Returning to the Mats
Oct 31st, 2005 by mark
The name for this site, zanshin is used in the martial arts, which is where I learned it. I studied karate-do for almost 9 years achieving the rank of nidan before I stopped physically practicing. Cross country moves, new jobs, and a delight in my marriage gave me higher priority activities than the regular practice of kata, kihon, and kumite.
With the sudden gapping hole in my life left by Michele’s death I have decided that I need some outside activity to occupy myself. Naturally my thoughts have turned back towards the martial arts, two in particular. I have always been fascinated with kendo, and I have never forgotten how much I enjoyed karate-do.
During the past two weeks I have been scouting various dojos trying to find one that felt right to me. So far I have been unsuccessful in tracking down any of the active kendo groups in the area. But I did visit a traditional karate dojo on Saturday and liked most of what I saw. My plan is to return on Thursday evening and sign up for a month of classes and see what happens. With my past experience I think I’ll know whether this dojo will be a good fit for me or not in that time frame. In the meantime I plan to keep scouting other locations, maybe even tracking down a kendo group.
