Use mercy in war,
and you win,
use it for defence,
and you are secure.
(Lao Tzu)
What is control?
Control is the attempt to assert your will over something or somebody
else.
People have ideas,
dreams and seek to make their thoughts
real.
Reality and ideas are two different things: reality
simply exists whether we choose to believe in it or not and ideas are an
attempt to shape, change or understand reality.
Humanity has spent centuries attempting to bend the
natural world and society to fit the
pattern of their ideas.
Millions of people have died in the name of ideas.
Control is the illusion that reality will fit within the harness of an idea.
Motive
Taoism asks the question: what is your purpose in seeking to
control another?
Why would you want to?
Some people would argue: "It is for their own good."
But
who are you to decide what is good for
somebody else?
Would you steal another person's free will?
On what basis can you decide?
Foundation
We are all educated and conditioned to think in certain ways.
Our culture makes us conform within a strict pattern of social
behaviour.
This is the foundation of our thoughts and to some extent the basis for any
ideas we have.
Given our conditioning, can our ideas necessarily be trusted?
Were they grown in healthy soil?
Control
and tai chi
Tai chi advocates working in harmony with
the structural capacities of your body.
It aims to work within the range of natural movement, to complement the body
and its rhythms.
Nothing is forced.
Ideas are subtly offered and the body allowed time to consider and change
according to comfort.
Sensation is valued over thought.
Controlling yourself
Until you have found harmony within your own body and mind, how can
you consider any attempt to control another?
Your own body must be balanced, stable and
centred.
Your thoughts must be
calm, natural and
compassionate.
Unless you can act in accordance with the flow of things, your attempt at
control will fail.
Taoism advocates
leading without taking control,
shepherding from amongst the flock rather
than standing at the front and asserting yourself.
If people are unaware of your influence will they be troubled by it?
Can people
resist what they cannot feel?
If you do not assume leadership, nobody can ever oppose you.
Wanting leadership creates division - it operates on a principle of boss and
underling - and can only lead to resentment and failure.
Controlling
others
The main skills required in controlling others are adaptation and change.
You must move as they move, be sensitive to what is happening.
Your presence must be so slight that they cannot find reason to resist you.
Force is not even used in tai chi for striking.
People will often willingly give you control,
allow you to influence them.
Treat this
responsibility with respect.
Control in self defence
If we are balanced within ourselves and can move sensitively in response to
another person, then we may consider
self defence.
Tai chi self defence works on the principle of yielding to force.
You must move around the opponent's force, circumvent their strength and use
only the minimum of power to defeat them.
Since their is no merit in harming others, tai chi seeks solutions to attack
which reduce the need for further conflict.
It is better to shock the opponent than harm them.
We would only harm the aggressor if there were no other choice
available.
Page created 10 September 1998