Summer School 1983

THE ART OF WAR 

The Bingfa of Sun Wu, or Sunzi, is the classic book of strategy. Miss Li said that she used to be always reading it when she was young, and people used to say to her 'What are you going to be? A general?'

Here are some of its ideas ...

If you have two sides which come together, something is bound to happen: what comes out will depend on how each of the two sides changes. They must change - it is a law of nature - and the outcome depends on how. Usually the change will not be analysable, but understood only by intuition and instinct: 'whatever words tell you, it is not worthwhile to listen'.

Anything at a higher level depends not on explanation, but on practice, experience and research: 'when you try to pass on your knowledge, words reduce the quality of the truth'. This is true in all aspects of life, but becomes clearest in the martial arts. Anything you really know, do not try to explain, as you will only make things more confused.

'If you are a good fighter, the best way: do not fight. Put things in order, prevent things getting into a disordered state. Whether personally or in the army, keep silent and mysterious.' So, Miss Li said she keeps things mysterious, so that people will treat her well, a psychological trick of teaching. And her advice to her students was: when you see something, do not think 'she is looking at me', be blind and you will see more, see to the bottom.

Do not take 'self-defence' too seriously. We must march with the times: open-handed or stick fighting is clearly out of date in an age of pistols and other advanced weapons. Wu Shu is about skill and about the evasion of fighting. The highest form of 'self-defence' is evasion: no matter what technique is used, you cannot be caught. 'You know how I do my self-defence? I stay indoors at night!' If you go around boasting about your strength, you will have to fight everyone.