The Jujitsu Principle
The strategic advantage of using an opponent’s own force, energy, and momentum against them rather than meeting it directly.
In physical jujitsu, a fighter stays calm and patient, baiting opponents into aggressive moves. As they strike or grab, push or pull, the fighter moves with them rather than against. At the right moment, a deft step forward or backward uses their own momentum to throw them off balance. Their aggression becomes their weakness: it commits them to an obvious attack, exposes their strategy, and makes them vulnerable to counterattack.
“The advantage in a life-and-death swordfight lay not in aggression but in passivity… The more irritated [the opponent] became and the harder he tried to hit the fighter, the greater his imbalance and vulnerability.”
The principle extends to any competitive context:
- In politics: FDR let opponents attack him relentlessly, growing more shrill over time, then used their own words against them
- In negotiation: Encouraging difficult behavior paradoxically removes its power (they’re now doing what you want)
- In conflict: Appearing weak invites rash attacks that leave aggressors exposed
The deeper insight: aggression inherently hides weakness. Aggressors cannot wait for the right moment, cannot adapt approaches, cannot stop to think about surprise. Their apparent strength is actually their vulnerability.