There is No First Attack in Karate in Japanese Calligraphy

空手に先手無し (karate ni sente nashi)

空手に先手無し (karate ni sente nashi): in karate there is no first move. 先手 is the first move, the word from go and shōgi, and the sentence says that karate does not make it. It is one of the twenty precepts of Funakoshi Gichin, the founder of Shōtōkan karate, written in the formal Japanese of his day, which the design keeps. It is a rule of conduct and not a description: the karateka does not strike first, and the art is a defense.

Philology of 空手に先手無し · 先づ自己を知れ而して他を知れ · 技術より心術 · 心は放たん事を要す · 常に思念工夫せよ

Verify: 空手に先手無し in the Japanese-English Dictionary

There is No First Attack in Karate (空手に先手無し) in Block style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase

There is No First Attack in Karate 空手に先手無し karate ni sente nashi Block Vertical VB5C

There is No First Attack in Karate 空手に先手無し karate ni sente nashi Block Vertical VB5D

There is No First Attack in Karate (空手に先手無し) in Cursive style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase

There is No First Attack in Karate 空手に先手無し karate ni sente nashi Cursive Vertical VC4B

There is No First Attack in Karate 空手に先手無し karate ni sente nashi Cursive Vertical VC5B

There is No First Attack in Karate 空手に先手無し karate ni sente nashi Cursive Vertical VC5C

There is No First Attack in Karate (空手に先手無し) in Design style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase

There is No First Attack in Karate 空手に先手無し karate ni sente nashi Design Vertical VD5B

There is No First Attack in Karate 空手に先手無し karate ni sente nashi Design Vertical VD5C

There is No First Attack in Karate (空手に先手無し) in Semi-Cursive style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase

There is No First Attack in Karate 空手に先手無し karate ni sente nashi Semi-Cursive Vertical VS4C

There is No First Attack in Karate 空手に先手無し karate ni sente nashi Semi-Cursive Vertical VS5C

There is No First Attack in Karate 空手に先手無し karate ni sente nashi Semi-Cursive Vertical VS5D

There is No First Attack in Karate 空手に先手無し karate ni sente nashi Cursive Horizontal HC4A

There is No First Attack in Karate 空手に先手無し karate ni sente nashi Semi-Cursive Horizontal HS4A

About the Designs

Each design is Master Japanese Calligrapher Eri Takase's hand-brushed calligraphy of the word or phrase on this page, delivered as a PDF you can print. Every PDF includes the line art, so a tattoo artist or a craftsperson can work from the outline as well as the brushed image.

Delivery

Your PDF is available for download the moment your order completes, and a copy is attached to your emailed receipt.

There is No First Attack in Karate

空手に先手無し (karate ni sente nashi)

About the Designs

Delivery

Also available as a hand-brushed Japanese scroll