Ali later said he had planned the tactic of laying far back against the ring ropes, covering up and allowing Foreman to punch himself into exhaustion, all along. He called the strategy ‘rope-a-dope’, and it worked, the champion tiring visibly and being hit often himself from the fifth round onward.
By the eighth round, Foreman was drained and his punching and defence had become ragged. Ali spotted his moment and landed several right hooks, followed by a five-punch combination ending in a straight right that felled the younger man like a tree-trunk.
Though Foreman rose on the count of nine, the referee Zack Clayton saw that he could not continue and stopped the fight. Against all the odds, Muhammad Ali was world heavyweight champion again at the age of 32."
B.T.com
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My interpretation: Be a strategist. Do a clear-eyed self-appraisal i.e Know your strength and weakness; Keep a sense of proportion and never lose your sense of limit. Because, a false sense of reality could spell doom. Ali would have lost the bout if he had continued to match George Foreman punch for punch and reflex for reflex.
Learn to look at things the way they are (in clear light) and not the way your emotions colour them. Sometimes, you have to repress your aggressive impulses and (deliberately) have a retreat in order to have an easy and sweet victory.
Just be flexible. Be fluid. Be a strategist !!
Quote: "In life, you must be a warrior, and war requires realism. Whiles others may find beauty in endless dreams, warriors find it in realty, in awareness of limits, in making the most of what they have" -- THE 33 STRATEGIES OF WAR
