What Is Zanshin And Why It Is Important For You

Zanshin is the state of readiness in Budo practice. Budo is the code of Martial Arts, the Martial Arts path, an education system in the modern world, rather than a fighting system like many people believe.

Translated literally, Zanshin means “left over or remaining heart / spirit”.

Zanshin is not something you can aim for, it’s not a goal, it’s rather like discipline or awareness, you always have to work on it. You will never “get there”.

I have yet to understand what it is but I will give it my best to explain what I’ve learnt so far in the past 20 years.

I took elements of Budo into my coaching and teachings blending the wisdom of traditional martial arts with modern coaching methods.

This approach helps me make huge breakthroughs with my clients, taking them from exhaustion and shut down to energetic and fully functional. As they learn about Zanshin they apply the 8 aspects and their life changes.

The 8 aspects of Zanshin:

It was difficult to find sources on Zanshin. Well….good sources with information that explains what it is in a satisfying way that I agree with and resonates with my teachings.

After searching and searching I found the eight aspects of Zanshin which made perfect sense and bring out exactly what I teach day in and day out.

The eight aspects refer to Martial Arts, at first glance. But….if you look closely you will see they apply to every and any area of your life. And here’s how:

1. Posture (Shisei)

How you use and move your body. Elongate your body, be relaxed yet prepared to respond to any unpredictable situations that may arise. Be prepared for the expected and unexpected.

If I’ve ever coached you then you know how much emphasis I put on posture at every single session and/or call we have. I remind and remind and remind you until you hear my voice in your head reminding you.

2. Eye control (Metsuke)

Observing the world around you, take notice of everything and everyone and be prepared

3. Engagement distance (Ma-ai)

Interacting with the outer world. Although you can clearly notice the application of this aspect in fighting there are ways to bring it into your day to day life. You can call this you personal bubble that no one should disturb.

You have to be aware of who and how close someone may get. This can also be applied to other circumstances like how close you stopped to the car in front of you.

It’s paying attention to distance you put between you and someone or something for your own safety and comfort.

4. Focused energy (Kiai)

Be involved with your mind, body and spirit and let nothing disturb your focus. This is probably easier said than done with today’s technology and facebook on our iphones.

I personally refused to have internet on my iphone or ipad so that I am not tempted to see who and what commented or what emails I’ve received. If anyone wants to get hold of me they can call.

5. Connection (Ki musubi)

Awareness of and connection with your inner world. Now we talk about how much attention you pay to what’s going on inside of you.

And here I mean thoughts, emotions, but also how your body feels, what it’s asking for and how tuned it you are.

6. Decisive focus (Kime)

Don’t waste energy, channel it towards one thing. In Karate you do not think about your business while you practice a Kata. You do that and your focus and energy are lost.

You focus on what you are doing in the moment. You can be aware of what are your next 3-4 moves but the focus is on the move you are engaging in at that moment in time.

Of course this is difficult to do for someone who has 1000 other things. But this is where meditation come into play, to help make space and re-arrange your thoughts in the correct order.

7. Essence of the technique (Riai)

This is something I emphasize to my students over and over again. In life look for quality rather than quantity.

Too often we find ourselves running for more, faster and better. I know I do…many times. I am always striving for speed, perfection as well as quality. Sometimes I fail and that’s when I slow down.

It’s not easy, that’s why Zanshin is a lifelong journey. It is not a goal, a milestone or destination.

8. Intuition/awareness (Kanken)

The 8th aspect of Zanshin is link between the heart and the mind and brings together all the other aspects.

You cannot keep good posture if you are not aware of your own body. And you may notice what your body feels but you need intuition to know what it needs to thrive.

All aspects come down to intuition and awareness. And you need to train your awareness to train your intuition.

This is what Zanshin is and the reason I chose it to be part of The Merisoiu Technique Five Essential principles.

Zanshin can be taught through face to face or virtual coaching. That doesn’t mean you will master it. Mastering takes years, but you will get a glimpse of what I am talking about here.

So if you want to talk about it and I will also take you through a posture and breathing analysis book a FREE call with me and let’s put you on the Zanshin path, starting today.

3 Ways To Stay Healthy And Fit For Life

Easy for me to say right? Having 20 years of sports behind me it’s in my blood, I don’t even need to try.

I’m sorry, I have to tell you that you are WRONG. Any habit can be undone if not practiced, practiced and practiced some more.

And it’s so easy to stop when the tough gets tough. But today I am not going to preach about this, I am going to give you food for thought, as always but today a bit more.

Staying healthy and fit for life is not difficult. We make our own lives difficult by trying to do what others do and what others say, and we never go with our instincts.

Here’s what I mean. Some people really, really love the gym, and they like to be really toned and some like to bulk up and that’s ok. That’s what they like and motivates them and that’s good.

However many of us don’t want HD muscles, we just want to stay healthy and be happier as a result.

But here’s the thing, we struggle to get to where we want, healthy, fit and happy, because of a few simple reasons, you already know and I will remind you:

1. We make health a goal.

I said it before and I’ll say it again, health is not and should not be a goal. Health is there all the time, it’s like the nose on your face. We should never make a purpose of it.

I don’t really know how to emphasize this more. It’s like oxygen, it should always be there, it should be natural and we should not think about it.

Health comes as a result of your habits. Your life is a bundle of habits. Focus on them instead.

2. We struggle too much to follow thousands of rules.

Many of the rules, which I call health fashion, come and go (i.e. fats are bad for you!). We listen and put into application everything out there, just in case they are all right and you are wrong.

And this makes us miserable because we are virtually not allowed to eat, do or have anything according to the rules. You already know what is good and less good through common sense. You already know!

May I give you an example from my life? I hope so… 😀

I travelled to a few countries, working and studying, so I’ve been on my own for a long time. But no matter where I go and what I do, how the new world I find myself in tries to change me I always, always go back to the habits I developed back home, with and by my mother.

You know why? Because my body is programmed to eat certain foods and not eat others. And I am programmed to exercise on a regular basis otherwise I start gaining weight and feel miserable.

I first noticed when I left home and went to US in 2007. I began putting weight on and I realised that my eating habits had changed because I allowed the environment to dictate what I should do.

So I went back to what I used to eat home and I came back to normal. That’s the story in a nutshell.

That’s what I believed to be good for me and I stopped listening to everyone around saying this is good and that is bad. I just went with my common sense. And it worked of course.

So this is my advice, stop listening to everyone (yes! that includes myself) and follow your intuition, the habits you grew up with (because I am sure most of them were healthy) and move as if you were a child again (that means leaving the car home more often).

The exception to this rule is if you train for a specific purpose, marathons, competitions etc. That’s a different story. But if it’s health you are looking for then common sense is a good way to go.

3. We force ourselves to do things that everyone else does even if we hate it

And here I have “going to the gym” in mind.

As I said before, some people love it and it works for them, but it will not work for everyone. It never worked for me.

In the past I’d go to the gym 3-4 months and then get bored. Even if changing routines I’d see the same place, the same scenery, roughly the same people, never changing, always monotony, never having a purpose. It made me unhappy to be there.

Try instead looking for a sport you like. There are hundreds of sports you can take on. Learning a new skills is personal development and we, humans, are made to learn and evolve, not stagnate. That’s what makes us happy.

Examples: rock climbing, cycling outdoors (actually going somewhere!), running (learning from a coach), target shooting, archery, swimming, squash, badminton, tennis, Martial Arts.

I suggest you have a coach, you learn more, you are accountable and a coach never lets you get bored.

Finally spend more time outdoors. If you can take your training outdoors it’s even better. You’d never get bored of it, because every time yougo out there everything is different, from day to day, even within the day.

You have so much to see and do, to listen, to feel, to smell (good stuff that is). And be creative, your life is more colourful when you allow your creativity to flow.

Do those things that make you feel ALIVE

This is how you stay HEALTHY AND FIT FOR LIFE. Bring creativity, diversity, intuition and happiness in your life and everything else will take care of itself.

Furthermore look to be coached by someone who will teach you how to do things by yourself, who will educate you rather than just train you. This way you will know what to do when you finish your program.If it works for me there is no reason why it would not work for you as well.

As you already know this is what I do, I train you outdoors, I help you get fit and healthy and I spark your creativity on one of my 12 weeks programs, 1-2-1 or groups, and then you take it from there because you LEARN HOW.

Book a free call with me to see how we can get you out of boredom and monotony and release your creativity to get you healthy, fit and happy.