he thinks Boyd is the most recent link in a chain that began with Sun Tzu and continued with Musashi, the sixteenth-century samurai, and then with Mao Tse Tung. Richards says the similarities between Musashi and Boyd are many: Boyd’s shiny fighter aircraft was like the lacquered armor of a samurai. Both went into battle one-on-one. Both had personal habits that caused others to think them uncouth. Both lived by an austere code of honor and self-sacrifice. Both believed that if they confused an enemy before the battle, they had won even before the fight. In combat, neither ever lost a battle.
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The biggest difference I see is that Boyd's ego preceded him. How much more could he have accomplished if he had played the game just a little bit? If he would have at least refrained from all out insulting people and ensuring that they knew they were defeated by him? Then again, would Boyd have been Boyd if he didn't have as many enemies as he did? He seemed to be energized by them.
