Karate ni sente nashi

Caveat: this post is my interpretation of readings and studies therefore errors and omissions are mine and mine alone. It is highly recommended one fact check the data for clarity. My effort here is self-clarity toward a fuller understanding of the subject matter.  

It is assumed that the meaning here is about not attacking first in karate but is that actually the meaning. There are several interpretations to this quote and all are dependent on the characters/ideograms used as well as who interpreted it along with what version of translator was used to do that interpretation. In my efforts I found two other terms used in this interpretation other than the term “Attack.” 

The first one found is provided by Henning Wittwer, in his book (see bibliography) where he interprets the characters/ideograms as “Movement.” Then there is the one that comes from the characters/ideograms presented on the wiki site for Gichin Funakoshi, i.e. his characters in one translator uses, “Initiative,” in lieu of attack. 

The Tangorin translation site translates the individual characters/ideograms as follows:

空 - empty; sky; vacant; vacum.

手 - hand

先 - before; ahead; previous; future; precedence. 

手 - hand

(Note: the other characters are に - two; load; baggage; cargo; freight; goods; burden; responsibility; red earth; takes after; two; bhikkhuni; soil, な - name; reputation; indicates emotion or emphasis; form of verb for prohibition; command, し - death; decease; poem; verse of poetry; four; magazine; city; reasons; official; teacher; master; one’s mentor, etc.

This makes interpretations difficult but in a sense since most characters/ideograms when combined assume a different meaning then we can attach some validity to these translations, i.e., “Attack, Initiative, and movement.” 

If this is true then it would change the meaning of the quote significantly since movement, initiative and attack tend to lead the reader is a direction according to their perception and perspective dependent on which term is used. 

The Western mind may tend to lean heavily toward the term attack as it would connect to the perception of karate as a combative or defensive system. This may be a mistake but it would depend heavily on why Funakoshi Sensei made it, i.e., as a teaching toward the physical application of karate or as a more spiritual or philosophical teaching in the practice and application of karate. Personally, I lean more toward the philosophical. Even if he were alive today and gave us his English term it may not be adequate since his perceptions and perspective along with is culture influence when speaking English would have an effect different then our cultural understanding of words, etc.

Personally, I prefer the term, “Initiative,” over attack. Taking the initiative leaves the mind open to many other paths to take other than just blitzing an adversary with some karate technique. It leaves us open to taking other paths that would lead to avoidance or even deescalation vs. simply attacking. An adversary in modern times will, mostly, go through a process before committing to a physical attack so that would allow a karate-ka the time and hopefully distance to use the human brain to perceive some other type of defense, i.e., taking the initiative to prevent violence unless that option is removed by the adversary. 

I can say that the characters/ideograms provided from Internet sources are all the same across the board so the chances that one or more are incorrectly presented, created, are small. 

In the end, the use of attack should not be considered the only or even correct translation and/or interpretation. The variables involved leave plenty of room to speculate and actually use a term that would suit the philosophy of each and every karate-ka. This is something similar to the interpretations of the ken-po goku-i, i.e., where I believe the intent is to understand it from a personal perspective similar to Zen koans, i.e., a karate koan. 

In the end it is a personal decision with no one source absolute, even Funakoshi Sensei’s.

p.s. Karate by Jesse writes, ““sente” really means “initiative/first move”, and not “attack”. 

p.s.s. Nagamine Shoshin in the book, “Tales of Okinawa’s Great Masters,” said, “The time has come to learn in sincere humility the true meaning of “Karate Ni Sente Nashi […] In martial arts, wherever kokoro [the spirit] has been forgotten, or never learned, so too will the principle of Karate Ni Sente Nashi also be misunderstood, or worse, not even known! In reality, Karate Ni Sente Nashi is a warning, and any martial artist who ignores this maxim is a hypocrite.”

Bibliography:

Wittwer, Henning. “Scouting Out the Historical Course of Karate: Collected Essays.” Impressum. Germany. 2014 (www.lulu.com)

Jesse. “Karate Ni Senti Nashi a la Motobu Choki.” http://www.karatebyjesse.com/karate-ni-sente-nashi-a-la-motobu-choki/

James, Charles E. “COMPARISON: “karate ni sente nashi.” and "The time to strike is when the opportunity presents itself." http://kenpo-gokui.blogspot.com/2011/07/comparison-karate-ni-sente-nashi-and.html