Sun Tzu’s Art of War

Jullian Kurt L. Arcano – 120281              LS 127 – G                                        February 10, 2016

Reflection Paper: Sun Tzu’s Art of War

“The Art of War” is about Chinese general, militarist, and philosopher Sun Tzu’s strategies of war and its relevance in three significant wars that happened in the past. It revolves around how critical to follow his principles to get the desired outcome of the war, which is to win. It was also added that these principles are also used in other situations like sports, politics, and business. The film was shown as a documentary at the History Channel.

The film opens in 500 BC China when King Helu of Wu hired Sun Tzu to train his 30,000 men to fight the invading army of Chu, who had about 10 times more men. It was around this time when Sun Tzu wrote the Art of War, thus used it for the upcoming war they were preparing for. In the film, it was said that his writings are tied by three main principles.

One is “Know your enemy and know yourself and in 100 battles you will never peril.”  This principle was explained further through the Vietnam War when North Vietnam was at war with South Vietnam, who was an ally of the United States. In this battle, the North Vietnam leader used Sun Tzu’s principle, resulting to United States’ failure to defend South Vietnam. Second is “To win 100 battles is not the height of skill. To subdue the enemies without fighting is.” Deception is key in warfare. This was explained further through the Second World War when the allied forces from the UK planned to attack the Nazis in France through a surprise attack in Normandy. Third is “Avoid what is strong. Attack what is weak.”  This principle was highlighted through the loss of the Confederate army to the Union army. Knowing that they were at a disadvantage in terrain and in number, they still continued to attack head-on, resulting to their defeat. In the end, Sun Tzu led his 30,000 men to victory. They defeated Chu Prime Minister Nang Hua & his 300,000 men and subdued the powerful state of Chu.

As stated in the video, “The Art of War” is indeed applicable to business. Almost all of its concepts are useful and relevant to the business application and strategy formulation today. The documentary showed graphic illustrations of Sun Tzu’s rules, applications, and even consequences of not following them. One rule that struck me was to “Do the unexpected!” In war, deception is key as much as it is in business. Businesses must always do what is not expected of them so that the competitors will not be able to predict your company’s movements. If a business keeps on reusing the same strategy for a long time then it will eventually be surpassed by a competitor with a new and better strategy.