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Sensen no sen (Pt. 1)
Point-fighting tactics guru Antonio Oliva Seba expressed it best: sensen no sen is "defending against the intention", NOT against an actual physical attack. In the third picture of the pie-fighting cartoon, 'intention' is symbolized by the attacker's dramatic wind-up for his pie throw which gives the whole game away here - in real fights, nobody will ever telegraph their intentions so blatantly. Sensen no sen is more than just a pre-emptive strike or "Offense is the best defence" attack; when accomplished with impeccable timing, its demoralising effects on your opponent are guaranteed to be overwhelming. Simply put, you anticipate your opponent's attack and counter even before it actually occurs.
Sensen no sen is easiest to accomplish in the early matches of tournament elimination rounds where the no-hopers are weeded out at the hands (and feet) of superior competitors; the steep gradient in skill between fighter will help ensure that strong karatekas will be at leisure to shoot down weaker ones the instant they so much as twitch or even before, whenever they unmistakably (for experienced fighters, that is) psych themselves up for an attack which will most likely take the form of a desperate in order to save face before their sensei or any dojo mates watching. The net result of such a sensen no sen tactic is that inferior fighters will soon feel that any attack on their part is pointless because superior fighters seem to have the almost supernatural ability to second-guess their every move.
When fighting an opponent with equal skills, using sensen no sen successfully becomes much more difficult. I once watched a local karate tournament where two international-level competitors met in the final. I had trained with both of them in the same dojo for four years and being the strongest fighters there, they had often sparred together, so they knew each other's favourite techniques, feints, tactics, quirks, etc. inside out. It must have been a boring match for the few laypersons in the audience to watch but it was utterly captivating for us karatekas. Not a single punch or kick was thrown for the entire duration of the match; it was basically like a quick-draw duel were no one either drew or fired. It would have been uncanny to observe if there hadn't been a couple of feints, some attempted but then immediately aborted attacks even after the first half-step was taken, or their frequent repositioning according to their/our sensei's rule according to which you must never remain in a straight line with your opponent for more than five seconds. You never knew who was stalking whom, both were so evenly matched that every subtle move by either of them would be enough to elicit another subtle response in the other one that signalled back to the would-be attacker that his offensive would be doomed from the start. As there can be no draws in karate point-fighting matches, one of them was ultimately declared the winner on the totally arbitrary grounds that he had shown more initiative and fighting spirits in the eyes of the ref and corner judges; I don't even remember who had been victorious, it could have been either of them.
Antonio Oliva Seba in action: all three modes of defending & countering can be theoretically employed in such a situation. In the video Antonio just shows the classic go no sen response (first you block, then you counter); it's also conceivable that you might block that kick and counter simultaneously (sen no sen). If you're really good and able to spot all the signs of an impending front-leg roundhouse kick to your head (front shoulder slighty raised, weight discreetly shifting to back leg, etc.), you can use sensen no sen and thus disrupt a weaker opponent's attack with your counter-punch even before it is launched.
If your opponent is much stronger than you, you're in the same position as those elimination round no-hopers mentioned in the paragraph before last and might just as well pack it all in because you'll have no chance of winning whatsoever. Such a situation will rarely occur in MMA fights as all big promotions employ experienced matchmakers to ensure that both fighters have a good chance of triumphing, ensuring that audiences will get their money's worth and be able to enjoy a good violent tit for tat instead of a one-sided execution. In self-defence, your only hope here will be escaping, circumstances permitting, else you'll get beaten to a pulp, no two ways about it.
However, it gets really interesting when your opponent is only slighter stronger than you, or a champion on his or her off-day, and you might be able to pull off an upset. Your opponent will still be able to use sensen no sen but might not be able to always capitalize on it or press home his or her advantage for various reasons, such as injuries from previous fights or being distracted by serious private problems - it shouldn't happen to pros but sometimes it just does.
At other times, external circumstances may be to blame. When karate made its debut in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, point-fighting was limited to three weight classes only instead of the usual five. This limitation meant e.g. that a male -60 kg fighter was now forced to compete one weight class above, i.e. in the -67 kg category where he would be at a disadvantage against taller opponents with longer reach, while +67 kg women had to lose some of their natural fighting weight to make it into the highest possible Olympic +61 kg category, which of necessity spelled loss of muscle mass for them, possibly even some extreme fluid loss stunt employed a day before the weigh-ins, all of which will seriously impair a competitor's stamina and concentration.
Note that all these three modes of responding to an attack don't play a big role in boxing, muay thai, and MMA bouts where you can "Take two to give one", as the saying goes, meaning that you are prepared to absorb a couple of weaker punches (hello, !) and then hit back really hard in response. This isn't an option in karate point-fighting where the competitor who lands a technique first will be immediately awarded a point while the match is stopped, irrespective of how the situation might have developed in the aftermath. It's the reason why full-contact athletes call the karate point-fighting format 'playing tag', and I for one don't entirely disagree since it's roughly the basic principle.
Oh well… I think I will have to break down sensen no sen into its twin components: sensing the attack and reacting to the attack, which ideally should occur at the same time. Let me re-iterate that it isn't about casual pre-emptive strikes but rather an instinctive response that aims to nip an opponent's attack in the bud. Furthermore, I'd like to stress again that sensen no sen is in no way 'superior' to sen no sen and go no sen. Neither is it some super-secret ninja combat formula: in self-defence, for example, sensen no sen would mean attacking while the aggressor is still reaching inside his jacket, which may even land you in court at a later date if the guy was only groping for a tissue (or for his wallet with the police badge); sensen no sen can make the question "Who started it?" really difficult to answer.
Oops, I made a typical blunder (I'm not good with numbers) concerning women's weight classes at the Tokyo Olympics: since the usual maximum weight category was ordinarily +68 kg as compared to a mere +61 kg at the Olympics, it meant that a woman, for example, weighing 64 kg (who would in the ordinary course of events fight in the -68 kg category and have to contend with fighters only slightly heavier than her) had two choices - either she could decide to brave opponents two heads taller and weighing in e.g. at 80 kg, or lose weight (and muscle, possibly also fluids) in order to fit in the -61 kg weight class. As a result, at least on former champion was out after her very first elimination round while nobodies with the right body weight triumphed.
Point-fighting tactics guru Antonio Oliva Seba expressed it best: sensen no sen is "defending against the intention", NOT against an actual physical attack. In the third picture of the pie-fighting cartoon, 'intention' is symbolized by the attacker's dramatic wind-up for his pie throw which gives the whole game away here - in real fights, nobody will ever telegraph their intentions so blatantly. Sensen no sen is more than just a pre-emptive strike or "Offense is the best defence" attack; when accomplished with impeccable timing, its demoralising effects on your opponent are guaranteed to be overwhelming. Simply put, you anticipate your opponent's attack and counter even before it actually occurs.
Sensen no sen is easiest to accomplish in the early matches of tournament elimination rounds where the no-hopers are weeded out at the hands (and feet) of superior competitors; the steep gradient in skill between fighter will help ensure that strong karatekas will be at leisure to shoot down weaker ones the instant they so much as twitch or even before, whenever they unmistakably (for experienced fighters, that is) psych themselves up for an attack which will most likely take the form of a desperate in order to save face before their sensei or any dojo mates watching. The net result of such a sensen no sen tactic is that inferior fighters will soon feel that any attack on their part is pointless because superior fighters seem to have the almost supernatural ability to second-guess their every move.
When fighting an opponent with equal skills, using sensen no sen successfully becomes much more difficult. I once watched a local karate tournament where two international-level competitors met in the final. I had trained with both of them in the same dojo for four years and being the strongest fighters there, they had often sparred together, so they knew each other's favourite techniques, feints, tactics, quirks, etc. inside out. It must have been a boring match for the few laypersons in the audience to watch but it was utterly captivating for us karatekas. Not a single punch or kick was thrown for the entire duration of the match; it was basically like a quick-draw duel were no one either drew or fired. It would have been uncanny to observe if there hadn't been a couple of feints, some attempted but then immediately aborted attacks even after the first half-step was taken, or their frequent repositioning according to their/our sensei's rule according to which you must never remain in a straight line with your opponent for more than five seconds. You never knew who was stalking whom, both were so evenly matched that every subtle move by either of them would be enough to elicit another subtle response in the other one that signalled back to the would-be attacker that his offensive would be doomed from the start. As there can be no draws in karate point-fighting matches, one of them was ultimately declared the winner on the totally arbitrary grounds that he had shown more initiative and fighting spirits in the eyes of the ref and corner judges; I don't even remember who had been victorious, it could have been either of them.
Antonio Oliva Seba in action: all three modes of defending & countering can be theoretically employed in such a situation. In the video Antonio just shows the classic go no sen response (first you block, then you counter); it's also conceivable that you might block that kick and counter simultaneously (sen no sen). If you're really good and able to spot all the signs of an impending front-leg roundhouse kick to your head (front shoulder slighty raised, weight discreetly shifting to back leg, etc.), you can use sensen no sen and thus disrupt a weaker opponent's attack with your counter-punch even before it is launched.
If your opponent is much stronger than you, you're in the same position as those elimination round no-hopers mentioned in the paragraph before last and might just as well pack it all in because you'll have no chance of winning whatsoever. Such a situation will rarely occur in MMA fights as all big promotions employ experienced matchmakers to ensure that both fighters have a good chance of triumphing, ensuring that audiences will get their money's worth and be able to enjoy a good violent tit for tat instead of a one-sided execution. In self-defence, your only hope here will be escaping, circumstances permitting, else you'll get beaten to a pulp, no two ways about it.
However, it gets really interesting when your opponent is only slighter stronger than you, or a champion on his or her off-day, and you might be able to pull off an upset. Your opponent will still be able to use sensen no sen but might not be able to always capitalize on it or press home his or her advantage for various reasons, such as injuries from previous fights or being distracted by serious private problems - it shouldn't happen to pros but sometimes it just does.
At other times, external circumstances may be to blame. When karate made its debut in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, point-fighting was limited to three weight classes only instead of the usual five. This limitation meant e.g. that a male -60 kg fighter was now forced to compete one weight class above, i.e. in the -67 kg category where he would be at a disadvantage against taller opponents with longer reach, while +67 kg women had to lose some of their natural fighting weight to make it into the highest possible Olympic +61 kg category, which of necessity spelled loss of muscle mass for them, possibly even some extreme fluid loss stunt employed a day before the weigh-ins, all of which will seriously impair a competitor's stamina and concentration.
Note that all these three modes of responding to an attack don't play a big role in boxing, muay thai, and MMA bouts where you can "Take two to give one", as the saying goes, meaning that you are prepared to absorb a couple of weaker punches (hello, !) and then hit back really hard in response. This isn't an option in karate point-fighting where the competitor who lands a technique first will be immediately awarded a point while the match is stopped, irrespective of how the situation might have developed in the aftermath. It's the reason why full-contact athletes call the karate point-fighting format 'playing tag', and I for one don't entirely disagree since it's roughly the basic principle.
Oh well… I think I will have to break down sensen no sen into its twin components: sensing the attack and reacting to the attack, which ideally should occur at the same time. Let me re-iterate that it isn't about casual pre-emptive strikes but rather an instinctive response that aims to nip an opponent's attack in the bud. Furthermore, I'd like to stress again that sensen no sen is in no way 'superior' to sen no sen and go no sen. Neither is it some super-secret ninja combat formula: in self-defence, for example, sensen no sen would mean attacking while the aggressor is still reaching inside his jacket, which may even land you in court at a later date if the guy was only groping for a tissue (or for his wallet with the police badge); sensen no sen can make the question "Who started it?" really difficult to answer.
Post automatically merged:
Oops, I made a typical blunder (I'm not good with numbers) concerning women's weight classes at the Tokyo Olympics: since the usual maximum weight category was ordinarily +68 kg as compared to a mere +61 kg at the Olympics, it meant that a woman, for example, weighing 64 kg (who would in the ordinary course of events fight in the -68 kg category and have to contend with fighters only slightly heavier than her) had two choices - either she could decide to brave opponents two heads taller and weighing in e.g. at 80 kg, or lose weight (and muscle, possibly also fluids) in order to fit in the -61 kg weight class. As a result, at least on former champion was out after her very first elimination round while nobodies with the right body weight triumphed.
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). This means that there will be a cloud of martial energy billowing around both competitors right from the start, and it's exactly this fierce 
), author Glenn J. Morris describes a much more extreme example of zanshin on the occasion of his 5th degree black belt test:
