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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.

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