 Today we're going to talk about the Zen mental state of Zanshen and the role that it plays in the martial arts So this is actually a continuation of a video series. We've been working on in the past couple of years We did one a while back that was all about the different states of mind the Zen states of mind and how they relate to the martial arts And then we did two independent episodes the first one on Shoshin, which is beginner's mind and then Mushin Which is mind without mind today we're going to go on to the next one, which is Zanshen or remaining mind Loosely interpreted Zanshen is the state of mind and the body is a relaxed awareness where the mind is alert and fully aware of its Surroundings it means being fully present in the moment both in your intentions as well as the environment around you now If you do some research and look into the history of Zanshen You're gonna see a lot of references to archery in archery the concept of Zanshen plays a big role in your body posture both And before and after you loosen arrow It's not so much about hitting the target, but it's how you go about approaching your goal You know you're focused on full awareness on body positioning breathing in the environment is what makes the difference There are also a few applications of Zanshen within the martial arts And it's really easy to see the importance of being aware of your surroundings But it goes deeper than just knowing what's going on around you You have to be cognizant on little details too in the event of a self-defense situation It's important to be fully calm and aware of your intentions your actions in the situation of unfolding around you Do you have good traction on the floor? Are you breathing fully or holding your breath? Are you tense and ready to flail or are you reading your opponent looking for a telegraph move and ready to act if you need to? Are there more people in the room that you feel could be a threat or do you feel that you have proper access to an exit? Zanshen as with the other states of mind is learned and achieved through discipline and experience It's not really something you can just read about and achieve overnight It's kind of like learning to develop a new sense You know you got your taste your touch your smell your hearing your sight all that this is like learning a whole new sense It's like intuition being built up You can't just learn it overnight, but when you do achieve it it can be incredibly beneficial Now awareness to zanshen can also be used to prevent a situation. It's like learning or building up intuition Um, I'm not going to claim to have achieved this because I haven't but there's definitely been moments in times in my life Where I've felt funny about a person or I felt like the situation wasn't the best to be in and my intuition told me that I should probably get out of there Um, one of the most incredible stories. I know I've happened to us several years ago My family and I went to Orlando. We went to Disney World and my cousin His family were visiting from out of out of the country and one night we were going to Walgreens We were just kind of stopping off for some stuff for the hotel room and while we were there My cousin got this really really funny vibe about a guy that was in the store He's like we have to go we have to go we have to go We didn't really know what was wrong, but he's like he goes we just can't be here So we left and the next day we're actually Going to breakfast and we were going to go to the parks at the breakfast And my mom had some leftover food and we were going to go right back to the hotel Which was next door he goes no no we shouldn't go back there. He goes here I'll just finish it for you and that way we could leave right from there Basically what happened is right as soon as we were done eating we got into a traffic light And then we were doing a u-turn in front of our hotel when literally two dozen police cars came flying into the into the complex Pop jumped out of the car popped up the hoods pulled out the shotguns and everything was aimed on the parking lot I hightailed it out of there. I got out of the turn lane. I went down. I'm like I'm not sticking around for this It turns out the guy that was in Walgreens the night before Went on the shooting spree that day and he went around. You know, he started firing at cops He was hijacking or carjacking people in the parking lot. He was in our parking lot at that time So had we gone back to our hotel, he was right there. There was a good chance He would have tried to hijack us and it was just weird now that probably part was coincidental But what was weird? There was my cousin felt something about him He saw this guy. He goes something's not right. We have to leave So it's being aware of listening to your gut listening to your intuition and understanding Not just how you feel But what's going on around you because sometimes if you can achieve this intuition and its awareness You might be able to avoid a situation altogether. But again zansion is more than just developing an awareness of what's around you It's an attitude and it's a mindset There's a quote I found that I really like from budo dojo.com The spirit of zansion is the state of the remaining or lingering spirit It is often described as a sustained and heightened state of awareness and mental follow through However, true zansion is a state of focus or concentration Before during and after the execution of a technique where a link or connection between uke and nage is preserved Zansion is a state of mind that allows us to stay spiritually connected not only to a single attacker But to multiple attackers and even an entire context a space a time an event So to be clear the state of zansion is something that's achieved even after the situation occurs And it might be the whole that awareness of what's going on around you for more danger But it's also a way to focus on your own intent and actions and emotions For example in many shodokan tournaments, they place importance on zansion So when you deliver an intended strike and you land it You know they expect you to hold that focus and intensity and intention for at least a moment to show that you're still Focus on your task because if you just get the hit and you withdraw and you start celebrating You might not actually get that point now I'm not always big on point sparring tournaments But I do like that they're embedding this mindset in it that it's more about just showmanship It's about getting in there getting the task done But being so aware and focused in the moment that you hold that position and focus and that's part of what your score is I like that you'll also often see it referencing kendo as a state of mind and awareness after striking So don't lose focus on your victory just because you defeated the person doesn't mean your job is done And this is actually a drill that is Um drilled into us at our jiu-jitsu school My she hand would teach us to throw a takedown whatever the technique is But he's adamant that we're always aware of our other classmates on the map When we're doing the technique and especially to the point where we're doing our throws We get yell that if we don't look over our shoulder and assess our Environment behind us make sure there's not somebody there and he'll very often have us do drills where he'll allow other students To attack us if we're not aware So I think it's a very important mindset to attain and have that just because you've won the fight Doesn't mean you should lose your focus You've got to maintain that state of awareness because you don't know what's what's next so you've got to be In the moment This is an article I found by james clear and there's a link in the description of this article But he has another great quote that I liked the enemy of improvement is neither failure nor success The enemy of improvement is boredom fatigue and lack of concentration The enemy of improvement is a lack of commitment to the process because the process is everything So if you're looking at things from a combatant battle point of view The battle's not over when you win or lose the battle is over when you can become complacent and you lose concentration So it's more than just being in the zone This awareness has to be present before during and after a given situation or task while remaining in the state of total Calm alertness and those who know me know I love my karate kid references So I just have to throw out that I think a movie character that perfectly embodies the consumption is mr. Miyagi Anytime he's up against an opponent in the films. He's relaxed like he's not in his fighting stance He's out there ready, but look how laser focused and concentrated on his opponent. He is that's intensity So back to the archery analogy. It's more than just having good aim It's about how you approach the process manage intent How you stand how you breathe and taking the measure of clear and calm focus hunters that use bow and arrows You don't usually see them just panic flailing and firing arrows everywhere hoping that they hit their target No, rather they take a very slow calm and intentional approach They are aware of all their actions to distance and any environmental conditions before they release that arrow So continuity is key You must be aware through all faces of a situation because the second you let your guard down Zanshin is broken and that's when you might be in danger So zanshin in the nutshell is an effortless connection between mind body and spirit It comes with a lot of time patience and experience And on that note, I would like to close this with a quote by Miyamoto musashi A thousand days is just to forge the spirit 10 thousand days is to polish what you forged So let me know what you guys think about zanshin what your experiences are And how you've achieved different states of mind or how you're working to achieve different states of mind Thank you so much for watching. 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