Idea Ripper // ArchiveCards: 1555 [Live] | Updated: 2026-10-14
Card #c665IR // #c665Synthesis

It is difficult to move strong things by pushing directly, so you should injure the corners.' Don't strike the enemy's strength head-on; strike the corners — the weak points — and the whole structure falls. 'If the corners are overthrown, the spirit of the whole body will be overthrown.

— In our words · Source: The Book of Five Rings (Miyamoto Musashi)

[Use when]

Use when a problem looks monolithic and unassailable — stop pushing the center, find the corners (the assumptions, the dependencies, the edge cases) and break those first.

[Why it matters]

A clean agreement with Sun Tzu's 'attack him where he is unprepared' and 'attack places which are undefended.' Both see that a strong whole is moved through its weak parts, never through its strong center. Musashi states it for the body; Sun Tzu for the battlefield.

Related principles

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More from The Book of Five Rings

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