LAW 48

ASSUME FORMLESSNESS

JUDGMENT
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.
In martial arts, it is important that strategy be unfathomable, that form be
concealed, and that movements be unexpected, so that preparedness against
them be impossible. What enables a good general to win without fail is
always having unfathomable wisdom and a modus operandi that leaves no
tracks. Only the formless cannot be affected. Sages hide in unfathomability,
so their feelings cannot be observed; they operate in formlessness, so their
lines cannot be crossed.

Stay adaptable and formless like water to outsmart your enemies. Embrace uncertainty, avoid rigid plans, and be prepared for constant change. Conceal your intentions, be unpredictable, and operate with unfathomable wisdom to succeed without fail. In formlessness lies true strength and invincibility.