On Tue, Feb 08, 2005 at 05:21:07AM -0800, Steve Brust wrote: > 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." Hm...I was told that "sen sen no sen" was to "seize the initiative and never let it go". My father (also not a Japanese speaker, but took some classes) said that in general the repetition of a word, "sen sen" in this case, indicates an emphasis. If this is true I think the "never let it go" interpretation seems more likely. Now we just need a Japanese speaker to tell us we're both FOS. :) I'm my experience, when seeing something that was described as "sen sen no sen" it meant that the person was continously attacking with no let up until the opponent was overwhelmed, or they failed due the better execution of "go no sen" by the "defender". :) -Jot -- Jot Powers <books at bofh.com> http://www.bofh.com/books/ "I'm upping my standards, so up yours!" -Pat Paulsen (1927-1997), Presidential Campaign Slogan