The Art of War: Warrior Rules - winning by comparing positions

There is a rule book for winning productively. The Warrior's Rule Book is SOSI's on-line system explaining the rules of strategy developed by Sun Tzu in the context of modern competition. The Rule Book is the culmination of over a decade of work breaking down Sun Tzu's principles into a series of step-by-step practical articles by the Institute's multiple award-winning author, Gary Gagliardi. The original Art of War was written for military generals who understood the philosophical concepts of ancient China.  Our Warrior's Rule Book is written for today's reader. It puts Sun Tzu's ideas into everyday, practical language. 

The Rule Book defines a new science of strategic competition aimed at today's challenges.  This science of competition is designed as the complementary opposite of the management science that is taught in most business schools. This science starts, as Sun Tzu did himself, by defining a better, more complete vocabulary for discussing competitive situations.  It connects the timeless ideas of Sun Tzu to today's latest thinking in business, mathematics, and psychology.

The Rule Book consists of two hundred and thirty-two articles describing over a thousand interconnected rules. These articles are organized into nine different areas of strategic skill from understanding positioning and developing perspective to winning rewards and defending vulnerabilities. These articles are written in standard format including 1) the general principle, 2) the situation, 3) the opportunity, 4) the list of specific Warrior's Rules breaking down the general principle into a series of actions, and 5) an illustration of the application of each of those rules to a specific competitive situation. Rules are written generically to apply to every competitive arena (business, personal life, career, sports, relationships, etc.) with each specific illustrations drawn from one of these areas.

Rule Book Access

A Rule Book article is published daily on our front page, allowing site guests to learn Sun Tzu's Rules by visiting regularly. If you become a SOSI Member, you can access any Rule Book article at any time to Find the Strategy that applies to your current competitive situation.  You can also purchase individuals rules articles for download for only .87 cents each.

Rule Book Structure

Rule Book articles are arranged in a logical structure to make it easy to find the rules you need. Nine categories of strategic skills define cycle that advances our positions: 1. understanding positions, 2. developing perspective, 3. identifying opportunities, 4. leveraging probability, 5. minimizing mistakes, 6. responding to situations,  7. creating momentum, 8. winning rewards, and 9. defending vulnerabilities.  These categories flow logically from through the Progress Cycle of listen-aim-move-claim (see illustration). You can see a outline of Rule Book articles here or a dynamic list of articles here.

Rule Book Numbered Links

A number identifies where each article appears in Rule Book Structure (example: 2.1.3 Strategic Deception). When you see a link preceded by a number, it connects to a Rule Book article. Unfortunately, these links work only for SOSI members. We provide them because the interconnection of concepts is extremely important in learning Sun Tzu's system.

Rules Book Training

Warrior training does not entail memorizing all these rules. While each rule is useful, the heart of Sun Tzu system is the methods that connect all the rules together. Training in these rules is designed to develop a gut instinct for how Sun Tzu's strategy is used in different situations to produce success. Rules are interlinked because they describe a comprehensive conceptual mental model. Warrior Class training puts trainees in a situation where they must constantly make decisions, rewarding them for making decisions consist with winning productively instead of destructively.