Therefore the good fighter will be terrible in his onset, and prompt
in his decision.
Tu Yu defines 節 here by the word 斷, which is very like “decision”
in English. 短 is certainly used in a very unusual sense, even if,
as the commentators say, it = 近. This would have reference to the
measurement of distance mentioned above, letting the enemy get
near before striking. But I cannot help thinking that Sun Tzŭ
meant to use the word in a figurative sense comparable to our
own idiom “short and sharp.” Cf. Wang Hsi’s note, which after
describing the falcon’s mode of attack, proceeds: 兵之乘機當如是耳
“This is just how the ‘psychological moment’ should be seized in
war.” I do not care for Capt. Calthrop’s rendering: “The spirit of
the good fighter is terrifying, his occasions sudden.”