The Essential Framework for Understanding The Art of War

The Art of Manliness

You heard about The Art of War, and it sounded pretty cool. So you picked up a copy to read. But you found that, beyond a few of its famous maxims, a lot of this text attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu was hard to understand, much less incorporate into your life.

My guest offers a tripartite framework that can help you get a lot more out of The Art of War. His name is Jim Gimian, and he's an editor of one of the text's translations as well as the co-author of The Rules of Victory: How to Transform Chaos and Conflict—Strategies from The Art of War. Today on the show, Jim argues that The Art of War is a holistic, interconnected text that's about how to approach conflict and obstacles in a holistic, interconnected way. Underlying this approach are three dynamics: Heaven, Earth, and General, which correspond to View, Practice, and Action. Jim and I talk about the importance of constantly orienting and reorienting yourself to an ever-changing world, working with the shih, or energy, in the landscape you're navigating, using action to further refine your perspective, and more.

Resources Related to the Episode

• The Art of War: The Denma Translation
• Professor Andrew Wilson's Great Courses course on Masters of War
• AoM Podcast #664: The Masters of the Art of War With Andrew Wilson
• AoM Article: 43 Books About War Every Man Should Read
• AoM Article: Lessons from The Art of War — Good Leaders vs. Bad Leaders
• AoM Article: The Tao of Boyd — How to Master the OODA Loop

Connect With Jim Gimian

• The Rules of Victory website
• Jim on LinkedIn

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