In Japanese the word zanshin is made up of two separate kanji (残心) meaning remainder, heart. This has taken the connotation for modern martial artists of maintaining perfect awareness and presence with all your heart, or the ever-remaining mind. Zanshin contains mental, physical and even spiritual elements the warrior develops to maintain proper vision and…

Sensei, Renshi, Kyoshi, Hanshi, Shihan, Shidoin, Kaicho, Grand Master: Budo titles and how to use them, or rather, how not to use them. You see and hear a lot of different titles in Japanese martial arts. Unfortunately, a lot of people have little or no idea how these titles and honorifics are actually used. I’ve…

The kanji for “Kaizen” (改善) translates as reform / virtue, or to create change for higher virtue. The process of constant and never-ending improvement is the foundation for Black Belt Excellence in all areas of one’s life. The process is fairly simple to set up but takes discipline and planning to make it become a…

“Are we there yet”? This is the often-asked question of a young child on a journey. As irritating as the question can be, the answer is usually a fairly simple one. The response is usually “soon” or “not yet”. It’s simple because we already know the destination and where we are, on the route, at…

Although many people recognize the word Sensei as meaning teacher, the kanji for sensei (先生) means ahead, life or in other words a person that is ahead of you on life’s journey. The relationship between an individual and a person that has “already been there” is unique and worthy of discussion. If knowledge is power,…