zanshin means awareness, Karate buddy asked me once if i had to desribe zanshin in just one word what would it be. and thats what i said. awareness.
Nice read Saj. I like the anecdote about the tea. I think Blade96 you are on the right track. The article describes zanshin as a state of mind imidiately after an action; karate-waza in this forum. But is it just after an action, or should it be 8 days a week?
That was really a good article on zanshin. When people talk about zanshin as "awareness," I think it is important to point out that it is not a concept of awareness as an intense focus on a particular thing. It's not like lining up the sights on the target. Quite the opposite. Zanshin is a type of general, passive awareness. Takuan wrote, “When facing a single tree, if you look at a single one of its red leaves, you will not see all the others. When the eye is not set on any one leaf, and you face the tree with nothing at all in mind, any number of leaves are visible to the eye without limit. But if a single leaf holds the eye, it will be as if the remaining leaves were not there.” In terms of karate, many of us find our minds stop when our bodies stop. So, we finish a technique and then our thinking also stops. We pay attention until the completion of the exercise, and then our mindfulness and awareness ceases. In our organization, when we talk about retaining mental engagement with the other person after the exchange, we speak of it as zanshin. According to WKF rules: “Awareness (ZANSHIN) is that criterion most often missed when a score is assessed. It is the state of continued commitment in which the contestant maintains total concentration, observation, and awareness of the opponent's potentiality to counter-attack. He does not turn his face away during delivery of the technique, and remains facing the opponent afterwards." It may also be worth pointing out that Japanese calligraphers use the word zanshin in describing how the mind continues even after brush leaves paper.
