What does "karate ni sente nashi" really mean?

“ He who strikes the first blow admits he has lost the argument." – Chinese Proverb

If you study classical Okinawan or Japanese martial arts you've probably heard Gichin Funakoshi’s famous saying, “karate ni sente nashi.” This translates as “there is no first strike in karate."

While Funakoshi's statement is absolutely true, it is also commonly misunderstood. And, it is not as simple as it may sound at first blush... To many “no first strike” implies waiting for an adversary to attack and then trying to successfully counter when you are already injured or out of position from the force of your attacker’s initial blow.That's often done in tandem training drills in the dojo, but in real life it's ineffectual and dangerous.

You see, if practitioners take Funakoshi’s admonishment too literally they could easily get hurt in a real-life encounter by waiting until they have already been attacked before taking any action. By then it is often too late. After all, once you block the first strike another is inevitably already on its way so you are effectively behind the count before you begin.

Karateka (karate practitioners), like most martial artists, are taught to avoid seeking conflict. This convention helps practitioners of potentially lethal arts behave in a manner appropriate to interaction within polite society, something I think we’d all agree is a positive thing indeed. This mindset is so important that it goes beyond mere words and is even reflected in the training methods and physical movements of the art. For example, every kata (formal exercise) in Goju Ryu karate begins with a defensive technique.

The challenge is to make that defensive application work to your best advantage. What many don’t realize is that defensive techniques (when executed properly) are designed to be just as fight stopping as offensive ones. After all, these arts were developed before the advent of modern medicine. In those days almost any injury suffered in battle could ultimately prove fatal through infection or other collateral impact.

The ancient masters understood that if they were to only block an adversary’s attack he would continue to strike until either they did something more effective to disable him, or they were beaten into a bloody pulp, or he decided to stop of his own volition. Consequently every martial application, including the defensive ones, were designed in such a manner that they could be used to end a confrontation as quickly as possible. Despite advancements in technology, the nature of hand-to-hand fighting remains much the same today as it was in ancient times.

In order to decipher the true intent of Funakoshi’s statement we must understand three Japanese terms: (1) go no sen, (2) sen no sen, and (3) sen-sen no sen.

• Go no sen means “late initiative,” blocking and riposting after an enemy has already attacked. This is the method that new practitioners are initially taught. It means to receive or block a blow and then to strike back. It is a great learning method because it breaks advanced techniques down into small movements but it is not practical on the street where you are likely to become overwhelmed by a determined aggressor. This is elementary karate, abandoned quickly once any significant level of skill has been achieved.

• Sen no sen means “simultaneous initiative,” intercepting the adversary’s blow just after it begins. This is an intermediate form of karate, using quickness and power to simultaneously attack and defend, cutting off the opponent’s strike before it makes contact. This is where we begin to find street-worthy application.

• Sen-sen no sen means “preemptive initiative,” cutting off a blow before it even starts. Practitioners sense that an attack will be forthcoming and then cut it short before the aggressor has the chance to transform the mental desire to attack into the physical movement necessary to execute that desire. This is the ultimate goal of martial training insofar as self-defense is concerned, advanced karate.

Sen-sen no sen, cutting off an attack before it is fully in play, looks an awful lot like a first strike yet is still a defensive movement. This is what Funakoshi really meant: striking to cut off an impending attack is okay, while instigating unwarranted violence on your own initiative is not.

If you can walk away from a confrontation you absolutely should do so. It is not only morally the right thing to do but it also allows you to avoid serious legal, psychological, and/or medical repercussions as well. Most rational people would agree that picking fights is simply a bad idea. In fact, the more dangerous you really are the less you should feel a need to prove it.

To clarify further, Funakoshi wrote, “When there are no avenues of escape or one is caught even before any attempt to escape can be made, then for the first time the use of self-defense techniques should be considered. Even at times like these, do not show any intention of attacking, but first let the attacker become careless. At that time attack him concentrating one’s whole strength in one blow to a vital point and in the moment of surprise, escape and seek shelter and help."

Notice that he wrote, “at that time attack him” as opposed to “after he strikes launch your counterattack.” Sen-sen no sen is fully consistent with this approach.

Clearly martial artists should only engage in physical violence if there is no other choice. Sometime around 506 B.C. Sun Tzu wrote, “To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the highest skill. To subdue an enemy without fighting is the highest skill.”

There are many peaceful ways to settle a disagreement, any one of which is preferable to a physical confrontation. If you cannot escape from danger, however, that does not mean that you must stand around waiting to get hit before you can act in your own defense. This is especially important in multiple attacker and armed aggressor scenarios where hesitation will most likely get you mutilated or killed.

This same perspective is expressed in a famous quote from the Bible, though once again it is commonly misunderstood. A common translation of Matthew 5:39 reads, “But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” A more accurate translation according to many biblical scholars would be, “But I say to you, do not resist evil with evil (or in a like manner)...”

There is a huge difference between a command to not resist evil and to not resist with evil. Turning the other cheek is a metaphor for not seeking vengeance for or responding violently to insults. While very sound advice, it is not a literal requirement to stand there and let someone beat you down without offering even token resistance. Evil must be resisted; evil impulses in yourself as well as evil actions from others.

Whoever is attacking you has almost certainly assaulted someone before. The more times he or she gets away with it the more dangerous that person is likely to become. If you successfully defend yourself against an assailant you not only save your own life or well being but likely that of the criminal’s next victim as well.

While there truly is no first strike in karate, there absolutely should be proactive defense in situations that warrant it. Good and moral people ignore insults and avoid seeking revenge yet that does not mean that they should be passive and allow themselves or others to be slaughtered. If confronted with unavoidable danger it is perfectly all right to offer a vigorous response. Your intent, however, must be to stop the assault that is in progress so that you can escape to safety or otherwise remain safe until help arrives.

Your goal is to be safe, not to kill your attacker, humiliate him, or otherwise teach him a lesson. This is the ultimate meaning of karate ni sente nashi.