Sen

Below is an excerpt from www.Kendo-Guide.com. The full article may be read here. By the way, the painting of the comorant is by Musashi.

Kendo Terminology: Sen
"Sen no sen" "Sen sen no sen" "Go no sen"

This kendo terminology, "sen" is an important part of our kendo life, especially in the early stage. Thus, we must really understand what "sen" means...

If you just say this word "sen" to a Japanese, they think that you are trying to tell them something about 1000 (the number).

However, in kendo, we use "sen" as in "sen wo toru", which means "to anticipate (what your opponent will do)".

It is important to know this word because 1. senseis use this word all the time, 2. we want to achieve this level.

There are "Sen no Sen", "Sen Sen no Sen" and "Go no Sen".