Train as if every man is your enemy,
but live as if every man is your friend.
Florendo Visitacion
In the world we live in, we must train as if every man is our enemy. In truth, we don’t know who is our enemy and who has no malicious intentions until we are in the middle of it. Many times, your enemies can come from very unexpected places. You must be ready for the unexpected!
Even the weakest of enemies can hurt you in today’s world. You must try to leave no openings, for many enemies lay in wait in order to find the chink in your armor. And once they find it, they will attack you in ways you may not have imagined.
Sun Tzu taught, “Rely not on the likelihood of the enemy’s not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable.” This is why we train and prepare ourselves to meet any attack.
Moreover, while we train as if every man is our enemy, we still must live as if every man is our friend. You must be careful here. While we must treat those we meet with respect and courtesy, we must also keep our eyes wide open, for we know that not every man is our friend.
This can be tricky, as many thugs and criminals try to use people’s good nature against them. They know that most people are nice and courteous, so they use that, thinking it is a weakness that they can exploit.
Treat people with respect and courtesy, but always remain aware of what is truly going on. Always remain aware of who people really are. Don’t be fooled by external appearances. As the old proverbs states, don’t think that there are no crocodile simply because the water is calm.
Train to be able to defend yourself against any attack, and at the same time, retain your good heart towards other people. Don’t allow bad people to turn your heart hard, but always be ready to defend yourself should you have to. It is the way of the warrior!
You are most welcome, Steven!
Thank you Teacher!