His eyes are as dark as the depths of space. His smile sheds rainbows. And, his coldness melts when he falls in love. He is John Quinn.

Zanshin.
He’s got zanshin, she thought...

Okay, so you know the term zanshin has something to do with martial arts but you do not know exactly what it means, right? Well, neither did I. This inspired me to do a little research.

Martial arts and zanshin – definitions of the two:

Answer Bag.com defines martial arts as ‘...physical and mental exercises developed as an effective means for self-defence and offence, both unarmed and with the use of weapons’. Karate, Judo, Tae Kwon Do, Kendo, and Ju-Jutsu are all types of martial arts.

Zanshin – which when translated means ‘remaining mind’ – is defined by the Midland Ki Society as ‘continuing mind; the mind that stops at, or on, nothing’.

This definition means exactly what is written in The Chosen about zanshin. Rashel Jordan says zanshin is the state of being aware of everything yet not concentrating on any one thing. A martial artist with zanshin is aware of their environment, not just of obvious threats. This state of complete awareness and alertness allows them to be prepared for unexpected attacks.

Quinn has zanshin:

In The Chosen, Rashel is able to tell Quinn has zanshin during their first fight because normally, a person without discipline will give away the direction in which they are about to throw a move. (Or, slight movements of the muscle(s) they are about to use will be the give-away.) Rashel looks towards Quinn for indications of where or what he will move but he is perfectly still. It is this control that makes Rashel aware of the fact that Quinn too, has zanshin.

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