Thoughts on Awareness.

I believe that there are a number of levels of awareness. On the outside ranges there is what is refered to as "Zanshin" in many traditional Asian martial arts and spiritual traditions and ESP in the West. This is intuitive awareness; what you know and understand but do not know how or why you know and understand it. Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido, was famous for this, and there are numerous stories regarding his demonstration of it. Many other spiritual and martial arts masters, both from the east and the west, have also demonstrated this amazing intuitive ability. In the West we often get glimpses of it in the experience of "being in the zone", or having the hair on the back of your neck stand on end and having the feeling that "somebody is watching you". However Zanshin has the added benefit of being, once acquired, always present. It is, I believe, the highest level of awareness. Although it can be cultivated through the practice of various spiritual traditions, and some martial practices, weather they be from the east or west, I do not believe that it can be intellectually learned. In short, it is a gift.

Next is what is often referred to as "tactical awareness", "situational awareness", or just plain "street smarts". It's what you learn by simply "being there and doing that". I have had great success in developing this through my work as a Loss Prevention Officer and it translates well to being a Bouncer. Although it can often translate to different situations, its effectiveness is largely dependent on being familiar with your environment. It may fail you if you find yourself in an unfamiliar environment or culture. If you are not fortunate enough to be involved in a "Warrior Occupation" (a job that requires you to read body language effectively in order to keep yourself and/ or others safe, and one that requires you to engage in conflict rather than avoid it), I think that you can develop this awareness by taking away the things that come between you and your environment. The fact of the matter is that there is no substitute for experience. Try driving your car less and walk, bike, and take the bus instead. The bus is always interesting because it puts you into close contact with people and behaviors that you may not regularly be aware of or come in contact with. In general, just get out there and engage with different people and environments. Just be careful as this can be dangerous, but remember that danger increases the learning curve. There is a good reason why Nietzsche coined the adage, "that which does not kill you makes you stronger".

Below this is what is often referred to as "tactile" or "spacial" awareness. This is about being aware of how and where a body moves in time and space when you are engaged with it, i.e. fighting or making an arrest of a non-compliant subject. It is "feeling the energy" of an opponent. This can only be developed through experience, weather it be regular access to hands on live conflict, or force on force training and sparring. This is how a boxer learns to see holes in a opponents defense and how a wrestler can feel where an opponent is moving. Because of it's close and experiential nature, it will also feel as though it has elements of Zanshin to it.

Each of these types of awareness can work in accord with each other and very often your conscious awareness of them is blurred together. Working on developing them will greatly enhance your personal safety and aid in your ability to sleep in your own bed (or at least a bed of your choosing ;-) at night.

Please let me know if this was helpful to you or not.