Thread by @ThyConsigliori

John Minford, #SunTzu 7: 23 "This is the art of the fray."

If you're not a teacher, then you may miss the profound power of today's proclamation. The five words "this is the art of" are among the most powerful a teacher may claim. He states he knows the art. Amazing if true. He states he has expressed the art. Even more amazing.

Being a teacher myself, I might put forward "this is the art of" analysis, of sales, of negotiation, of goal setting, of leadership. And perhaps one day I will. For now, I step back in surrender. I serve the search. I do not proclaim my competence to state the art, itself.

Ah, but Master Sun has ZERO reticence. This is NOT a lack of humility. It is rather simply earned pride of the most righteous variety. He can tell us what the art is, drop the mike, and walk off stage as the stadium roars in unfulfilled but thrilled desire for more.

So exactly what IS this art of the fray our Master so boldly proclaims, again, now? I'm going to hit you with a big word. In English, of course. I'm sure the Chinese have a similar word with 1,000 meanings, all contradictory to each other. The word is: pedagogy.

If you pay attention to such things, it's obviously Greek in origin. The root "ped" has to do with children, like "pediatrics" is that medicine specializing in caring for and healing our little ones. "Gogy" has to do with study, which is actually interesting.

Why is that interesting? Well, if you look it up, you'll find that pedagogy is most often defined as the art of teaching. And yet, its Greek root refers more to study than to expression. I can't share my story of Dr. Maria Montessori right now, but you might look her work up.

Well, I can state this point on her behalf, emphatically. She believed that teacher - pedagogy - MUST commence with a STUDY of how the student learned, the individual student, BEFORE commencing instruction of any form. I am a HUGE fan of her...pedagogy, her method of teaching!

So then, let us consider Master Sun's art of the fray and how he teaches it. I propose that this chapter 7 is his definitive statement of his method, its definitive articulation. The Art Of The Fray. That might even be a more accurate title than The Art Of War.

Interestingly, we're precisely at the halfway mark in this chapter, in verse 23 of 45. We're also, by my calculation, at the end of section 4 out of 7. Let's look again, now, at these four sections.

I - verses 1-4: Difficulty of the fray is to make the crooked straight
II - 5-10: The allurements & consequences of illusory gain
III - 11-14: Failure analysis & lessons from defeat
IV - 15-23: Pure fundamentals & victory vision

I think I just invented a new word: meletigogy. Just ask Google, what's the Greek word for study? You'll get "meleti." What is the study of study? How do you learn how to study? That's what my new word describes, the study of how to best study. Cool, huh? Okay, nerdy cool.

Here's how I study, what I did this morning in preparation. I had previously identified the 7 sections of our chapter. Upon reading today's little proclamation - this is the art of the fray - I realized I'd have to go back and see what Master Sun has already taught.

So, I read verses 1-4 again, and asked myself: what's the main point of these verses? I came up with my idea (noted above) and was happy. I moved on to section 2, repeat. Wait. Repeat. That's my one-word guide to meletigogy. Read again. Repeat. Repeat and repeat. It's what I do.

Silly me! My new word can't be melitigogy - which obviously means the PRACTICE of study. It has to be meletiOLOGY - which would mean the STUDY of study. Gogy = practice. Ology = study of. Whew. That was a close one! Meletiology. Now that's my thing, my BIG thing!

This is the art of the fray. I've practiced it and studied it, both. I know how to teach it. I can tell you the difficulty. I have the answer to the difficulty. I know the allurements that will waylay you. I've analyzed all failures. I know the fundamentals and can see victory.

This is the art of the fray. If you think you'd like to win, study my teachings. Don't want to? No matter. Your enemy will and he will defeat you. Don't want to master the art of study? No matter. Your enemy will and he will defeat you. This is the art of the fray. Study.

Mind, it's never merely study alone. Test. Experiment. Apply. Work. Tackle something and win or lose. Hit hard and win or lose. Don't die. Kill, where you must, but you must never die. Unless you must. Then, do so with honor and strength and pride. But still, don't die.

To study the fray is the art of life. Sure, life includes dying well when your time has come. Don't dishonor yourself. But more important is live, don't die. Then you have the chance to study. To learn the art of the fray.

Think you're learning? ha! Wait for sections 5, 6 & 7 to come! Think you're learning? You'll have to return to chapters 1-6 and read them again. Ha! Think you're learning? You'll have to read chapter 8-13 and then return to chapter 7. Ha!

Ma - Lay - Tee – Ah – Lo – Jee. Meletiology. It is the study of the art of study.

Ma - Lay - Tee – Go – Jee. Meletigogy. It is the practice of study.

Would you be deadly? Then study. Study how to study. Study.

And apply.

This is the art of the fray.

176 verses completed, 246 to go.

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