Thread by @ThyConsigliori

John Minford, #SunTzu 3:9 "He [the skilled strategist] strives for supremacy under heaven intact, his men and weapons still keen, his gain complete. This is the method of strategic attack."

I have to tell you a bit more about my grandfather since Master Sun is talking about striving for supremacy under heaven. Rising from a coal shoveller on the rail road, he ended up owning the portion of the hub that led the engines to be washed. He was the ultimate master washer.

What is that, you ask? He owned, okay, controlled with a captain's absolute power, a type of washing station for engines. But he didn't just wash the outside, he had the ability to take every part of an engine out, clean it, put it back in and have the engine perform perfectly.

When he died, at age 81, after 40 years on the railroad, it took six people to replace him, and together, they could not match his skill. He reined supreme, and when he passed, his like was never to be seen again. How proud am I to wear his name upon myself?

I'll tell you a war story about him another time, not actual war, but his own war for his work.

Master Sun teaches us that a skilled strategist must feel about his army as my grandfather felt about his train engines.

What a wonderful word "intact" is. Whenever you watch a TV show about Navy SEALS, most times every member of the team returns from a mission, not alone alive, but intact. The team remains intact. Now that is a standard. Master Sun goes farther, but that's awesome.

Men and weapons both still keen, his gain is complete. And that is what supremacy under heaven looks like. Again, what a term, "supremacy under heaven." Have you ever felt that way, that your gain was complete and you were supreme under heaven?

One of the lessons Samurai sword masters taught, when preparing a warrior for battle, even a beginner, was this. "Under heaven, and upon the earth, I and I alone am the one and only greatest swordsman." We'll discuss that more another time as well, but contemplate it.

To fully understand keen men and weapons and complete gain, let's also contemplate another translator's work, relative to a verse or two from chapter two. I'm not a huge fan of Griffith, but this verse - by his count, verse 2:5 - is very well done.

"When your weapons are dulled and ardour damped, your strength exhausted and treasure spent, neighboring rulers will take advantage of your distress to act. And even though you have wise counsellors, none will be able to lay good plans for the future."

To my reading, that verse from Griffith covers parts of Minford 2:3, 4 & 5. As a swordsman, I have no idea why Minford left out the dulled weapons phrase. I checked a couple of other translators and they have it too. Dull weapons, dull men. Fascinating.

Strategic attack. What a term. Can you attack your lover or spouse, and have him or her love you more after than before? If so, you are supreme under heaven. In my own work, the term for this is "challenge." I must continuously challenge my clients, and hopefully not lose them.

For all of @realDonaldTrump's Sun Tzu mastery, I am still amazed at his use of tariffs in trade negotiations with China. What he knew is that no economy of any size could withstand the loss of their trade surplus with us. Their economy is now struggling hellaciously.

He knew as well that, should we completely tariff up, it would go way past the surplus in impact. It would create cover for all of China's competitors to take over their market share in our economy. They can never become economically dominant over the world without us.

This is the method of strategic attack. We will all be intact. If there's a single story that is more untold than any other, it is Trump's strategic prowess. Many of us know it, but we almost never hear about it. We just look around, and see supremacy under heaven. Obviously.

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

51 verses completed, 391 to go.

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

amazon.com/Art-War-Pengui…