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Sun Tzu-jeva "Umetnost vojne" je starodavno kitajsko besedilo, ki je zaradi svojih strateških idej postalo znano po vsem svetu. V tej starodavni modrosti najdemo veliko praktičnih in pragmatičnih nasvetov za moderni svet. Uporabna je za trženje, vodenje podjetij, športne igre, osebno rast in še marsikaj drugega. Tudi če nimamo nič skupnega z vojaškim življenjem, so nasveti iz Umetnosti vojne še vedno pomembni za reševanje vseh vrst konfliktov.
"Največja zmaga je tista, ki ne zahteva boja."
"Enote, ki spravijo sovražnika na kolena, ne da bi se borile - to je idealno."
Čeprav knjiga nosi naslov "Umetnost vojne", je njena glavna tema izogibanje bitkam in vojnam, ter pametna uporaba sile. Za Sun Tzu-ja je najboljša strategija tista, ki prinaša zmago brez spopadov. Obdobje vojskujočih se držav (475 pr. n. št. - 221 pr. n. št.) je bilo obdobje nenehnih vojn. Takrat je bila Kitajska razdeljena na sedem velikih in številne majhne države. Voditelji so se med seboj bojevali zaradi gospodarskih ali političnih koristi; še huje, nekateri so se bojevali le zaradi osebnih koristi.
“Umetnost vojne” se razlikuje od številnih takratnih strategov ali učenjakov, ki so delali, da bi ugajali kralju, in se na koncu po nepotrebnem znašli v vojni.
“Umetnost vojne” nas svari pred naivnostjo, ko se na konflikt ne pripravimo, ker ga ne vidimo. Prva zmaga za Sun Tzuja je tista, ki jo strateg doseže nad samim seboj, nad svojim značajem in bojevitostjo. Umetnost vojne vsekakor ni hipijevska knjiga, ki bi zagovarjala nenasilje. V kitajskem znaku sila 武 je kombinacija besed 止, 戈, kar pomeni ustaviti bitko s silo. Vojna je nujna, vendar so na kocki življenja in sredstva, zato se je treba v spopad spustiti z znanjem, kako biti učinkovit in praktičen; Sun Tzu pravi, da je vojska kot ogenj: če strateg ne ve, kako ga pravočasno pogasiti, ga bo pogoltnila.
"Umetnost vojne je za državo ključnega pomena. Gre za vprašanje življenja in smrti, za pot do varnosti ali pogube. Zato je predmet raziskovanja, ki ga nikakor ne smemo zanemariti."
Umetnost vojne in zavedanje samega sebe
"Če poznaš sovražnika in sebe, se ti ni treba bati izida stotih bitk. Če poznaš sebe, ne pa sovražnika, boš za vsako doseženo zmago doživel tudi poraz. Če ne poznaš ne sovražnika ne sebe, boš podlegel v vsaki bitki."
Vojna v našem vsakdanjem življenju je nenehna bitka proti lastni nevednosti, proti pridobljenim navadam in vsemu, kar nas loči od naših ciljev. Ta priročnik borilnih veščin nam še naprej svetuje, naj analiziramo svoj značaj, ga spoznamo in se ne sabotiramo; poudarja tudi strateško razmišljanje, pravilno upravljanje virov in energije. To je potrebno tako kratkoročno kot dolgoročno: poudarek je na tem, kako pomembno je v vsakem trenutku poznati svoje in sovražnikove prednosti.
Umetnost vojne določa pet meril, ki lahko zagotovijo uspeh ali neuspeh v vojni: tao 道 ali pot, podnebje, teren, kakovost poveljevanja in nazadnje fa - red in disciplina. Uspešna kampanja v resnici ni povezana z vojaško opremo. Namesto tega gre za strategijo, pozornosti do zunanjih razmer, vzpostavitev pravilnih birokratskih verig poveljevanja ter sistem discipline in kaznovanja, ki lahko zagotovi, da te verige ostanejo neprekinjene.
Ob branju Umetnosti vojne lahko postanemo nekoliko paranoični: vsi naši nasprotniki niso naši sovražniki. V smislu spoznavanja samega sebe bi lahko pomislili, da je sovražnik vse tisto, kar je v nas samih, zaradi naivnosti ali tega, da nam je neznano, kar ogroža naše preživetje in naše načrte. Strah, apatija, nedisciplina, strahopetnost in pomanjkanje odgovornosti so posledica pomanjkanja samospoznanja ali kot pravi Sun Tzu, pomanjkanje strateške vizije.
Vodja, ki lahko popelje vojsko do zmage, je predvsem zmagovalec nad samim seboj, nekdo, ki je sposoben videti in prepoznati samega sebe. Prva zmaga je notranja. Tiste, ki sledijo, so preprosto naravne in skoraj neizogibne posledice te zmage nad samim seboj, ki jo dosegamo vedno znova, dan za dnem.
The Art of War by Sun Tzu– a strategic mind for the dynamic world
Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" is an ancient Chinese text that has become famous worldwide for its insights into strategy. This ancient wisdom offers a lot of practical and pragmatic advice for the modern world. It is useful for marketing, business administration, sport games, personal growth and many more. Even if we have nothing to do with military life, the advice in The Art of War is still relevant to the resolution of all kinds of conflicts.
"The greatest victory is that which requires no battle."
“Troops that bring the enemy to heel without fighting at all - that is ideal”
Even though it is named “The Art of War”, the main theme of the book is indeed to avoid battles and war and only use force wisely. For Sun Tzu, the best strategy is the one that delivers victory without fighting. The Warring States period (475 B.C. - 221 B.C.) was an era of constant warfare. Back then, China was divided into 7 big states and many small ones. The leaders fought each other for economic or political gains; worse still, some only fought for personal preference. The Art of War is different from many strategists or scholars at that time who worked to please the king and end up being in war unnecessarily.
The Art of War warns us against the naivety of, by not seeing conflict, failing to prepare for it. The first victory for Sun Tzu is the one that the strategist claims over himself, against his own character and belligerence. The Art of War is definitely no hippies who advocated nonviolence. In the Chinese character, force 武 is a combination of 止, 戈 which means to stop battle with force. War is necessary, but what is at stake are lives and resources, so that one enters into conflict knowing how to be efficient and practical; an army, Sun Tzu says, is like a fire: if the strategist does not know how to extinguish it in time, it will consume him.
“The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected."
The Art of War and the self awareness
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
The war in our daily lives is the untiring battle against our own ignorance, against acquired habits and all that separates us from our goals. What this manual of martial arts continues to advise us is to analyze our own character, to get to know it and to not sabotage ourselves; it also emphasizes strategic thinking, the correct management of resources and energy. This is necessary both in the short and long term: the accent is placed on the importance of knowing our own strengths and those of the enemy, at any time.
The Art of War sets out five criteria that can guarantee success or failure in war: the Tao 道 or the way; the climate; the terrain; the quality of command; and finally fa — order and discipline. To wage a successful campaign is not really about military hardware. Instead, it is about strategy, about attention to external conditions, about having the correct bureaucratic chains of command in place, and about having a system of discipline and punishment that can make sure these chains remain unbroken.
Reading The Art of War could make us a little paranoid: not all our adversaries are our enemies. In terms of the knowledge of the self, we could think that the enemy is all that is in ourselves, due to naivety or to being unknown to ourselves, threatening our survival and our plans. Fear, apathy, indiscipline, cowardice and a lack of responsibility are all due to a lack of self-knowledge, or as Sun Tzu says, to a lack of strategic vision.
A leader that can carry an army to victory is first and foremost a winner over themselves, someone who has been able to see themselves and recognize themselves. The first victory is internal. Those that follow are simply the natural and almost inevitable consequences of that victory over ourselves that we win again and again, day after day.