topazg wrote:
Mmmm, lovely quote - did he have a context?
This is from Jowa's Go Advice, which is one or two pages long. It is where I got the Jowa says, Don't run, advice, as well as the advice to assess the position after 30, 50, and 100 moves.
I have not translated it, because I am unsure about some of it. For instance, by wakare does Jowa mean the middle game? (Which is not current usage.)I don't think that by quick play ( 早打ち ) Jowa meant blitz. In those days games could take months (!). I think that he would consider a game that took an hour to be quick.
I think that he is cautioning against digging deep to try to find the hidden, killer play. The right way is this:其の術、早打ちにして、手筋を心掛けるにあり。
That way is to play quickly and try to play tesuji.
I also suspect that Buddhism is a significant part of the context, as when he talks about the correct path ( 正道 ). Perhaps his reference is not to the beginner, but has to do with the beginner's mind, zen mind idea.
これ初心第一の心意なり。
This is to keep in mind putting the beginner's mind first. (I am keeping 初心第一 together {beginner's mind first} instead of 第一の心意 {first intention}, which I think is what lovelove's translation does.)
You see why I did not translate this.
Maybe someone else can provide a good translation.
