The quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon which
enables it to strike and destroy its victim.
For 疾 the _Yü Lan_ reads 擊, which is also supported by a
quotation in the 呂氏春秋 [3rd cent. B.C.]. 節 in this context is a
word which really defies the best efforts of the translator. Tu
Mu says that it is equivalent to 節量遠近 “the measurement or
estimation of distance.” But this meaning does not quite fit the
illustrative simile in § 15. As applied to the falcon, it seems to
me to denote that instinct of _self-restraint_ which keeps the
bird from swooping on its quarry until the right moment, together
with the power of judging when the right moment has arrived. The
analogous quality in soldiers is the highly important one of being
able to reserve their fire until the very instant at which it
will be most effective. When the “Victory” went into action at
Trafalgar at hardly more than drifting pace, she was for several
minutes exposed to a storm of shot and shell before replying with
a single gun. Nelson coolly waited until he was within close
range, when the broadside he brought to bear worked fearful havoc
on the enemy’s nearest ships. That was a case of 節.