Zanshin is total and complete awareness. You could say it is the martial arts equivalent of jnana, awakened awareness, because it is a way of being that permeates everything.

When we translate it literally, it means something like “remaining mind.” Not ‘remaining’ like whatever is left over. Remaining as in abiding. Being. Embodying. Zanshin encompasses mind, body, and spirit. Your spirit is alive, your mind is alert, your body is awake. When we understand it in this way, we understand why it is a mark of mastery.

After someone completes a kata or form, it is customary to return to a ready position and pause. This pause calls us to remain in zanshin, rather than drop our awareness and relax just because we are finished. A Japanese samurai mantra teaches, “When the battle is over, tighten the chin strap.” Do not drop your zanshin. So, it is also a survival technique. Inattentiveness can get you killed. Relaxing at the wrong moment can offer your enemy the space to strike.

If you’re familiar with the television show Friends, you likely remember the episode where Ross lectures everyone about unagi. He says unagi is a form of awareness, of never letting down your guard. What makes this so funny is that not only does Ross not *remotely* possess zanshin; it’s also that he doesn’t even know the right word for it! (Unagi means freshwater eel.)

In Japanese culture, zanshin expands beyond the martial arts. It applies to one’s presence of mind during a tea ceremony, and in the art of arranging flowers. Like jnana, zanshin describes a way of being.

There’s a 17th century haiku by Bukkoku that says,

Although it does not

mindfully keep guard

in the small mountain fields

the scarecrow

does not stand in vain

This is zanshin. It may look like nothing, but it holds everything.

Where can you practice focused awareness this week? Can you choose one routine practice and bring a sense of total presence into it?

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