Silat: The Deadly Art of Indonesia and Malaysia by Terry H. Gibson

Silat: The Deadly Art of Indonesia and Malaysia

By Terry H. Gibson

Eddie Jafri (above) was one of the first to teach pentjak silat in the United States, conducting clinics throughout the country in the 1970s and ’80s. 

You are minding your own business, buying a newspaper at your local convenience store, when a belligerent drunk decides to take a punch at you simply because you met his stare for a second too long. What the drunk doesn’t know is that you are trained in the Indonesian martial art silat, and you are therefore able to move easily into close range where your big guns—the knees, elbows and head—can be brought into play. This range is referred to as the “battleground” by Indonesians.

Now that you’ve entered the battleground and are literally in the drunk’s face, you can begin the “tranquilizing process”—a vicious combination of elbows, knees, finger jabs, head butts and kicks to his groin, shins, thighs, eyes or any other vulnerable target. If he is still a threat after your initial salvo of blows, your combinations must continue. Can you sweep him to the ground? Can you elbow his spine? Can you stomp on one of his feet and force him off-balance? These are just a few of the possibilities available to an accomplished silat stylist.

What Is Silat?

Roughly speaking, silat means “skill for fighting.” There are hundreds of different styles of silat, most of which are found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, southern Thailand and the southern Philippines. Common to all of these styles is a combat-oriented ideology and the use of weaponry.

In Indonesia, there exist hundreds of styles of pentjak silat, as well as many systems of kuntao, a form of Chinese boxing that bears many similarities to silat and is found primarily within the Chinese communities in Indonesia. There are also many systems that blend pentjak silat and kuntao. According to noted martial arts historian and author Donn Draeger, “Chinese fighting tactics have had positive influences on the development of pentjak silat.”

Malaysia is home to a style known as bersilat, which can be divided into two forms: pulut, a dancelike series of movements intended for public display, and buah, a realistic combat method never publicly displayed.

Bersilat is also found in the southern Philippines, as well as langkah silat, kuntao silat and kali silat.

Silat techniques vary greatly, from the low ground-fighting postures of harimau (tiger) silat to the high-flying throws of madi silat. One particularly vicious madi throw involves controlling your opponent’s head, leaping through the air, and using your body weight to yank him off his feet as your knee slams into his spinal column. A typical harimau takedown involves coming in low against an opponent’s punch, capturing his foot with your foot, and forcing his knee outward with a strike or grab to the inside knee to effect the takedown.

In Filipino silat, it is common to trap your opponent’s foot with your own foot while controlling his head and arm, then spin him in a circle. The opponent’s body rotates 360 degrees, but his knee and foot remain in place, causing severe injury.

The sheer number of silat styles allows practitioners a tremendous amount of variety, as well as a certain amount of freedom and self-expression. By researching a number of silat systems, you can add tremendous diversity to your combat arsenal.

In this self-defense sequence, silat stylist Terry H. Gibson (left) scoops (1) his opponent’s jab and simultaneously traps (2) his foe’s other hand in place. Gibson is now free to deliver (3) an elbow to his opponent’s face. Gibson then grabs (4) his adversary’s hair with both hands and pulls (5) his head into a knee smash.

 Weaponry

Virtually all silat styles, particularly Filipino silat, emphasize weapons training. In the areas where silat originated, carrying a weapon - usually one of the bladed variety - was for generations a fact of life for the general male populace. A silat practitioner will normally be skilled with a knife, stick, sword, staff, spear, rope, chain, whip, projectile weapons or a combination thereof.

The kris, with its wavy blade, is one of the most common weapons in Indonesia and Malaysia. Another wicked weapon found in Indonesia is the karambit (tiger’s claw), a short, curved blade used to hook into an opponent’s vital points. According to Draeger, the karambit is used in an upward, ripping manner to tear into the bowels of the victim.

Most silat systems emphasize low, quick kicks, primarily because of the likelihood the practitioner will be confronting an opponent armed with a bladed weapon. A good rule of thumb is to never try a kick against a knife-wielding opponent, unless the kick is delivered at close range and is used as a support technique.

Defending against an opponent’s left jab, silat stylist Terry H. Gibson (left) parries (1) the blow and simultaneously strikes the biceps. Gibson blocks a right cross, countering (2) with an elbow to the biceps. Gibson then applies (3) an armbar maneuver, finishing (4) with an elbow smash to the spine.

Silat Components

What comprises a good silat system? Following are some of the key components:

• Efficient entry system.

The style must have techniques that allow you to move quickly and efficiently into close range of your opponent. It must also include training methods that will hone your timing, precision and accuracy when employing those techniques.

• Effective follow-up techniques.

The system must have effective punching and kicking techniques. Heavy-duty techniques such as headbutts, knee smashes and elbow strikes must be highly developed. “Finishing” techniques are more effective if your opponent is properly “tranquilized.”

• Devastating finishing techniques.

After you have entered into close range and applied a “tranquilizing” technique to your opponent, the next step is to apply a “finishing” technique -throw, sweep, takedown, lock, choke - to end the confrontation. Locking maneuvers will break or render ineffective an opponent’s joint. Choking techniques will produce unconsciousness. Takedowns, throws or sweeps will slam the opponent into the ground or other objects with enough force to end a confrontation.

• Realistic weapons training.

Most silat systems emphasize weapons training at some point. This training will include realistic contact-oriented drills rather than forms practice and will greatly improve your reflexes, timing, accuracy, rhythm and precision. It’s amazing how quickly practitioners improve when facing a bladed weapon traveling at a high rate of speed.

Silat theory, then, is simple: Enter into close range of the opponent, apply a “tranquilizing” technique such as a punch or kick, and then “finish” the opponent off with a heavy-duty technique such as a lock, sweep, choke or throw.

When facing an opponent who attempts (1) a roundhouse kick, silat stylist Terry H. Gibson uses his knee to jam the kick at the shin, then counters (2) with a hard kick to his opponent’s knee joint.

Silat in the United States

Suryadi (Eddie) Jafri was one of the first to teach pentjak silat in the United States, conducting seminars throughout the country in the 1970s and ’80s before returning to Indonesia several years ago.

The well-respected Paul de Thouars teaches silat publicly at his Academy of Bukti Negara in Arcadia, California, and also conducts seminars across the United States each year.

Another fine instructor is mande muda pentjak silat stylist Herman Suwanda, who divides his time between Los Angeles and his home in Indonesia. Mande muda is a composite of 18 different silat systems.

Dan Inosanto of Los Angeles uses his weekly seminars as a forum to spread silat, as well as other martial arts. Inosanto has studied with de Thouars, Jafri and Suwanda in Indonesian pentjak silat. He has also worked with John LaCoste, who taught Inosanto kuntao silat, bersilat, kali and langkah silat of the southern Philippines. Inosanto also trained under Nik Mustapha in Malaysian bersilat.

There are actually only a few qualified silat instructors in the United States, and most of them are not easy to find. If, however, you have the good fortune to undertake the study of silat under a competent instructor, prepare yourself because you are in for an exciting, invigorating exploration into one of the world’s richest and most effective martial disciplines.

About the author: Terry H. Gibson is a Tutsa, Oklahoma-based martiat arts instructor who teaches various styles of silat, muay Thai and jeet kune do.

NOTE:  This article first appeared in Black Belt Magazine, January 1993, pages 54-56. Please click on pictures for larger resolution. All pictures are are courtesy of Terry Gibson except the first of Eddie Jafri which is courtesy of David Steele.

This article posted in honor of  Terry Gibson (March 28, 1953 - September 26, 1997). He would've been 62 today.

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Please check out these related Silat entries in case you missed them:

• REVIEW:  “Village of the Keris” DVD
• IN MEMORY OF: Pendekar Paul De Thouars (1930 - Sept 11, 2013)
• Bobbe Edmonds - Limb Destructions Vidclips
• Bobbe Edmonds - Mande Muda Vidclips
• Bobbe Edmonds - Penchak Silat Lecture Vidclips
• Bobbe Edmonds - Pecut Pencak Silat Lecture Vidclips
• Bobbe Edmonds - Perception in the Martial Arts
• Bobbe Edmonds - Posture, Structure, Stance and Mobility 
• Some sarong notes from a Dan Inosanto seminar by JMAN
• Silat exponent Saiedah Said banned during the recent National Pencak Silat Championships
• NEWS:  Malaysia looking to revive and preserve Silat

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For another Terry Gibson article, please check:

• Terry Gibson - The Art of Elbow Wrenching

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The Genesis and Development of Zone Theory by Badger Johnson

The Genesis and Development of Zone Theory

Back in 1976, I had been doing Martial Arts for about 6 years, seriously for about three. I was sitting in my car waiting for a friend, thinking about James Yimm Lee’s book on Wing Chun.

Suddenly, it occurred to me that there was a type of ‘Unified Theory’ of how to conceptualize martial arts that transcended and incorporated all the styles and types of hand-to-hand fighting.

Areas of Attack and Defense

I realized that each martial art employed their attack and defense in one or two areas. In Judo, you have grip fighting, tie-ups, throwing and then sometimes a ground submission. So that would be three ranges. Grip would be at arm’s length, closer if it was a collar grip. Tie-ups would be collar ties, wraps, body locks, often in preparation to the throw. Finally, they’d have ground grappling, either a pin or a scramble to a submission. One key was that all these ranges or zones involved being in contact. You could read or feel your opponent’s intent and could react faster than trying to see or guess the intent. It’s called proprioceptive reflexes or contact reflexes.

In Karate, they had long range posturing, long kicks, shorter kicks, long strikes, shorter strikes, elbows, knees and head-butts but they rarely went to the ground, and if they did, there was not a logical plan for ending the fight nor a very good way to train that. They talked about certain locks and grabs, but it was rudimentary and not well incorporated into the training. They definitely did not fight from the ground in a fluid manner, but stopped when someone was taken down or would end up on the ground in a pile.

In Boxing they generally had long strikes and bent-arm blows (hooks and uppercuts). They had swings and crosses. So in effect they really worked in two ranges or zones. I call them zones because it’s not always about exact distances.

I went through the martial arts that I knew, including Greco-Roman Wrestling, boxing, Judo, Aikido, Karate, and other esoteric styles and tried to dissect and describe them based not on their name or their style but what ranges they trained and also what ranges they omitted.

Defining Arts by Zones

Just as suddenly I realized that defining these arts by zones I also could see where they had holes, or deficiencies in their practice and their strategy and tactics.

As I learned Escrima, Arnis or stickfighting in 1980, I also added that to the zone theory, and saw how they could make preparatory moves, they could strike the opponent’s hand but not be in range or the right zone to be hit to the body.

I also realized that some people did talk about range, but in general, back in 1976 people talked style and they were insular and jealously defended their art as being complete and sufficient. But I knew that Karate players were vulnerable to short punches, combinations, throws and ground fighting. I had seen the Gracies-In-Action tape around the time I started training FMA and Arnis, and realized there was more to ground fighting than I realized. Later I separated that range into top control and bottom control, since they developed a robust way to fight off your back, which was counter to what most Western grappling did – they avoided fighting from the back and didn’t do much in the ways of getting position for submissions.

Expanding or Contracting the Zones

One thing that Arnis masters talked about was dealing with multiple strikes from different angles as ‘one strike’. That idea inspired me to realize that sometimes the zones or ranges were open, and fighters exploited them and other times, for various reasons, the ranges were closed and not available, either through ignorance or even skill on the part of the opponent.

Some groups would insist there were only three ranges, standup, clinch and ground, like the Straight Blast Gym group. But they would be using a variety of skills to get in range (close the gap),  to get ‘in the pocket’ and throw short punches, and to transition from clinch to ground or back to striking. They used other zones and ranges but didn’t specifically recognize them.

I looked around further after I had developed my theory and discovered that the Dog Brothers had developed a theory of ranges, but in the late 80s and at the time they had six ranges. Now they have modified it to seven ranges according to Marc Denny (private message). To their credit they were open to evolving their concept.

I expanded my concept of ranges to include, in the end about 10 ranges. Some were subtle, many were not strictly defined by distance. I realized that there was a distinct division of all the ranges into those that began when there was no contact (thus requiring they bridge the gap and also that they didn’t have contact to feel the opponent’s intent), and those that work in the contact range. Some did both.

Developing the Chart

Back to the Wing Chun book, I had noted that they had striking and trapping, so I made trapping a zone, but I realized that Western wrestling and Judo also worked in this range, but differently. The grappling arts worked in the close in range (but not quite body to body initiated) but they had tie-ups which were designed to get the back, to get a throw or a trip or sweep or takedown. In addition grapplers did work outside the contact zone and they closed that by using the ‘penetration step’, which involved catching the opponent stepping forward and then lowering their level and going in deep for waist, knee or foot control. So the grappling arts method of bridging the gap was different than the striking arts. They drew the opponent in, then lowered their level, making it deceptive and using timing.

Developing the Matrix of Qualities by Zone

So, I developed both a chart and a matrix of these zones. In the first chart I defined the Zones, making it clear that it wasn’t all about specific distances, and then I developed a Matrix of the zones and the qualities that each of these zones displayed. I used things like ‘favorable moves’, ‘best weapon or move’, vulnerabilities, methods of training, styles which were most representative of each, showing the styles broken into and defined by range or zone.

Foul Tactics or ‘Seaming’ the Zones

I also added ‘foul tactics’, which I thought often worked on the seams between ranges. For example a missed punch in boxing turned into an elbow. A sudden clinch could lead to a head butt. A clinch could squelch an attack and gain time or position, and sometimes in dirty boxing they would hold and hit, among other things.

In Aikido I discovered that sometimes the master would use a foul tactic (pinching the Uke usually unnoticed which would cause them to flinch and be thrown more easily).

In grappling there are all kinds of fouls, like small joint manipulations, biting (sometimes just biting the gi to get a grip), putting the jaw into an eye, even pulling hair, and twisting or gripping the flesh or the nose.

I put the zones along the x-axis and the tactics or qualities along the y-axis. I limited the qualities to a few things, but tried to get the most relevant ones, including transitions like pummeling, grip fighting and sprawling.

What Works for You

The main thing about this chart is that you can decide what works for you. You can use it to find the holes in your game. You can use the concept to make a framework to structure your opponent in the real world. You can adapt and add or subtract based on your own experience and skill.

With that said, here is the chart:

Please click X-Large to view online or right click -> save as for original pic resolution to view offline.

Badger Johnson © 1976-2015

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Please check out Badger Johnson's other essays:

• A Martial Framework by Badger Johnson
• How To Exceed Your Plateaus by Badger Johnson
• Adding to Arnold's Six Principles of Success
• Badger Johnson - 10 Tips on how to analyze a martial art for effectiveness
• "To be a master is very different from being an expert." by Badger Johnson
• Addendum, Clarification and Expansion of Paul Vunak's Fighting Secrets by Badger Johnson
• Expanded Ways of Attack by Badger Johnson
• "Fifty Important Elements in Martial Arts" by Badger Johnson
• Badger Johnson - Can Trapping Work?
• A few aspects of self-defense training
• Some of the important ten things…
• Over-speed Training - Accessing the Subconscious and the Power of Threes
• Coaching, self-coaching, talent, experience, genetics, opportunity, motivation
• Thresholding
• "I'd Like to Teach the World to Dance"
• Some thoughts today
• "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for?" 
• Beyond Martial Skills
• Some of the Major Misconceptions or Fallacies of JKD 
• How Bruce Lee may have improved skill using biofeedback 
• The Art of Fighting Without Fighting   
• Not Martial Trained, But Fighting Fit
• Against One Who Scares Us
• What Bruce Lee Taught Us 
• What is Mobile Kicking? 
• Fighting Fit Part 2 - The Seven Essentials 

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NOTE:  My sincerest appreciation for Badger's gracious consent for permission to archive his essay to my site.


Please leave Comment/Feedback for Badger below.

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Summary of The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene

Today, I'm posting a summary of The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene. 


This is some powerful stuff! It's like a modern-day Sun Tzu's Art of War but instead applied onto the personal level.


Use this knowledge for good! I present it also to inform and educate you that others may be using these same Laws of Power to manipulate you!


And now you know, and knowing is half the battle ...

Hope this helps in your Sojourn of Septillion Steps!

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The 48 Laws of Power Summary

Law 1 - Never Outshine the Master

Law 2 - Never put too Much Trust in Friends, Learn how to use Enemies

Law 3 - Conceal your Intentions

Law 4 - Always Say Less than Necessary

Law 5 - So Much Depends on Reputation – Guard it with your Life

Law 6 - Court Attention at all Cost

Law 7 - Get others to do the Work for you, but Always Take the Credit

Law 8 - Make other People come to you – use Bait if Necessary

Law 9 - Win through your Actions, Never through Argument

Law 10 - Infection: Avoid the Unhappy and Unlucky

Law 11 - Learn to Keep People Dependent on You

Law 12 - Use Selective Honesty and Generosity to Disarm your Victim

Law 13 - When Asking for Help, Appeal to People’s Self-Interest, Never to their Mercy or Gratitude

Law 14 - Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy

Law 15 - Crush your Enemy Totally

Law 16 - Use Absence to Increase Respect and Honor

Law 17 - Keep Others in Suspended Terror: Cultivate an Air of Unpredictability

Law 18 - Do Not Build Fortresses to Protect Yourself – Isolation is Dangerous

Law 19 - Know Who You’re Dealing with – Do Not Offend the Wrong Person

Law 20 - Do Not Commit to Anyone

Law 21 - Play a Sucker to Catch a Sucker – Seem Dumber than your Mark

Law 22 - Use the Surrender Tactic: Transform Weakness into Power

Law 23 - Concentrate Your Forces

Law 24 - Play the Perfect Courtier

Law 25 - Re-Create Yourself

Law 26 - Keep Your Hands Clean

Law 27 - Play on People’s Need to Believe to Create a Cultlike Following

Law 28 - Enter Action with Boldness

Law 29 - Plan All the Way to the End

Law 30 - Make your Accomplishments Seem Effortless

Law 31 - Control the Options: Get Others to Play with the Cards you Deal

Law 32 - Play to People’s Fantasies

Law 33 - Discover Each Man’s Thumbscrew

Law 34 - Be Royal in your Own Fashion: Act like a King to be treated like one

Law 35 - Master the Art of Timing

Law 36 - Disdain Things you cannot have: Ignoring them is the best Revenge

Law 37 - Create Compelling Spectacles

Law 38 - Think as you like but Behave like others

Law 39 - Stir up Waters to Catch Fish

Law 40 - Despise the Free Lunch

Law 41 - Avoid Stepping into a Great Man’s Shoes

Law 42 - Strike the Shepherd and the Sheep will Scatter

Law 43 - Work on the Hearts and Minds of Others

Law 44 - Disarm and Infuriate with the Mirror Effect

Law 45 - Preach the Need for Change, but Never Reform too much at Once

Law 46 - Never appear too Perfect

Law 47 - Do not go Past the Mark you Aimed for; In Victory, Learn when to Stop

Law 48 - Assume Formlessness

The 48 Laws of Power with Commentary

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Law 1 - Never Outshine the Master

Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your desire to please or impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite – inspire fear and insecurity. Make your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power.

Law 2 - Never put too Much Trust in Friends, Learn how to use Enemies

Be wary of friends-they will betray you more quickly, for they are easily aroused to envy. They also become spoiled and tyrannical. But hire a former enemy and he will be more loyal than a friend, because he has more to prove. In fact, you have more to fear from friends than from enemies. If you have no enemies, find a way to make them.

Law 3 - Conceal your Intentions

Keep people off-balance and in the dark by never revealing the purpose behind your actions. If they have no clue what you are up to, they cannot prepare a defense. Guide them far enough down the wrong path, envelope them in enough smoke, and by the time they realize your intentions, it will be too late.

Law 4 - Always Say Less than Necessary

When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control. Even if you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and sphinxlike. Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less. The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish.

Law 5 - So Much Depends on Reputation – Guard it with your Life

Reputation is the cornerstone of power. Through reputation alone you can intimidate and win; once you slip, however, you are vulnerable, and will be attacked on all sides. Make your reputation unassailable. Always be alert to potential attacks and thwart them before they happen. Meanwhile, learn to destroy your enemies by opening holes in their own reputations. Then stand aside and let public opinion hang them.

Law 6 - Court Attention at all Cost

Everything is judged by its appearance; what is unseen counts for nothing. Never let yourself get lost in the crowd, then, or buried in oblivion. Stand out. Be conspicuous, at all cost. Make yourself a magnet of attention by appearing larger, more colorful, more mysterious, than the bland and timid masses.

Law 7 - Get others to do the Work for you, but Always Take the Credit

Use the wisdom, knowledge, and legwork of other people to further your own cause. Not only will such assistance save you valuable time and energy, it will give you a godlike aura of efficiency and speed. In the end your helpers will be forgotten and you will be remembered. Never do yourself what others can do for you.

Law 8 - Make other People come to you – use Bait if Necessary

When you force the other person to act, you are the one in control. It is always better to make your opponent come to you, abandoning his own plans in the process. Lure him with fabulous gains – then attack. You hold the cards.

Law 9 - Win through your Actions, Never through Argument

Any momentary triumph you think gained through argument is really a Pyrrhic victory: The resentment and ill will you stir up is stronger and lasts longer than any momentary change of opinion. It is much more powerful to get others to agree with you through your actions, without saying a word. Demonstrate, do not explicate.

Law 10 - Infection: Avoid the Unhappy and Unlucky

You can die from someone else’s misery – emotional states are as infectious as disease. You may feel you are helping the drowning man but you are only precipitating your own disaster. The unfortunate sometimes draw misfortune on themselves; they will also draw it on you. Associate with the happy and fortunate instead.

Law 11 - Learn to Keep People Dependent on You

To maintain your independence you must always be needed and wanted. The more you are relied on, the more freedom you have. Make people depend on you for their happiness and prosperity and you have nothing to fear. Never teach them enough so that they can do without you.

Law 12 - Use Selective Honesty and Generosity to Disarm your Victim

One sincere and honest move will cover over dozens of dishonest ones. Open-hearted gestures of honesty and generosity bring down the guard of even the most suspicious people. Once your selective honesty opens a hole in their armor, you can deceive and manipulate them at will. A timely gift – a Trojan horse – will serve the same purpose.

Law 13 - When Asking for Help, Appeal to People’s Self-Interest, Never to their Mercy or Gratitude

If you need to turn to an ally for help, do not bother to remind him of your past assistance and good deeds. He will find a way to ignore you. Instead, uncover something in your request, or in your alliance with him, that will benefit him, and emphasize it out of all proportion. He will respond enthusiastically when he sees something to be gained for himself.

Law 14 - Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy

Knowing about your rival is critical. Use spies to gather valuable information that will keep you a step ahead. Better still: Play the spy yourself. In polite social encounters, learn to probe. Ask indirect questions to get people to reveal their weaknesses and intentions. There is no occasion that is not an opportunity for artful spying.

Law 15 - Crush your Enemy Totally

All great leaders since Moses have known that a feared enemy must be crushed completely. (Sometimes they have learned this the hard way.) If one ember is left alight, no matter how dimly it smolders, a fire will eventually break out. More is lost through stopping halfway than through total annihilation: The enemy will recover, and will seek revenge. Crush him, not only in body but in spirit.

Law 16 - Use Absence to Increase Respect and Honor

Too much circulation makes the price go down: The more you are seen and heard from, the more common you appear. If you are already established in a group, temporary withdrawal from it will make you more talked about, even more admired. You must learn when to leave. Create value through scarcity.

Law 17 - Keep Others in Suspended Terror: Cultivate an Air of Unpredictability

Humans are creatures of habit with an insatiable need to see familiarity in other people’s actions. Your predictability gives them a sense of control. Turn the tables: Be deliberately unpredictable. Behavior that seems to have no consistency or purpose will keep them off-balance, and they will wear themselves out trying to explain your moves. Taken to an extreme, this strategy can intimidate and terrorize.

Law 18 - Do Not Build Fortresses to Protect Yourself – Isolation is Dangerous

The world is dangerous and enemies are everywhere – everyone has to protect themselves. A fortress seems the safest. But isolation exposes you to more dangers than it protects you from – it cuts you off from valuable information, it makes you conspicuous and an easy target. Better to circulate among people find allies, mingle. You are shielded from your enemies by the crowd.

Law 19 - Know Who You’re Dealing with – Do Not Offend the Wrong Person

There are many different kinds of people in the world, and you can never assume that everyone will react to your strategies in the same way. Deceive or outmaneuver some people and they will spend the rest of their lives seeking revenge. They are wolves in lambs’ clothing. Choose your victims and opponents carefully, then – never offend or deceive the wrong person.

Law 20 - Do Not Commit to Anyone

It is the fool who always rushes to take sides. Do not commit to any side or cause but yourself. By maintaining your independence, you become the master of others – playing people against one another, making them pursue you.

Law 21 - Play a Sucker to Catch a Sucker – Seem Dumber than your Mark

No one likes feeling stupider than the next persons. The trick, is to make your victims feel smart – and not just smart, but smarter than you are. Once convinced of this, they will never suspect that you may have ulterior motives.

Law 22 - Use the Surrender Tactic: Transform Weakness into Power

When you are weaker, never fight for honor’s sake; choose surrender instead. Surrender gives you time to recover, time to torment and irritate your conqueror, time to wait for his power to wane. Do not give him the satisfaction of fighting and defeating you – surrender first. By turning the other check you infuriate and unsettle him. Make surrender a tool of power.

Law 23 - Concentrate Your Forces

Conserve your forces and energies by keeping them concentrated at their strongest point. You gain more by finding a rich mine and mining it deeper, than by flitting from one shallow mine to another – intensity defeats extensity every time. When looking for sources of power to elevate you, find the one key patron, the fat cow who will give you milk for a long time to come.

Law 24 - Play the Perfect Courtier

The perfect courtier thrives in a world where everything revolves around power and political dexterity. He has mastered the art of indirection; he flatters, yields to superiors, and asserts power over others in the mot oblique and graceful manner. Learn and apply theLaws of courtiership and there will be no limit to how far you can rise in the court.

Law 25 - Re-Create Yourself

Do not accept the roles that society foists on you. Re-create yourself by forging a new identity, one that commands attention and never bores the audience. Be the master of your own image rather than letting others define if for you. Incorporate dramatic devices into your public gestures and actions – your power will be enhanced and your character will seem larger than life.

Law 26 - Keep Your Hands Clean

You must seem a paragon of civility and efficiency: Your hands are never soiled by mistakes and nasty deeds. Maintain such a spotless appearance by using others as scapegoats and cat’s-paws to disguise your involvement.

Law 27 - Play on People’s Need to Believe to Create a Cultlike Following

People have an overwhelming desire to believe in something. Become the focal point of such desire by offering them a cause, a new faith to follow. Keep your words vague but full of promise; emphasize enthusiasm over rationality and clear thinking. Give your new disciples rituals to perform, ask them to make sacrifices on your behalf. In the absence of organized religion and grand causes, your new belief system will bring you untold power.

Law 28 - Enter Action with Boldness

If you are unsure of a course of action, do not attempt it. Your doubts and hesitations will infect your execution. Timidity is dangerous: Better to enter with boldness. Any mistakes you commit through audacity are easily corrected with more audacity. Everyone admires the bold; no one honors the timid.

Law 29 - Plan All the Way to the End

The ending is everything. Plan all the way to it, taking into account all the possible consequences, obstacles, and twists of fortune that might reverse your hard work and give the glory to others. By planning to the end you will not be overwhelmed by circumstances and you will know when to stop. Gently guide fortune and help determine the future by thinking far ahead.

Law 30 - Make your Accomplishments Seem Effortless

Your actions must seem natural and executed with ease. All the toil and practice that go into them, and also all the clever tricks, must be concealed. When you act, act effortlessly, as if you could do much more. Avoid the temptation of revealing how hard you work – it only raises questions. Teach no one your tricks or they will be used against you.

Law 31 - Control the Options: Get Others to Play with the Cards you Deal

The best deceptions are the ones that seem to give the other person a choice: Your victims feel they are in control, but are actually your puppets. Give people options that come out in your favor whichever one they choose. Force them to make choices between the lesser of two evils, both of which serve your purpose. Put them on the horns of a dilemma: They are gored wherever they turn.

Law 32 - Play to People’s Fantasies

The truth is often avoided because it is ugly and unpleasant. Never appeal to truth and reality unless you are prepared for the anger that comes for disenchantment. Life is so harsh and distressing that people who can manufacture romance or conjure up fantasy are like oases in the desert: Everyone flocks to them. There is great power in tapping into the fantasies of the masses.

Law 33 - Discover Each Man’s Thumbscrew

Everyone has a weakness, a gap in the castle wall. That weakness is usual y an insecurity, an uncontrollable emotion or need; it can also be a small secret pleasure. Either way, once found, it is a thumbscrew you can turn to your advantage.

Law 34 - Be Royal in your Own Fashion: Act like a King to be treated like one

The way you carry yourself will often determine how you are treated; In the long run, appearing vulgar or common will make people disrespect you. For a king respects himself and inspires the same sentiment in others. By acting regally and confident of your powers, you make yourself seem destined to wear a crown.

Law 35 - Master the Art of Timing

Never seem to be in a hurry – hurrying betrays a lack of control over yourself, and over time. Always seem patient, as if you know that everything will come to you eventually. Become a detective of the right moment; sniff out the spirit of the times, the trends that will carry you to power. Learn to stand back when the time is not yet ripe, and to strike fiercely when it has reached fruition.

Law 36 - Disdain Things you cannot have: Ignoring them is the best Revenge

By acknowledging a petty problem you give it existence and credibility. The more attention you pay an enemy, the stronger you make him; and a small mistake is often made worse and more visible when you try to fix it. It is sometimes best to leave things alone. If there is something you want but cannot have, show contempt for it. The less interest you reveal, the more superior you seem.

Law 37 - Create Compelling Spectacles

Striking imagery and grand symbolic gestures create the aura of power – everyone responds to them. Stage spectacles for those around you, then full of arresting visuals and radiant symbols that heighten your presence. Dazzled by appearances, no one will notice what you are really doing.

Law 38 - Think as you like but Behave like others

If you make a show of going against the times, flaunting your unconventional ideas and unorthodox ways, people will think that you only want attention and that you look down upon them. They will find a way to punish you for making them feel inferior. It is far safer to blend in and nurture the common touch. Share your originality only with tolerant friends and those who are sure to appreciate your uniqueness.

Law 39 - Stir up Waters to Catch Fish

Anger and emotion are strategically counterproductive. You must always stay calm and objective. But if you can make your enemies angry while staying calm yourself, you gain a decided advantage. Put your enemies off-balance: Find the chink in their vanity through which you can rattle them and you hold the strings.

Law 40 - Despise the Free Lunch

What is offered for free is dangerous – it usually involves either a trick or a hidden obligation. What has worth is worth paying for. By paying your own way you stay clear of gratitude, guilt, and deceit. It is also often wise to pay the full price – there is no cutting corners with excellence. Be lavish with your money and keep it circulating, for generosity is a sign and a magnet for power.

Law 41 - Avoid Stepping into a Great Man’s Shoes

What happens first always appears better and more original than what comes after. If you succeed a great man or have a famous parent, you will have to accomplish double their achievements to outshine them. Do not get lost in their shadow, or stuck in a past not of your own making: Establish your own name and identity by changing course. Slay the overbearing father, disparage his legacy, and gain power by shining in your own way.

Law 42 - Strike the Shepherd and the Sheep will Scatter

Trouble can often be traced to a single strong individual – the stirrer, the arrogant underling, the poisoned of goodwill. If you allow such people room to operate, others will succumb to their influence. Do not wait for the troubles they cause to multiply, do not try to negotiate with them – they are irredeemable. Neutralize their influence by isolating or banishing them. Strike at the source of the trouble and the sheep will scatter.

Law 43 - Work on the Hearts and Minds of Others

Coercion creates a reaction that will eventually work against you. You must seduce others into wanting to move in your direction. A person you have seduced becomes your loyal pawn. And the way to seduce others is to operate on their individual psychologies and weaknesses. Soften up the resistant by working on their emotions, playing on what they hold dear and what they fear. Ignore the hearts and minds of others and they will grow to hate you.

Law 44 - Disarm and Infuriate with the Mirror Effect

The mirror reflects reality, but it is also the perfect tool for deception: When you mirror your enemies, doing exactly as they do, they cannot figure out your strategy. The Mirror Effect mocks and humiliates them, making them overreact. By holding up a mirror to their psyches, you seduce them with the illusion that you share their values; by holding up a mirror to their actions, you teach them a lesson. Few can resist the power of Mirror Effect.

Law 45 - Preach the Need for Change, but Never Reform too much at Once

Everyone understands the need for change in the abstract, but on the day-to-day level people are creatures of habit. Too much innovation is traumatic, and will lead to revolt. If you are new to a position of power, or an outsider trying to build a power base, make a show of respecting the old way of doing things. If change is necessary, make it feel like a gentle improvement on the past.

Law 46 - Never appear too Perfect

Appearing better than others is always dangerous, but most dangerous of all is to appear to have no faults or weaknesses. Envy creates silent enemies. It is smart to occasionally display defects, and admit to harmless vices, in order to deflect envy and appear more human and approachable. Only gods and the dead can seem perfect with impunity.

Law 47 - Do not go Past the Mark you Aimed for; In Victory, Learn when to Stop

The moment of victory is often the moment of greatest peril. In the heat of victory, arrogance and overconfidence can push you past the goal you had aimed for, and by going too far, you make more enemies than you defeat. Do not allow success to go to your head. There is no substitute for strategy and careful planning. Set a goal, and when you reach it, stop.


Law 48 - Assume Formlessness

By taking a shape, by having a visible plan, you open yourself to attack. Instead of taking a form for your enemy to grasp, keep yourself adaptable and on the move. Accept the fact that nothing is certain and no Law is fixed. The best way to protect yourself is to be as fluid and formless as water; never bet on stability or lasting order. Everything changes.

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For more information and other Robert Green Book Summaries:

• Summary of The Art of Seduction by Robert Greene
• Summary of The 33 Strategies of War by Robert Greene
• Official Site of Robert Greene
• Wiki - Robert Greene

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