Skip to main content

ZANSHIN: THE MOMENT AFTER


Zanshin, is considered to be the stillness after the technique has been executed. 





It is in martial arts circles, considered as controlling the attacker after the attack. A cinematic example and favourite of mine is a sequence in the movie; The Last Samurai. 

Tom Cruise has sided with a samurai clan and a political battle ensues eventually resulting in the hiring of assassins by the Meiji inspired politician. Their target is Cruise who leaves his hotel room and walks into the night unarmed. He is immediately surrounded by katana wielding attackers. A fight sequence (one of the better scenes I have yet seen filmed in which traditional martial arts are used) ensues ending with Cruise the lone survivor and in the state of Zanshin. 

The scene continues and you watch as the fight is replayed in slow motion and black and white. Suddenly a “dead” guy moves and Cruise finishes him because he was able to react due to the state of stillness and mental clarity he maintained after the last technique was executed. 

I think too often we jump from one subject to another in many conversations during our day-to-day lives. We don’t maintain the stillness, even for the briefest of moments to savour what has been said to us. We hear but we are not listening. 

In Kime, we focus our mind to the task at hand and by using some form of meditation, guided or otherwise, we are able to intensify our mental focus. Seishin allows for us to direct that intense focus not only to the task at hand, but also to a specific part of that task. Mushin, born from receptive training, cultivating the habit of virtue, frees the mind from  over stimulation allowing our response to be second nature. 

Zanshin keeps our mind focused on the task for a moment after completion ensuring that we have been successful in our endeavour. We can employ zanshin in our daily lives by allowing time for our actions to sink in, to make their impact felt, just for the briefest of moments before rushing unthinking to the next task.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

RETHINKING MY POLITICS PART 1

All my life I have been a far left supporter. Now, I feel let down, disappointed by those whom I had thought shared at least some of my basic tenets and so, I must re-evaluate my position. But in order to do that, I must write down what I think each side stands for, what I stand for, and then decide a course of action. Conservatism is a political ideology that to me appears stilted and not up to the task of making the necessary choices in an open society in the 21st century. Mired in maintaining traditional perspectives and preserving religious beliefs and cultural customs, conservatism remains hobbled in its response to the changing world we live in, a world that runs exponentially faster than it did in the last century due to technological progress in computers, communications and the digital age. The conservative tenet of the rugged individual free to chart his own course is a myth. The US army settled the west first and then pioneers came to claim the land the government had p...

Life's Uncertainty Principle

There was a particular moment, a span of about ten seconds, in my life when I chose a course of action that changed everything and with very dramatic effect. It is hard for me to talk about this without telling you the details but I am going to try. It started in 1982, I had worked hard to earn a position within my job. During my course of duty, a situation developed and I had the obligation to choose, literally, to stay where I was or go. I know, " should I stay or should I go now." I could have stayed . I should have stayed . But I didn't, I went . Ten seconds of my life, that's what it took to change my life's path in every way. I am not talking about military service and fighting a war, where one looks back thinking had I gone right and not left, I wouldn't have been shot. No, nothing that noble. I wasn't shot, blown up, or physically injured in any way. But the situation turned sour and the result from that decision of mine played out in the cou...

EXISTENTIAL FEAR

Everyone is afraid of something. What is it that you are afraid of? Not spiders, or heights or water. I don’t mean things like that [although I do fear heights and water]. Think more deeply. What is it that truly and fundamentally terrifies you? For me, I fear being a coward. To be faced with a challenge in life and not measure up, that’s what terrifies me. I fear that I might fail to protect my wife, though even at my age and state of decrepitness, my thirty-eight years of martial arts training might stand me in good stead, for a short time, at least. I figure about ninety seconds. But my cowardice could manifest as me being immobilized by self-pity over some crisis or other when I should wish to remain strong for my family, a rock of strength for them. Simple, daily life can be more arduous than we care to credit. The mundane can drive a man around the bend or even to his end. A man must deal with the frustration of earning a living, not getting that promotion, not making e...