A black ring is tied to a straight red cord on the right and a loose blue cord on the left.

Original artwork, not a still

The Art of War

Sun Tzu

The clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

A description of skilful competition: the clever combatant pushes their own will onto the opponent while refusing to let the opponent do the same. It's about holding the initiative, being the one who sets the terms rather than the one who's forced to respond.

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