PUBLIC MARKS with tag zanshin

n many iaido ryuha, chiburi is a fundamental part of kata. Chiburi, usually written 血振 in Japanese, literally means “shaking off blood,” and the image presented is that of flinging the blood of a defeated enemy off the blade with a deft movement before resheathing. Perhaps mainly due to the prevalence of Muso Shinden-ryu and Muso Jikiden Eishin-ryu, some people believe that chiburi is a universal aspect of iai. However, many ryuha do not practice chiburi, and there is the opinion – which has become more widespread recently, thanks to the sharing of knowledge via the internet – that shaking off blood in this way is in fact impossible. If this is the case, then what purpose does chiburi serve? Is it pointless? Why do some ryuha practice it? And was it really ever intended to remove blood from a blade?

by Jeong (Cypress) Is there a way to train your zanshin? Answer: That is a very interesting question. Let's think about what zanshin is.

It is possible that different traditions may vary slightly in how they define the term zanshin. The late Donn Draeger translated zanshin as: "literally 'alertness remaining-form': this term signifies physical form united with mental acuity and concentration, resulting in uninterrupted dominance over the adversary. There could be no effective fighting skill without it. Zanshin was the undeniable mark of the expert technician; it could not be faked. It was the result of countless hours of experience in combative training and was expressed through physical posture. Through zanshin the bushi achieved the proper mental and physical attitude with which to dominate his adversary." (Classical Bujutsu, page 62). However, there is a common usage that many styles seem to follow.

Le zanshin est la notion de vigilance utilisée en combat dans les arts martiaux et marque souvent l’état d’esprit devant être conservé à la fin d’une action. D’une façon plus générale, c’est la qualité, la puissance, la profondeur de l’attention que l’on porte aux choses, à notre présence dans nos actes…, de sentir, de pressentir les gens, l’environnement, une situation.