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The
Art of Timing
By Ethan
Monnot 5th dan Aikido
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| Go
no sen / sen no sen / sensen no
sen These three terms refer to
the different kinds of timing
used in dealing with an attacker
in budo training. |
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| At
one of the aikido summer camps in Denmark,
Ulf Evenås and I once asked Saito Sensei
about these terms. He said that they were
used in Iaido or Kenjutsu training. I have
never heard Saito Sensei use these terms himself
when referring to the timing of the response
to an attack in aikido. I believe his attitude
towards the use of these terms came from O-Sensei.
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| In
an article from Aikido Journal there is an
interview with O-Sensei from 1957. The following
is an excerpt that pertains to this subject:
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| O
Sensei: In Aikido, there is absolutely no
attack. To attack means that the spirit has
already lost. We adhere to the principle of
absolute nonresistance; that is to say, we
do not oppose the attacker. Thus, there is
no opponent in Aikido. The victory in Aikido
is masakatsu and agatsu; since you win over
everything in accordance with the mission
of heaven, you possess absolute strength.
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| B:
Does that mean ou no sen? (Also called go
no sen; this term refers to a defensive response
to an attack.) |
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| O
Sensei: Absolutely not. It is not a question
of either sensen no sen or sen no sen. If
I were to try to verbalize it I would say
that you control your opponent without trying
to control him. That is, the state of continuous
victory. There isn't any question of winning
over or losing to an opponent. In this sense,
there is no opponent in Aikido. Even if you
have an opponent, he becomes a part of you,
a partner you control only. |
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| In
O-Sensei's first statement of the excerpt
he says there is no attack. I believe that
he is referring to a combative situation,
as I will describe in full later on in this
article: the attacker has already chosen his
role. His intention to attack is clear. What
also must be taken into account is the fact
that O-Sensei possessed such a high level
of perception that he surpassed this kind
of concept of timing completely. O-Sensei
also refers to two important terms: masakatsu
(correct victory) and agatsu (self-victory).
This is a reference to one of his favorite
sayings: "masakatsu, agatsu, katsu hayabi"
(correct victory, self-victory, the day of
swift victory). This is often interpreted
to mean that correct victory is winning over
your own self or ego. When reaching this state
of selflessness, then this is the way to swift
victory (not only in martial contexts but
also in life itself). |
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| O-Sensei
goes on to say that it is not a question of
sensen no sen or sen no sen. As stated earlier,
O-Sensei was on a much higher level of perception
than the concepts these terms indicate. But
for those of us who follow the path of Aiki
without possessing the martial genius of the
founder of aikido, I hope that my examples
of these terms can be of some help in understanding
the intricacies of timing and awareness inherent
in the fascinating world of aikido. |
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| The
Japanese character for "sen" can
also be read as "saki." It means
"before" and even sometimes "after"
in certain contexts! But in the terms go no
sen, sen no sen and sensen no sen, it is an
abbreviation of sorts for the word "sente"
meaning initiative or lead. The "te"
in sente means hand, so sente directly translates
as "before hand." In budo, sente
refers to an attack or the initiative to attack.
In karate there is a saying: "karate
niwa, sente wa nashi." This means, "In
karate, there are no attacks." This is
a fine example of the defensive attitude found
in traditional karate. This defensive attitude
is inherent in traditional budo in general.
There are, however, ways of taking control
in a combative situation and leading the opponent's
"Ki" or intention, without having
to wait for the attacker to start the attack.
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| When
facing an opponent in a combative situation,
the conditions are already set: you are facing
a person intent on fighting you. The case
should be, if you have behaved according to
proper etiquette, that you have given the
attacker no reason to fight you, and you have
attempted to resolve the impending confrontation
by all means possible, to the extent of removing
yourself from the presence of the attacker.
When all else fails, then it is time to defend
yourself. This is the presupposed basis of
the situation that we are in when we face
our opponent during budo practice. Therefore
it is morally justifiable to, if necessary,
use a technique that draws forth an attack
from your opponent, hereby creating a possibility
to counter the opponent's attack: sensen no
sen. |
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| To
start from the beginning, let
us look at go no sen. Go means
"after." Go no sen is
the timing that is often used
in budo when responding to an
attack. In aikido, an example
would be stepping to the inside
of the line of attack, parrying
the attacking hand and executing
shihonage when defending against
yokomen uchi. In aiki-ken it could
be exemplified by migi awase,
with uke tachi stepping off the
line of attack to the right and
counterstriking with shomen uchi.
In migi awase, we move in harmony
with the attacker, but it is the
attacker that is taking the initiative
in the attack and we are mirroring
his or her movements. |
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| Sen
no sen means before the attack. Sometimes
this timing is also called mae no sen, mae
also meaning before. Sen no sen implies that,
for example in weapons practice, uke is aware
of uchi's intention of attacking and right
at the time when uchi is starting to attack,
steps in and stops the attack. This could
be exemplified in aiki-ken by the movement
in which uke tachi steps directly in with
tsuki at the moment when uchi tachi lifts
his sword up to strike shomen uchi. This movement
can be seen beautifully executed by O-Sensei
in many of the old films. In aiki-jo, the
movement in kumi jo number eight is a good
example of sen no sen: uchi is standing in
tsuki no kamae, as is uke. Uchi does hayagaeshi,
intending to attack with yokomen uchi. As
uchi steps forward while lifting the jo up
and around in jodan gaeshi uchi, uke slide-steps
straight in under uchi's jo, thrusting directly
forward at uchi. In tai jutsu, the outward
parry used against yokomen uchi is a good
example of sen no sen: as uke lifts his hand
up over his head and starts to swing his handblade
forward in yokomen uchi, nage slide-steps
forward to the outside and stops uke's hand
before it gains too much momentum. |
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Sensen
no sen is an even more refined concept in
regards to timing. The term consists of a
repetition of the term sen. So this refers
to the timing before sen no sen. It is the
case of initiating a movement intended to
lead the attacker's spirit as well as to draw
forth an actual attack, in order to utilize
this attack for a defensive technique. Saito
Sensei often said: "aite no ki wo yobidasu,"
to call out the ki of your opponent. Some
people may think that this goes against the
attitude of never attacking in aikido. In
this case, one must recognize the training
situation, as well as an actual self-defense
situation, for what it is: all attempts to
defuse the conflict have been tried to no
avail, and therefore we are faced with an
impending attack from our opponent. The opponent
has already decided to attack, the intention
is there, and the actual physical attack is
impending. In this case, we are not attacking
an innocent individual, we are responding
to a situation that is clearly a threat to
our safety. It is therefore morally justifiable
to call out the attack of your opponent. You
are making him commit the attack that he already
has intended to execute, but you are controlling
the circumstances of the situation by leading
him.
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| A
good example of sensen no sen in tai
jutsu is shomen-uchi. Saito Sensei often
referred to O- Sensei's book, entitled
"Budo," in the case of performing
correct shomen-uchi. O-Sensei clearly
stated that nage should initiate the
movement by striking toward uke's face
with the hand blade, bringing the hand
from the starting position at about
waist-height and upward towards uke's
face. Uke blocks this movement, hereby
enabling nage to utilize uke's blocking
arm for a given technique. This movement
has all but disappeared from most aikido
schools. I believe this is due to a
misunderstanding of the principle of
sensen no sen; the belief that nage's
initiating movement would be considered
an attack, thereby going against the
defensive principles of aikido. The
lack of understanding of this point
has resulted, in many aikido schools,
with uke attacking with a downward-moving
shomen-uchi, and nage blocking this
attack. This results in the breaking
of an important basic principle of aikido:
never to go directly against the force
of your opponent's attack once it is
fully set in motion. Saito Sensei often
made the point that when defending against
a downward-moving shomen-uchi, nage
should move off the line of attack and
never attempt to block this strike.
This results in certain techniques being
applicable, for instance irimi nage
or kote gaeshi to the outside, or shihonage
or kokyu nage to the inside, and others
not, for example ikkyo and other techniques
based on the same initial movement.
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| In
aiki-ken, sensen no sen can be exemplified
in the maki otoshi movement found in
san no tachi (third kumi tachi). In
the initial movement, uke tachi sweeps
uchi tachi's sword away with maki otoshi,
and uchi tachi uses the momentum of
the sweeping movement to continue into
a yokomen attack. The maki otoshi sweeping
movement is also intended to create
an opening for uke tachi to strike uchi
tachi's wrist, but this movement can
also be seen as a means to draw forth
uchi tachi's initial yokomen attack,
hereby enabling uke tachi to parry,
and finally to counterstrike in the
second yokomen attack from uchi tachi. |
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| Another
very good example of sensen no sen in tai
jutsu, this time on an even more advanced
level than in the basic shomen uchi techniques,
is the technique that carries the beautiful
name "yamabiko no michi," meaning
"path of a mountain echo." The name
of the technique alludes to the initiating
hand movement of nage resembling the voice
being projected outwards, and uke's reaction
being the echo. This is an irimi nage technique
calling for nage to start by dynamically initiating
shomen uchi toward uke and, before making
contact with uke's parrying hand, flowing
into tai sabaki to uke's side. This tai sabaki
to uke's side leads directly into a body turn
together with the movement of nage's arm projecting
towards uke's face for the irimi nage throw.
When done dynamically, with full ki, nage
can throw uke without making physical contact
at all during the execution of the technique.
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| There
are other fine examples of aikido techniques
that fit with these three concepts of timing.
I recommend readers to try to find them in
their training. And although we will never
reach the martial genius of founder O-Sensei
Morihei Ueshiba, I believe we should study
his words and beliefs, and not let these three
terms be the limits of our attempts to follow
in his footsteps. We should consider them
as a means to help us understand the intricacies
of perception in budo practice, and strive
for even higher levels than these terms represent.
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Interview
with Student Scott Mier
by Paul Swainson |
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To
Grapple with Reality?
by Bryce
Burrows |
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3
x No Sen (the art of timing)
by Ethan Weisgard |
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Is
Yoga Medicine?
by Mary
Francos |
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