. However, if your opponent uses the law which states that you must destroy your enemy totally, you're fresh meat.

Alan Mamonluk
Hi18-O

Eric Andres said...

This law seems to go hand in hand with other laws--act stupid to eventually outwit others, and discover each man's thumbscrew... either you transform your own weakness to your own benefit, or transform another's weakness for your own benefit.

The bear example reminds me of Hannibal being cornered in one of the Punic wars. Hannibal used his situation to his benefit. While I believe it is always admirable to transform your own weakness into something worthwhile, I still don't think you should take advantage of others' weaknesses to get power. To do so would simply be unethical.

Eric Andres
HI 18 Section N

Tony Hernandez said...

This Sony digital voice recorder allows you to record lectures, interviews, meetings and more! With this voice recorder, you won't have to worry about taking notes again. It is a sleek and uber cool device which has 1080P HDMI upscaling with two USB connections, three HDMI connections and a scart socket. Will there be a market for thirty-buck voice recorders by then?