“Timing is Everything;” doesn’t tell you what timing is right but to seize an opportunity initiative is the key. In Aikido it is called Sen Sen no Sen; which refers to connecting to your partner before their thought of attack becomes action.

The picture above is of O’sensei stopping his partner as the “attacker” raises the sword. Looking closely it is clear that the movement is not a thrust intended to kill but instead a guiding movement that allows the attacker to withdraw before the movement becomes a strike and before O’sensei becomes a target or victim. Hikitsuchi Sensei headed Shingu dojo and leaves a unique insight into the timing of aikido.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJh1JNWrd9I]

In this video from Aikido Journal he explained that you start moving before you see the other person as an attacker so that they see attacking as futile and they don’t become an adversary. The ideogram for Sen is a person climbing a latter; in Sen Sen no Sen the ladder is the opportunity or energy for resolution, rising above the potential conflict before the beginning of conflict.

Opposition reduces momentum and possibility in any scenario. The emergence of conflict follows energy produced by a need for change. Good business, good surfing, good relationships, and good aikido is about utilizing emerging energy to create and build on opportunity.