It is difficult to know yourself if you do not know others…

It is important to know thyself.

But it is just as useful to know others.

One part of this is listening to what the other side is saying, so that you can engage sensibly. After all, you wouldn’t close your eyes in a sword-fight.

But another part is that your opponents will often have good ideas about tactics that you haven’t thought of or haven’t encountered before. When you spot these, remember them and use them in the future.

Similarly, if you opponent blunders, note what they have done and resolve not to do it yourself.

Reading Miyamoto Musashi‘s The Book of Five Rings – the classic Japanese treatise on strategy from which this post’s title, and martial metaphors, are taken is optional.

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