On Tue, 2005-02-08 at 07:23, Jot Powers wrote: > > Other martial arts (I know Shotokan in particular) have the concept > of "sen no sen" and "go no sen". Not being a Japanese speaker it > is my understanding that that are typically incorrectly interpreted > by novices as "offensive" and "defensive". The correct phrasing is > pruportedly to "seize the initiative" and to "seize the intiative later". > That's how I understand them, too. There is also "sen sen no sen," which would translate, I think, to, "seize the initiative a fraction of an instant before your opponent is about to." In kumite (sparring), I'm told that 60% of the points go the first attacker. This is sad for me because, intuitively, I'm a counterpuncher. Oh, well. The fact is, I never did anything but suck at kumite anyway. :-) In war, the advantage/disadvantage of the attack in a given battle depends on technology. The Napoleonic formation mave all the advantage to the attacker. Then the minnieball and associated technology gave it back to the defender. &tc.