11/05/2026
Zanshin (残心) — “the remaining mind.”
In Budō, Zanshin is often described as awareness before, during, and after technique. Not simply watching, but remaining fully present and connected to the environment, the opponent, and oneself.
In Special Forces and combat operations, we see the same principle through situational awareness.
The fight is never just the moment of contact.
It is the awareness before the threat emerges.
The composure during chaos.
And the continued awareness after action, when many switch off too early.
In Zen, Zanshin grows from presence.
Not fear.
Not tension.
Not paranoia.
A calm, clear mind that remains awake to reality as it unfolds.
This is why Budō and Zen became so intertwined.
Technique without awareness is incomplete.
Awareness without presence is unstable.
Zanshin is the warrior mind that does not wonder.
Follow at for more understanding of Zen in Budo and combat.
19/02/2026
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"Buy this course from Ray, or you're dead to me!" - Prof Luke Beston - Jiu Jitsu Black Belt - Master Troll - Disrespecter of Blue Belts
12/02/2026
Great article by Sensei Adam well worth a read 
If you are like most people, you probably hope you will never have to face real violence.
Recently I wrote about awareness, because the best self-defense decisions often happen long before anything physical begins. The earlier you notice a problem, the more options you have. Sometimes the best outcome is simply stepping off the tracks before the train arrives.
During my time working as an EMT, I was often paired with a crew-mate who had no background in physical self-defense. That was normal. We had conflict management training, but not quite the same.
One call in particular stands out, although situations like it were not uncommon, and attacks on personnel are becoming more frequent. We were called to a man who was intoxicated and had multiple head wounds. He didn’t want help, but with police assistance we managed to get him back to his home so we could at least assess and treat him there.
We cleaned him up, dressed his wounds, and tried to evaluate him for possible head injury. As we worked, his behavior began to shift. He became more agitated, more unpredictable. At the same time, he was absolutely refusing transport to the hospital.
Then he stood up and walked with clear intent toward the kitchen.
While I was still talking to him, both my partner and I followed. My partner was slightly ahead of me, focused on conversation.
As I watched the patient move, something felt wrong. Not dramatic. Just wrong.
I noticed him glance toward a butcher’s block on the counter. His movement shifted toward it. My partner did not see it at all.
I moved forward and positioned myself between him, my partner, and the knives. I didn’t announce it. I just changed the physical picture of the room.
The patient himself seemed to notice something had changed, and we were able to slow things down, calm him, and eventually persuade him to come with us to the hospital.
Nothing physical happened. And that was the success.
People have asked what technique I would have used if he had grabbed a knife. That is the wrong question.
The moment that mattered was before that. It was noticing the change in intent.
There was no checklist running in my head. No step by step process. Just a small shift in behavior that signaled risk.
That is what awareness actually looks like. Not mystical instinct. Not guessing. Trained perception, even with the probability of distraction.
In that room, both my partner and I had access to the same information. Same patient. Same environment. Same moment. The difference was interpretation.
This is why awareness is not trained by adding more content. It is trained by removing interference.
In self-defense, early options matter just as much as physical ones. Distance. Positioning. Tone of voice. Body language. The ability to read intent before action. These things often decide outcomes before force is ever considered.
This was more than just a feeling. It was pattern recognition built over years. Small signals. Changes in movement. Shifts in attention. None of them dramatic alone, but meaningful together.
I remember a similar moment in the dojo when a student was becoming frustrated while trying a technique. Again, I noticed a shift in body language and intent, and stopped them ‘kicking off’ before they even realized they were about to. The student later said to me, “You were right - but how did you know?”
Responsible preparation is not just learning how to fight. It’s learning how to notice.
The goal is not to win confrontations. The goal is to get out of danger. Either you manage the threat early, or you deal with it later under worse conditions.
Your safety has always been your responsibility. And very often, the best outcomes happen when nothing physical happens at all.
Self-defense does not start with a technique. It starts with noticing that something is wrong.
Awareness isn’t something you add. It’s what remains when you stop ignoring what is right in front of you.
– Adam Carter
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23/12/2025
This
(Approx 1 minute 45 second read)
Have you ever been attacked outside of the dojo? Have you ever had to deal with someone who was genuinely determined to cause you or your loved ones harm? Have you been knocked to the ground, injured, and then had to get up and run for your life?
Surviving real violence depends on instinct and adaptability. There is no safety net, no protective equipment, and no controlled environment. Any hesitation, any moment spent thinking rather than acting, becomes an opportunity for the attacker to cause serious, possibly irreversible harm.
In my area this week, a 62-year-old man was attacked on a bus by three underage youths. He was hospitalized. They escaped without being caught (at the time of writing).
I’m in my mid-60s now. Even though I work out daily, the reality is that at our age, if we are attacked by someone younger, bigger, and faster, the outcome could be the same.
We don’t have the fitness or durability we once had. We don’t run as fast. Our strength is reduced, regardless of how committed we are to training.
Technique and experience can offset some of this, but size, aggression, and numbers remain serious factors. An untrained attacker may throw wild punches or carry a hidden weapon with no plan at all, and that unpredictability is precisely the danger.
An untrained opponent won’t react like a compliant partner in the dojo. He will resist, struggle, and refuse to let you neatly finish the arm-lock you’ve drilled a thousand times. Some people are simply natural fighters, even without formal training.
In real self-defense, the danger posed by the untrained isn’t just intent, it’s chaos. Erratic, instinctive reactions escalate situations quickly. Surprise and brute force are often all they rely on.
I’ve asked this question before, and the common response is that experience and technique can always outwit youth. But can they?
Most people don’t train to fight in confined spaces, on buses, trains, or in narrow corridors. Most karate dojo today don’t even teach close-range infighting. Yet these environments are exactly where real assaults happen.
These attacks belong to the untrained thug who operates in alleyways and train cars. This is his environment. In that context, he is the expert.
Avoid the ruckus at all costs. Don’t let ego or years of dojo training convince you otherwise. Walk away whenever possible. Be the grey man – or woman.
At any age, that remains the best option.
Never underestimate an untrained opponent in his own environment.
Written by Adam Carter - Shuri Dojo
Photo Credit: Egor Litvinov - Unsplash
24/07/2025
Well said.
“It is already illegal to hack someone to death with a machete…”
Yep. A new law will be great thanks.
The government will not save you from violence. They don’t even understand the problem they are dealing with.
A 33-year-old man was brutally attacked at Central Square Shopping Centre in Altona Meadows by a group who allegedly used a machete during a mobile phone robbery, severing part of his forearm. He is undergoing amputation at the Royal Melbourne Hospital
Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan responded with an Acceleration of Machete Ban
The naivety of the layperson when it comes to applied violence is astonishing. The same people responsible for the destruction of social cohesion in Australia think the answer to machete violence is banning machetes. Ironically, it’s already illegal to hack people to death with a machete or hack their limbs off with a machete or even to threaten violence with any kind of tool in Australia.
It’s even illegal to carry any item for the explicit use of self defence in Australia.
Criminals however will always access weapons regardless of their legal status.
Even with some of the strictest gun laws in the world (where we have literally locked people up for owning a toy gun) we have a considerable and persistent illegal fi****ms problem.
Reliable, conservative data from groups like the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission places illicit fi****ms at more than 200,000, but broader analyses suggest the true number likely lies between 300,000 and 600,000—and possibly up to 800,000 or 1 million when factoring in new threats.
Having been attacked with a knife in Brisbane after I literally just finished teaching a knife defence course, I can only imagine how troubling the current environment is for the average Australian.
After building programs for Military and Police departments over decades, I want to do more for everyday Australian citizens.
I’m putting together three programs to help fellow Australians protect themselves and their love ones effectively and within the law. More to follow.
23/12/2025
17/12/2025
14/12/2025
24/07/2025