Sun Tzu

[cottonpicken]

Has anybody read his stuff here?

Have you applied the ideology to us now?

[Braveheart]

The Art of War? First read it when I aspired to be a competitive curler. So many quotes were relevant, especially, "never underestimate the enemy".

Now, as martial arts are part of my lifestyle it has become relevant in understanding Karate kata and the philosophy and mindset of fighting.

Not too bad a business book, but more for the corporate raider types.

The very best business book I've read is "Knowledge Rich Ranching" by Allan Nation. It applies to all farming styles not just ranching.

Interestingly, Allan Nation's book uses principles of Holistic Management, and Sun Tzu's tenets guide the Bushido, the Way of The Warrior, or Samurai Code. The Samurai were holistic warriors.

[Braveheart]

Apply "the Art of War" to fighting radicals? So many of Sun Tzu's ideas work. One from my curling days was, "Thus, what is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemies' strategy". This and many others work against ISIL.

[sumdumguy]

Braveheart, I have to tell the story of a certain brassy travelling curling team in about 1972. We were curling in the Weyburn men's open and we had a few drinks and we're feeling kinda cocky, so when we came out on the ice to meet our opposition, all in their eighties, we were laughing under our breath. Well, they drew rock after rock and scored an eight -ender on us. Shaking hands was one of those humbling moments that makes us laugh til today.

[Braveheart]

SGD, I share your pain. We thought we were young hotshots, nice deliveries, hard sweeping (rink rats in those days), and we came up against a rink of 2 old men with 2 older ladies. After 6 ends they had us 10-2. Very humbling. I discovered Sun Tzu's teachings and never took an opponent lightly ever again.

Thanks for the story. It's like the fabric of the prairies. Just about everyone has a story like it.

[agstar77]

Curling in MCA many moons ago with my buddies . It was in the days of 3 games a day curling at rinks all around the city and drinking was a major part of the experience. We finished our second game at 5 in an extra end ie. 11 ends. We were supposed to be at another rink across the city at 8. So we knew would be late. Phoning ahead we messaged we would be late, but of course some of us had to stay for extra drinks. We arrived at our next rink just a little drunk. Of course we had to visit the lounge for pick me up. All the sheets were already going and our opposition was sitting in the lounge discussing how they were waiting for some out of town rink but they would probably finish them in 4 ends. They were a provincial championship contender and probably had reason to be confident. Needless to say we cleaned them in 4 ends because they were too overconfident and we did not get respect that we deserved. Never underestimate your opposition.

[cottonpicken]

If I got this right sun was Chinese and always thinl ought it was weird the japs picked it up.

Conquer without a fight

Chomsky says they are subjugated and japan is not but never really liked that old man and his writing and thoughts

[LEP]

In the early 80's a local town had a great round the clock bonspiel. I had curled a little before, like maybe 10 times. I was the skip and everyone else on the rink had less experience than I. One guy curled in cowboy boots and one toe rubber. He had never curled before.

Anyway we were to play the local hotshots. The team trying to get to the tankard. We were quite drunk and not taking it too serious and we proceeded to beat our much more serious opponents 8 to 2. They were just totally pissed off.

My lesson from that game was never get too cocky or take things too seriously and I remind myself all the time.