“Cloth against cloth, or stone against stone;
No clear result, and it is meaningless.
Catch the flung stone in the cloth,
Pin the wind-fluttered cloth with a stone.”
“How do these things work in practice?
Here is an example from one of the schools of self defense.
You stand on the edge of a cliff and suddenly you see a powerfully built man rushing at you with outstretched arms to push you off. However you may brace yourself, The impetus of his rush will overcome your resistance, and after a brief check you will inevitably go over.
To brace yourself is hardness, and it loses to greater hardness.
This is meeting stone with stone.
Yet if you do nothing, but just stand there
– Weakness –
he will easily push you over.
Now, suppose that just before his arms touch you, you fall in a heap at his feet. His impetus , not meeting the expected resistance, carries him on unopposed; he trips over you, and goes over himself and falls over.
This is softness and it defeats hardness.
Softness is controlled, skillfully directed and inwardly calm. To rate true softness, it has to be effective in application.” / Trevor Legget
