Some essays on Ma-ai...

"Ma-ai" means "harmonious distance." It refers to the concept of the proper interval of space, and often the associated time, between two opponents in Japanese martial arts. I prefer an alternate translation of "critical distance" as it implies the proper sense of urgency in most martial arts encounters.

There is no set rule for ma-ai, and the "critical distance" varies according to the bodies of the individual opponents and the tools engaged in the encounter. The determining of ma-ai is not intrinsically difficult. As has been pointed out (most recently by He Who Shall Not Be Named!), most people have a sense of their own comfort zone for conversation. Interestingly enough, although this comfort zone does differ from culture to culture and person to person, in the West, it generally extends to the limits of defensible distance.

If you want to see what I mean, the next time you have a standing conversation with an acquaintance, set a distance. Then try to shuffle forward as unobtrusively as possible. Even if your action is not threatening or alarming, the other person will probably take a noticiable step back to reset the original distance. You can expand your experiement by trying the same trick on a good friend. Chances are good the friend will let you get closer. But even so, if there is no perceived "need" for you to be so close, you may notice your buddy begin to get uncomfortable.

You can also watch ma-ai while driving. Tail-gating is bad ma-ai. But more importantly, the "critical distance" between you and the car in front of you will change depending on road and weather conditions, and the type of vehicle you are driving.