“The tigers of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction.” —William Blake

Weather analysis is another realm that is often neglected. You don’t have to be able to read clouds to do weather analysis as it relates to operations, if you have access a local weather forecast (from the local news, from a website, w/e) you can do weather analysis. Not only can weather analysis better help to dress and prepare better for actions, it can also help you shape your tactics and calls to action in such a way that the weather can give you an advantage. If it’s hot out for example you can remember to dress lighter and try to stay better hydrated while also knowing your enemies will be quicker to anger and if they have heavy gear they’ll be more easily exhausted. If it’s cold you can bundle up in preparing for that and know that your enemy may have a motivation problem due to the weather.

Weather also affects terrain; rain turns dirt to mud, sleet can make it harder for bikes to go uphill, ice can stop cars, etc.

In short, don’t forget to check the weather before planning or attending an action.

It is no accident that almost every major military campaign has started in the spring or summer.

Are you preparing for the coming spring?

Some thoughts regarding watching videos to improve skills and thinking:

•Watching experts preform is proven to better the watcher’s own form. This works from MMA to chess. Of course there’s no replacement for practicing live with an expert that can correct your form as you go so you don’t develop bad habits.

•Watching experts critique media featuring their craft, where said media get things wrong or right etc, is a great way to gain insights. This is one of the ways the FBI finally learned the inner workings of the mafia; the feds would bug the homes of made men and specifically record their shit talking of movies and news stories that featured organized crime.

•Reviewing footage of recent operations can help you better see how things unfold and what you and your group needs to work on or reveal weaknesses in your enemies.

... In contrast, complexity theory is teaching contemporary scientists that the best way to generate order in a complex system is by letting it self-organize in interaction with its environment. As a matter of fact, self-organization is a spontaneous behavior in complex systems, and the environment cannot be controlled. Self-organization, it appears, has been traditionally avoided in the history of social human systems, and diverse mechanisms have been developed to impede it. Thus, the idea of having leaders (in a strictly vertical sense) and governors dwindles in this scenario; top-down leaders become rulers, governors and commanders act as attractors that amplify negative feedbacks, as they inhibit the capacity of human social systems to generate their own adaptive order. https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/carlos-maldonado-and-nathalie-mezza-garcia-anarchy-and-complexity

Sun Tzu’s The Art of War is one of the greatest war theory texts ever written. If read critically it also holds wisdom useful for just about anyone, but especially those interested in strategy, tactics, and operational thinking. Even the bits that extol the virtues of a general can be partially transmuted to lessons about a forces’ cohesion. Regardless, it covers both core basics and clever innovations very succinctly. This is highly recommended reading. We will also be sharing relevant quotes here on our channel as we eventually work on relevant annotations for the whole of the text.

“Plan for what is difficult while it is easy, do what is great while it is small. The most difficult things in the world must be done while they are still easy, the greatest things in the world must be done while they are still small. For this reason sages never do what is great, and this is why they can achieve that greatness.”—The Tao-te Ching

The purpose of the avant-garde as even Napoleon notes, is not to lead, but to maneuver.

A less cluttered version of The Art of War can be found here: https://web.mit.edu/~dcltdw/AOW/toc.html

A different translation of The Art of War that people might prefer.

The 36 Stratagems pairs very well with The Art of War, where the 36 Stratagems drops the Confucian reverence for virtues and State worship instead leaning into a sort of dark and cunning Taoist approach. Though of course Taoism is present in the wiser bits of Sun Tzu’s work.

John Boyd did wonders with Sun Tzu’s work. We’ll tease out these notes ourselves some day, but in the meantime if you name search Sun Tzu in this anthology you will not be disappointed.

And of course a good secondary source on John Boyd including his work with Sun Tzu is the Speed and Decisions chapter of Deceiving the Sky.

After some deliberation due to its intro that adds an additional lesson without getting into the weeds as well as it’s accessibility and succinctness we’re going to recommend this version over others.

One sample of wisdom from The Art of War that’s very important to those engaged in even low intensity asymmetric warfare, “All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.“

Our goal with this project is similar to the goal stated by folk singer Pete Seeger; to scatter some seeds around as we walk in hopes that some might grow.

To us macro-level analysis is important for avoiding dead-ends. Though of a specific moment and branching out of analysis of struggle in a specific location, this makes the case for this very well.

“China and America are merely two of the major portions of a single global economy riven with contradictions.”

https://chuangcn.org/2020/01/the-divided-god/

BECOME THE TERRITORY

practice practice practice, but keep it quality over quantity

There’s a lot of other people covering specific gear. We try and cover things others are neglecting, but here’s a good radio rundown.