For those that don’t know, The Art of War is a book by Sun Tzu that has endured many translations and is used as a reference in many countries for senior managers of companies.  The reason for this is that the theories on war that Sun Tzu describes can be ruthless when adapted to other areas of life and conflict.  I bought a translation of the book and found some pretty good passages that seem to apply to grappling.  I highly recommend getting a good translation of the book as it is always a great reference to fall back to…especially when you hit those ruts and need some motivation.  Read on if you want some quotes to help you out in your game.  If not, well, go away.

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles”

“The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat is in our hands, but the opportunity to defeat the enemy is provided by the enemy himself”

“You have to believe in yourself”

“Pretend inferiority and encourage their arrogance”

“Appear weak where you are strong and strong where you are weak”

“Nothing is more difficult than the art of moving for advantageous positions”

“Thus, what is of supreme importance of war is to attack the enemy’s strategy”

“In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods must be used in order to secure victory.  In battle, there are no more than two methods of attack – the direct and the indirect; yet these two methods in combination give rise to an endless series of maneuvers.  The direct and indirect lead onto each other in turn, it is like moving in a circle – you never come to an end.  Who can exhaust the possibilities of their combinations?”

“The clever combatant imposes his will upon the enemy, but does not allow the enemy’s will to be imposed upon them”

“Move not unless you see an advantage; move not unless there is something to be gained; fight not unless the position is critical.  If it is to your advantage, make a forward move; if not, stay where you are.  Anger may in time change to gladness; vexation may be succeeded by content”

“All warfare is based on deception.  There is no place where espionage is not used.  Offer the enemy bait to lure him”

“Victorious warriors win first, then go to war.  The defeated go to war first, then seek to win”

These quotes were pulled from multiple translations from the Art of War for educational purposes and public critique.

Categories: EVERYTHING (in no particular order), Jiu Jitsu and Judo

Tags: art, beginners, behring, Brazil, cage, chinese, critique, dummies, fighting, for, general, good, grappling, hermosillo, hidden, is, japanese, jitsu, jiu, management, mike, mma, motivational, of, quotes, relating, relation, scott, sun, sylvio, the, tzu, utah, valley, vincent, war, who