Never Give Up. Never Surrender
The Knights Templar had an unparalleled reputation on the battlefield. One reason for this was because they believed that dying in combat was a great honor. They believed that if a man died in combat he would be assured a place in heaven. Therefore, it became part of the code of the Knights Templar to never surrender on the battlefield.
It developed into one of the cardinal rules of the Knights Templar that a knight should never surrender unless the Templar flag had fallen. If the Templar flag had fallen it was the duty of a Knight to join up with any other Christian order. If the flags of all Christian orders had fallen only then were they allowed to leave the battlefield.
There was a similar view on prisoners who were captured by the enemy. If an enemy attempted to ransom a Knight Templar they would only get knives and belts. The knives and belts symbolized that the Knights were fighters and fighting was their only ransom. Any true Knight would rather die than have his ransom paid. By the late 13th century this policy changed somewhat and some high-ranking members of the order were successfully ransomed.
Because of the devotion of the Knights Templar to the battlefield and combat, they were unmatched in their skill. Even through there is very little in the rules of the Templars about military training or weapons, all of the Knights of the order were highly skilled. There was also some emphasis on non-traditional weapons like crossbows in order to get the upper hand.