akiy

Hi Greg,

Just as a clarification, the "sho" in "shodan" is short; the "sho" in "shomen" is long (ie "shoumen").

Personally, I take the word "shomen" to denote the "proper side" of something -- like the "front" side of a house. "Men" can mean both "surface" (as in the two surfaces of a piece of paper) or "face" (as in where one's eyes, nose, mouth, etc are located). Thus, one might define "shomen" in the context of "shomen uchi" to be as "striking the proper side (ie front) side of the face" (as opposed to, say, yokomen uchi).

I'd be interested in hearing other thoughts about the term, though.

-- Jun