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thomblake comments on Bad reasons for a rationalist to lose - Less Wrong
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There really aren't, though one does need to jump through some hoops. That's part of what I like about this analogy.
A lot of martial arts schools are more about "following the rules" and going through the motions of ritual forms than learning useful stuff.
As has been mentioned here before multiple times, many martial artists do very poorly in actual fights, because they've mastered techniques that just aren't very good. They were never designed in light of the goals and strategies that people who really want to win physical combat will do. Against brutally effective and direct techniques, they lose.
Humans like to make rituals and rules for things that have none. This is a profound weakness and vulnerability, because they also tend to lose sight of the distinction between reality and the rules they cause themselves to follow.
There are no "things that have no rules". If there were, you couldn't perceive them in the first place in order to make up rules about them.
Read that as "socially-recognized principles as to how something is to be done for things that physics permits in many different ways".
Spill the salt, you must throw some over your shoulder. Step on a crack, break your mother's back. Games and rituals. When people forget they're just games, problems arise.
This tendency can be used for good, though. As long as you're aware of the weakness, why not take advantage of it? Intentional self-priming, anchoring, rituals of all kinds can be repurposed.
Because repetition tends to reinforce things, both positive and negative.
You might be able to take advantage of a security weakness in your computer network, but if you leave it open other things will be able to take advantage of it too.
It's far better to close the hole and reduce vulnerability, even if it means losing access to short-term convenience.