Thread by @ThyConsigliori

John Minford, #SunTzu 2:6 "I have heard that in war haste can be folly but have never seen delay that was wise."

Isn't it interesting that yesterday we discovered the powerlessness of the wise, or, as I prefer to name them, the pseudo-wise? It is clearly the "wisdom" of such folk that leads to great delay in war.

All of our martial arts heroes on screen demonstrate the ability to enter into a fight and, as shown by their directors and cameramen, never hesitate. They're in no rush, either. They are 100% present, in the moment.

To delve this more deeply, this 100% presence in the moment when in combat, we bring in our own greatest combat coach in the West, a master swordsman named Johannes Liechtenauer. We don't know much about him. But one thing we do have, from him, is a wonderful breakdown.

1) Before
2) During
3) After

Our master's work is guessed at from 1389, and is the oldest complete martial training structure we have documented. There is a precursor from the year 1300, and it is wonderful, but does not offer a full system as Master Johnny L does.

For our purposes, we’ll only focus on the three time frames above. Let’s connect them to Master Sun. Before can equal haste. After can equal delay. I use the term “can” for this reason. You sometimes want to be early, sometimes late, but the three time frames help us see.

If you have tactical advantage, and superior strength, the before is the perfect moment to strike. It is not hasty.

On the other hand, if you always wait to see your enemy in motion, in the time frame after he's commenced his move, you may have landed in the evil moment of delay.

Again, assuming combat has commenced, the place to land is right now. And the moment you do, you instantly discover Master Johnny L's two other great terms, strong and weak. They're quite a bit like yang and yin, don't you think? Let's put all five in order.

1) Before
2) During
3) After
4) Strong
5) Weak

Very simply, if your enemy strikes first, you're in the after. If you strike first, you're in the before. The before offers greatest advantage for attack. The after is where defense must exist. The during is where we truly discover real-time strength and weakness.

Good planning knows strength and weakness in advance, and indicates where to strike. Good defense responds to strength and weakness after it showed itself in the encounter, and finds the way to convert from response to attack, when the switch can succeed.

Haste equals striking from weakness, early. Folly equals delaying the use of strength in the moment of the enemy's weakness. But sadly, there is another form of delay, which is, I believe Master Sun's true target here. It is the form of delay we will learn more about tomorrow!

To return to previous sections in our #WarForAmerica2020 and #SunTzuForMAGA series, don't forget to head over to @WarForAmerica21.

And also, be sure to purchase John Minford's translation, here:

amazon.com/Art-War-Pengui…