V. Momentum

Sun Tzu said: Governing many is like governing few; it is a matter of division and numbers. Fighting many is like fighting few; it is a matter of flags and drums. That the whole host of the Three Armies can be made to take the enemy’s attack without ever being defeated is a matter of the unorthodox and the orthodox. That the army falls on the enemy like a whetstone thrown against an egg is a matter of the empty and the full.

In all fighting, one engages with the orthodox and wins with the unorthodox. So those skilled at bringing forth the unorthodox are as inexhaustible as heaven and earth, as unfailing as the rivers and seas. Ending and beginning again: so are the sun and moon. Dying and being born again: so are the four seasons. There are no more than five notes, but the variations of the five notes are more than can ever be heard. There are no more than five colors, but the variations of the five colors are more than can ever be seen. There are no more than five flavors, but the variations of the five flavors are more than can ever be tasted. In the momentum of battle there are no more than the unorthodox and the orthodox, but the variations of the unorthodox and the orthodox can never be exhausted. The unorthodox and the orthodox give rise to each other like a ring that has no end. Who could ever exhaust them?

That rushing water, in its speed, sweeps boulders along is momentum. That a hawk, in its speed, strikes and breaks its prey is timing. So those skilled at fighting have momentum that is steep and timing that is short. Momentum is like a drawn crossbow; timing is like the release of the trigger.

In the tumult and the turmoil the fighting looks like chaos, yet the army cannot be thrown into chaos; in the confusion and the murk its formation is round, yet it cannot be defeated. Disorder is born of order, cowardice of courage, weakness of strength. Order and disorder are a matter of numbers; courage and cowardice are a matter of momentum; strength and weakness are a matter of form. So those skilled at moving the enemy show him a form, and he is sure to follow it; they offer him something, and he is sure to take it. They move him with advantage and wait for him with their troops.

So those skilled at fighting look for it in momentum and do not demand it of men; so they can choose their men and rely on momentum. One who relies on momentum sends his men into battle as one rolls logs and stones. It is the nature of logs and stones to lie still on level ground and move on a slope, to stop when square and roll when round. So the momentum of one skilled at sending men into battle is like rolling round boulders down a mountain a thousand fathoms high. This is momentum.