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逢敌能辨行家手，何愁胜利不此时。

English translation: One can identify professional skills when confronting a true apponent, why bothering victory of ...

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Chinese term or phrase:	逢敌能辨行家手，何愁胜利不此时。
English translation:	One can identify professional skills when confronting a true apponent, why bothering victory of ...
Entered by:	Nai-Ching Ting

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16:04 Jan 6, 2008

Chinese to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Philosophy / martial arts

Chinese term or phrase: 逢敌能辨行家手，何愁胜利不此时。

this is part of the explanation to the famous saying "know yourself and know your enemy...." I understand the meaning but I can't translate it. can you help me?
谢谢

violator
United Kingdom

One can identify professional skills when confronting a true apponent, why bothering victory of ...

Explanation:
Just a trial for your reference:
One can identify professional skills when confronting a true apponent, why bothering victory of the immeidate moment.

Selected response from:

Nai-Ching Ting
United States
Local time: 22:03

Grading comment

2 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +1

One can identify professional skills when confronting a true apponent, why bothering victory of ...

Nai-Ching Ting

4 +1

[If]one can recognize his adversary as an expert, why worry about immediate victory?

Caroline Moreno

If one is capable of distinguishing whether his opponent is professional or not, why worry about not

ttyang

Being good at knowing your enemy will ensure you a victory on the spot.

orientalhorizon

Know your enemy's strength and you'll win at any time.

XUEFEI GENG

Answers

42 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

One can identify professional skills when confronting a true apponent, why bothering victory of ...

Explanation:
Just a trial for your reference:
One can identify professional skills when confronting a true apponent, why bothering victory of the immeidate moment.

Nai-Ching Ting
United States
Local time: 22:03
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Chinese
PRO pts in category: 14

6 hrs confidence:

If one is capable of distinguishing whether his opponent is professional or not, why worry about not

Explanation:
Just my two cents:

If one is capable of distinguishing whether his opponent is professional or not, why worry about not winning at the moment?

ttyang
United States
Local time: 23:03
Native speaker of:

Chinese

6 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

[If]one can recognize his adversary as an expert, why worry about immediate victory?

Explanation:
This is a colloquial way to translate the phrase. I left out the 逢 because it is already implied. Since 何 is sort of a rhetorical question, I placed a question mark at the end.

One could also translate the 何愁 as "why bother with", instead of "why worry about." It just depends on your preference.

Caroline Moreno
United States
Local time: 20:03
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 4

16 hrs confidence:

Know your enemy's strength and you'll win at any time.

Explanation:
I don't think "何愁" is about "worrying" or "bothering" but it's a way of expressing certainty. It's like saying like saying "if A happens how can B not happen"...

XUEFEI GENG
Australia
Local time: 15:03
Native speaker of:

Chinese

17 hrs confidence:

Being good at knowing your enemy will ensure you a victory on the spot.

Explanation:
Here 逢敌能辨 means "able to size up your enemy and determine his strenths and weaknesses when confronted with him", "行家手" = “行家里手”means "an old hand, an expert, a guru, a skilled master etc.", so "逢敌能辨行家手" means "if you are good at knowing your enemy, if you are an expert in this regard, you would be a real master, a real expert." or we can put it another way, if you are an expert, you must know how to know your enemy when confronted with him. 何愁=how would it be necessary to worry, 不此时=not at this time, not on the spot, so 何愁胜利不此时 means "why do you worry that you cannot win now, on the spot, etc." So the whole sentence can be paraphrased in another way: if you are an old hand at weighing your enemy's strengths and weaknesses, how can it be that you need to worry about your victory right away?

orientalhorizon
China
Local time: 12:03
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

Chinese