May 09, 2014

#69: The Art of War

The Rules The Four Used
to Conquer WCS Politics
Those who do not know the plans of competitors cannot prepare alliances. -Sun Tzu "The Art of War"
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In the pre-Ten years, the late 1990's, a group was formed that we called The Four. Most of the competitive community didn't know about The Four (Cordoba-Szekely, Vann Drake-Redd), and none of the social community did by any means. But every single event director did, as did most of what I now call the Deep Water people. Those who are not on the surface of the sport, but deep, deep below.

They even had their own hand signal (not them, but the event directors, etc. who had to work with them). If they looked stressed out, tired or sad, we would ask why and they would simple hold up four fingers - and that was our answer. We all knew exactly who they were. Because they were ushering in a whole new kind of atmosphere to WCS - a dark and negative one, fueled by fear and deception.

Since I had my ear to the ground in both worlds, I learned their new terminology... like, "Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer." It was a motto of The Four, and perhaps the very reason of its existence. Anyhow, the women of The Four were reading certain books, like The Art of War

That should have been my signal to get out, but look, it was two people - not the entire community, right?

Guess I underestimated The Art of War.

If you're in a battle with The Ten or their supporters, you might was to learn their rules first by reading up. Or by just leaving all together. There are plenty of healthy communities out there, right? Boogie Woogie! for example, ya know?

Knowing is half the battle. Here's your chance to win it.
Love
K

This was the sidebar article for Weekly Note #69: The Lobby, released August 2013.