I agree with this.ORIGINAL: anarchyintheuk
I'd still put Tzu fu under the title of enlightened common sense rather than anything particularly mind blowing. Telling me that it is wise to keep an enemy off balance is like my dad telling me to brush my teeth before I put my tie on instead of vice-versa . . . good idea but obvious.
Having said that, it's still a must read.
No way no how could Sun Tzu have forseen the complexities of modern warfare and the interrelationship of combined arms. His greatest contributions were really just enlightened common sense. Speaking of military approaches that were unique to his generalizations is to give too much too much credence to his non-specifics.
Just because it's a good idea to eat a meal every now and then doesn't make me a genius for stating the obvious. It was good common sense (e.g., go where he ain't; avoid rushing headlong into a prepared defense; don't broadcast your likely route of advance) to follow some of his basic tenets.
Which doesn't take anything away from the guy or his teachings. For what he was then, he was brilliant. Remember that some medieval knights felt 'tactics' such as flank attacks, feints and the like were weaknesses to be avoided-battle should only be joined by a full frontal assault, albeit a gentlemanly one. Clearly they could have used a brush up on military common sense.
I believe that his platitudes and generalizations have been supplanted by specifics of combined arms modern warfare in many different ways. Unfortunately, as a species, we have advanced significantly beyond the realm of his expertise and experiences. More recent military strategists probably come closer to hitting the nail on the modern warfare head than Sun Tzu, IMO-his stuff is dated in its scope, scale and applicability.
