Thread by @ThyConsigliori

John Minford, #SunTzu 8: 13 "The general ignorant of the gains of the Nine Changes may know the lie of the land, but he will never reap the gain of that knowledge."

Since we need to know them, let's review:

1) Intractable Terrain
2) Crossroads
3) Dire
4) Enclosed
5) Death
6) Roads NOT to Take
7) Armies NOT to Attack
8) Towns NOT to Besiege
9) Terrains NOT to Contest

The list breaks down into two sections: The Five Gains, and The Four Contingencies. I find the second set easier than the first, so let's look again at the fiorst list, The Five Gains, below.

Five types of Terrain each indicate their own gain, or right way of conduct:

1) Intractable - Don't Encamp
2) Crossroads - Join With Allies
3) Dire - Don't Linger
4) Enclosed - Strategize
5) Death - Do Battle

Return to today's verse now. You can know the lie of the land, but if you don't master the Gains of the Nine Changes, you will never reap the benefit of that knowledge. That is a dire warning, indeed. Master Sun demands your study, your diligent study of this topic.

How did people study in Master Sun's day? How did he study, himself? The images below are of a wonderful gift my son Nico gave me. The main method of study in ancient China was rolls of bamboo strips connected by string.

You can see here that the other side of my wonderful roll of bamboo strips is the Chinese version, which sadly, I am not able to read. Yet, perhaps it gives you a bit of the feel for what Master Sun actually created.

Now I'll tell you what proper study is not. When Leonardo Da Vinci was a boy, he refused to memorize his multiplication tables. He saw no value in it, and simply wouldn't. At age 46, he decided to correct this flaw, and worked diligently until he did.

You can imagine my shocked amazement when, at age 46, I decided to start working on my multiplication tables which I had refused to memorize as boy, and I discovered my forebear identical cycle. One definition of poor study is an unwillingness to memorize.

We both got there for the same reasons, at the same age. Well into adulthood, negotiation requires more than just rapidity of calculation, it requires that the calculation be instinctive, gut level, effortless and instantaneously accurate. Other than that, you lose negotiations.

We, however, are all the beneficiaries. I tried to pick just one, but couldn't. So, please look up "Da Vinci drawings for Luca Pacioli." Luca taught Leo math tables. Leo drew illustrations for Luca's book. All humans through all time benefit. Seriously, look it up, please.

I'll let you in on a trick. The first step in memorizing the Nine Changes is to go back and read them again and again. Find my commentary on each and read it over several times. And this is the big one, start writing up your own stories that illustrate the changes.

I admit, I don't have them memorized yet, but I will. And, I brag that I do have the Five Fundamentals memorized. Here they are and I'm NOT looking, I promise!

1) The Way
2) Heaven
3) Earth
4) Command
5) Discipline

Now, I'll go check verse 1: 2, to make sure I did it right...

I did check, but I really did know I didn't need to. Those Five Fundamentals on now inscribed upon my mind, heart and soul. I'll never forget them. I don't know if I'll have the Nine Changes memorized like that by the end of this chapter. I will, I know, by the end of chapter 11.

And I'll say again, by the time we do get to chapter 11, you will absolutely want to have your own copy of Roger Ames' version. That's another trick. To actually master an ancient text, you need multiple translations. Yeah, I know, that's weird. Who does that?

My dream is that there will be 100,000 of you who do it in service of your leadership mission. We can defeat the progressive left. We can. But we're going to have to organize to do so, yet, organize in our own way, not the way they do it. We're more committed. We're more serious.

If that's all a bit overwhelming, please believe me when I tell you, it overwhelms me too. What's the difference between Dire and Enclosed Terrains, again? But take comfort as I do. Master Sun has laid out a study course 100% guaranteed to generate memorization and mastery.

If we just follow his lead, we will all grow to be the wise generals he demands us to become. That's a worthy goal, and he won't smile upon us if we fail. So, let's get it done! In coming verses you'll see, he leads us by the hand.

212 verses completed, 210 to go.

To return to previous sections in our #WarForAmerica2020 and #SunTzuForMAGA series, don't forget to head over to @WarForAmerica21. You'll find the digital table of contents for this series, there. Please retweet each entry you enjoy.