For you Sun Tzu fans...

just turned it on

Used to hate on Sun Tzu... due to its perceived lack of practical application... and more so, general statements that seemed to fit all situations...

However, this practical application of his lessons, and deeper explaination of Tzu's philosophies played out... is outstanding...

This show is fire!

Did you hear that... Sun Tzu ran the Double Wing... and word has it... he was the architect behind the sniffer position...

Something about being able to grab their belt straps...

I am more of a Attila the Hun/General George Patton kind of guy but I will watch the Art of War. I have read it some many times and sometimes you can get lost in it being a bouch of drivel.

Sun Tzu ran the Double Wing... Hahaha *snorts*

But did anyone finish reading The Art of War and go, "Okay, that was all rather obvious?"

Good program, really enjoyed that and you're right endersgame, most of it seems like "common sense", but for whatever reasons, throughout the history of man, we don't always use common sense huh?....I live for the history channel anyway, lol.....there's also been a really good series, about Patton's ww2 campaigns, on friday nights at 9:00 pm est (battlefield 360)....if you like strategy?

I think Sun Tzu was the bastard child of...

Wait for it...

Wait for it...

Nostradamus...

Tell me I'm lyiing!

I don't know Khalfie.....but here's a scary thought....if you believe in reincarnation, they might all be the same person, just reappearing throughout history.......Sun Tzu....Nostradamus.....Patton.....Lombardi.....and now Brophy, lol

I have read the book cover to cover. There are some things that made me go "well duh" but this is b/c we have all seen or heard of those tactics before. Your strength vs thier weakness for example

Summary of Chapters:
Laying Plans explores the five key elements that define a successful outcome (the Way, seasons, terrain, leadership, and management). By thinking, assessing and comparing these points you can calculate a victory, deviation from them will ensure failure. Remember that war is a very grave matter of state.

Waging War explains how to understand the economy of war and how success requires making the winning play, which in turn, requires limiting the cost of competition and conflict.

Attack by Stratagem defines the source of strength as unity, not size, and the five ingredients that you need to succeed in any war.
Tactical Dispositions explains the importance of defending existing positions until you can advance them and how you must recognize opportunities, not try to create them.

Energy explains the use of creativity and timing in building your momentum.

Weak Points & Strong explains how your opportunities come from the openings in the environment caused by the relative weakness of your enemy in a given area.

Maneuvering explains the dangers of direct conflict and how to win those confrontations when they are forced upon you.

Variation in Tactics focuses on the need for flexibility in your responses. It explains how to respond to shifting circumstances successfully.

The Army on the March describes the different situations in which you find yourselves as you move into new enemy territories and how to respond to them. Much of it focuses on evaluating the intentions of others.

Terrain looks at the three general areas of resistance (distance, dangers, and barriers) and the six types of ground positions that arise from them. Each of these six field positions offer certain advantages and disadvantages.

The Nine Situations describe nine common situations (or stages) in a campaign, from scattering to deadly, and the specific focus you need to successfully navigate each of them.

The Attack by Fire explains the use of weapons generally and the use of the environment as a weapon specifically. It examines the five targets for attack, the five types of environmental attack, and the appropriate responses to such attack.

The Use of Spies focuses on the importance of developing good information sources, specifically the five types of sources and how to manage them.

Hmmm... got me there...

But to the Fedex... I didn't understand why an arrow?

So I googled... and got this interview with the creator...

And yes... Sun Tzu had predicted this also...

At what point in the design process did you realize you could create an arrow with those letters?

First of all, by the time we?d gotten to this point we?d already created and reviewed over 200 designs; some close-in to the ?old? Federal Express logo and others progressively more daring (though all the while retaining the enormous cache of the famous orange and purple (despite the fact that many respondents in focus groups thought the Federal Express colors were ?red and blue?). The current design was one of six semifinalists that were being refined for a presentation to very senior management.

If you put a lower-case ?x? to the right of a capital ?E? (Ex) you can begin to see a hint of an arrow, though it is clumsy and extremely abstract. I thought that, if I could develop this concept of an ?arrow? it could be promoted as a symbol for speed and precision, both FedEx communicative attributes. And, by the way, different kinds of arrows were utilized with some of the other semi-final candidates, though none of those were ?hidden.?

Once I decided to refine the concept of the embedded arrow, I found that, to make the arrow more legitimate and identifiable, one needed to actually reconstruct the letterforms in order to make the arrow happen. This leads to your next question:

The real creator of double wing was not Don Markham, it was Sun Tzu.

He, not Kurt Bryan, created the A-11.

Sun Tzu would move his players effortlessly between the offensive "packages" depending on the enemy, er team, he was facing.

Took me 30 seconds to find it.

Saw it last night, I would have not preferred to see it related to today's type of war. IMO, It is all too easy to pick circumstances and then reverse match them to prove your point....would have liked to see more of Tzu's history. as a side note note, I think the American Civil War was the first war in history too see the mass carnage that is so common in war today. also as Dcohio points out..the technology is so different

Sun Tzu came BEFORE Nostradamus.

I've read both Sun Tzu and Clausewitz and prefer the German dude. He's way easier to comprehend. I'm guessing something gets lost in the translation of Sun Tzu from Chinese to English.

I watched and greatly enjoyed the Sun Tzu show on the HC.