Volume Six: Sun Tzu's Art of War Rule Book

This is  Volume Six (47 articles) of our Art of War Rule Book. This is the longest volume of the Rule Book. The Rules in this volume explain the nature of a competitive campaign, the nine common situations that arise in campaigns, and the proper responses to those situations.  


The Rule Book itself 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 and internationally recognized Art of War expert, Gary Gagliardi. The work explains the concepts in the verses of Sun Tzu's classic on strategy in detail, explaining the situations to which they apply the steps in Sun Tzu's system for using them with examples from modern competition.  


The concepts covered in this volume  are listed below: 


Rule Book Overview 

Volume One Review: Comparing Positions

Volume Two Review: Developing Perspective

Volume Three Review: Identifying Opportunities

Volume Four Review: Leveraging Probability

Volume Five Review: Minimizing Mistakes

Volume Six Overview: Responding To Situations

6.0.0 Situation Response

6.1.0 Situation Recognition

6.1.1 Conditioned Reflexes

6.1.2 Prioritizing Conditions

6.2.0 Campaign Evaluation

6.2.1 Campaign Flow

6.2.2 Campaign Goals

6.3.0 Campaign Patterns

6.3.1 Early-Stage Situations

6.3.2 Middle-Stage Situations

6.3.3 Late-Stage Situations

6.4.0 Nine Situations 

6.4.1 Dissipating Situations

6.4.2 Easy Situations

6.4.3 Contentious Situations

6.4.4 Open Situations

6.4.5 Intersecting Situations

6.4.6 Serious Situations

6.4.7 Difficult Situations

6.4.8 Limited Situations

6.4.9 Desperate Situations

6.5.0 Nine Responses

6.5.1 Dissipating Response

6.5.2 Easy Response

6.5.3 Contentious Response

6.5.4 Open Response

6.5.5 Intersecting Response

6.5.6 Serious Response

6.5.7 Difficult Response

6.5.8 Limited Response

6.5.9 Desperate Response

6.6.0 Campaign Pause

6.7.0 Tailoring to Conditions

6.7.1 Form Adjustments

6.7.2 Size Adjustments

6.7.3 Strength Adjustments

6.8.0 Competitive Psychology

6.8.1 Adversity and Creativity

6.8.2 Strength in Adversity

6.8.3 Individual Toughness

The Art of War Rule Book Series

About the Translator and Author 

Other Art of War Books by Gary Gagliardi

Glossary of Key Concepts 


Except for review and overview articles, each articles is written in standard format including the original text discussed, the general principle in more modern terms,  the situation to which the rule is applied or which necessitates the rule, the opportunity created or exploited by the concept,  the list of specific Art of War Rules breaking down the general principle into a series of actionable steps with references to related concepts in the Rule Book, and illustrations of the application of each of those step to a specific competitive arena, i.e. sales, politics, small business, etc. 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. 


The initial number identifies where each article appears in Rule Book Structure. For example, the article 2.1.3 Strategic Deception is the third article in the first section of the second book in the nine volumes of the Strategy Rule Book. 


The Nine Parts of the Rule Book cover the following topics:

1. Comparing 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.