Zanshin - Perfect Awareness

One of the most powerful things I see students learn from their training in
classical martial arts is what the Japanese call zanshin or perfect
awareness. While performing kata, this attribute is displayed by looking
before we turn to do a technique and even holding a posture and looking at
something a couple of seconds after a technique is done to insure the threat
has been dealt with. But zanshin is much deeper than that.

Zanshin is also a displayed attitude. We know how important first
impressions are and how different postures can and do effect the outcome of
any situation. The ever penetrating mind and glow of self confidence is
evident in everything a successful warrior does. This presence is a very
important part of zanshin.

Being able to see the future before it happens is also a trait that young
adults learn through their martial arts training. While many teenagers and
young adults tend to go through life like a person floating in an inner-tube
down a river and constantly running into things, there are a few that learn
to look ahead and see the rapids and steer around them. As teenagers become
students of conflict resolution, they start seeing how their actions are
going to affect others and will start to understand that they are in charge
of their lives and even those around them. This ability to predict the
behaviour of others in the future empowers the students and they begin to
develop the ability to "see" the future. This element of zanshin is so
important in today's society.