In the caste of characters which make up our world there is one whose nature is, unabashedly self serving and treacherous, to the core. This is the Player.
Psychologists, doctors and law enforcement officials have a very difficult time dealing with this type of individual because they are so cold and indifferent to others that they shake the foundations of what we believe it means to be human. Having spent a life time dealing with Players in each of the social arenas- work, social, family I have
developed a system which has proven itself to be very effective.
For some curious reason, we have this compulsion to believe that deep down, underneath all the external darkness, every villain, no matter how heinous their acts, has a heart of gold. It is beyond my ability to say whether there is any credence to this belief, but the problem with this frame is where it leads us; straight into the clutches of the Players. The Players are very adept at using this predisposition to their own advantage.
Individually, players present enough of a challenge, but when they form into groups, they are far more formidable. There is safety in numbers and once the Players form into a pack, they can come out from the shadows. Now they can exert their influence openly, adding outright intimidation to manipulation.
Conventional approaches to dealing with the Players are doomed to failure because as the Players can see them coming a mile away. we need a new framework with which we can turn the tables on the players, so that instead of playing their game they are tricked into playing ours. Tai Chi, an application of Taoist philosophy to physical conflict, is ideally suited to taking full advantage of the narcissistic, linear mind-set of the players and turning it against them.
