How to master the art of focus and concentration from a legendary archer

How to master the art of focus and concentration from a legendary archerHow to master the art of focus and concentration from a legendary archerAfter four painful years of training in archery, Herrigel had grown impatient with his lack of progress, and welches on the verge of quitting.Four years prior (during the 1920s), Eugen Herrigel, a German professor, took a leap of faith and moved his entire family to Japan, in hopes of learning the Japanese tradition of Zen in Archery.Herrigel had everything planned out hed teach philosophy at the University of Tokyo and master the art of archery within a few years.And after much protesting and pleading, Herrigel convinced the legendary Japanese archer, Master Kenzo Awa, to take him on as a pupil in Kyudo, the Japanese martial art of archery.Like most people who pursue a new goal, Herrigel was excited, highly motivated and a tad bit overconfident in his archery abilities.But as the years passed by, Herrigel struggled to improve at his desired pace (in fact, for years he was only allowed to shoot at a roll of straw rather than a target) and he began to lose his focus and motivation.One day, in his fourth year of training, a frustrated Herrigel grumbled to the Master that his stay at Japan was limited and time was running out.The Master calmly replied, The way to the goal is not to be measured Of what importance are weeks, months, years?Herrigel nodded and made a resolution that hed stop worrying about his goals, and shift his entire focus to practice instead.Day in and day out for months, Herrigel would plattl up his bow and arrow, and shoot. It didnt matter how motivated he felt, or how badly he missed his targets, hed still show up to practice.And then one day, Herrigel received a special invite from Master Kenzo, to participate in the final archery test hed spent the last five years training to pass.During a spectacular ceremony, in front of a large crowd, Herrigel tuned out all distractions, and effortlessly executed on the test exercises, just like hed practiced over the years.A short distance away, Master Kenzo smiled like a proud father, walked up to Herrigel with a diploma and said to himYou have now reached a stage where teacher and pupil are no longer two persons, but one. You can separate from me anytime you wishI need not ask you to keep up your regular practicing.Herrigel was relieved. His hard work had paid off and hed finally achieved his goal. But, this couldnt have been possible without the help of Master Kenzo, who taught him how to master the art of focus.Heres what Herrigel learned aboutmastering the art of focus and concentration during his 5 years spent with Master Kenzo Awa.Master Kenzos effortless focus and concentration in action. By unknown photographer. (Image Source Henry and Nancy Rosin Collection of Early Photography of Japan)Aim without aimingThe right art is purposeless, aimless The more obstinately you try to learn how to shoot the arrow for the sake of hitting the goal, the less you will succeedWhat stands in your way is that you think that what you do not do yourself does not happen, exclaimed Master Kenzo during a lesson.At the time, Herrigel couldnt make any sense of this. He thought how can you hit a target without aiming at or focusing on it?For a few months, Herrigel practiced shooting without taking aim, but most of his shots missed the target. And he was becoming increasingly frustrated.One day, Herrigel complained to Master Kenzo about his failure to hit the goal, the Master replied, I binnensee the goal as though I did not see it. Herrigel had had enough of the Masters unsatisfactory responses and blurted out, Then you ought to be able to hit it blindfoldedMaster Kenzo slowly turned his head towards Herrigel and in a firm tone said, Come to see me this evening.That evening, Herrigel met the Master at the practice hall. Very few words were exchanged.Master Kenzo slowly bent over, picked up his bow and arrow, walked up to a spot, spre ad his legs in a ceremonial fashion and took aim at a target in pitch-dark.Within a few seconds, Herrigel heard two quiet thuds. He sprung off the floor and swiftly rushed to switch on the lights.To his amazement, Master Kenzo had hit the target straight in the middle with both shots without being able to see it.It was on that day that Herrigel learned an important piece of wisdom from the legendary archer on mastering the art of focus and concentration, that isDo not focus on the goal, focus onZanshininstead.Master the relaxed art of ZanshinZanshinis a word used in Japanese martial arts to refer to a state of relaxed alertness.The literal translation ofZanshinmeans the mind with no remainder. It describes a state of mind when there is complete focus and awareness of the body.During his early lessons with Master Kenzo, Herrigel struggled to achieveZanshin.Each time he picked up the bow, hed use considerable force to bend it, his hands would tremble, and hed run out of breath.One day , whilst Herrigel was drawing the bow in his usual tiresome fashion, Master Kenzo calmly said to him, Relax..You cannot do it..because you do not breathe right. If it is done properly, you will feel the shooting becoming easier every day.Herrigel took note, but didnt yet understand the profound wisdom of the Master.A few months later, Herrigel lamented that hed tried tirelessly to stay focused and relaxed, but couldnt do so. The Master replied, Thats just the trouble, you make an effort to think about it. Concentrate entirely on your breathing, as if you had nothing else to doAfter a year of trial and error, Herrigel finally learnedhow to stay focused, draw the bow and release it, in a completely relaxed manner.He mastered the art ofZanshinand achieved his goals as a by-product.In his book,Zen in the Art of Archery(audiobook), Herrigel describes the details of his story and explains howZanshinled to his significant improvement in archerySo that was it not a technical trick I had tri ed in vain to pick up, but liberating breath-control with new and far-reaching possibilities.Herrigel didnt focus on his goals or even his knowledge, he just focused onZanshin,and this enabled him to focus on a task at hand, despite a million and one distractionsThe more one concentrates on breathing, the more the external stimuli fade into the background.Therein lies the secret to mastering the art of focus and concentration.The more relaxed the state of our mind and body, the more likely well stay focused, avoid distractions and achieve our goals in the process.Its so simple, yet so profound.Focus on ZanshinIn the seventeenth-century, legendary Zen master, Takuan Soho, suggested that the difference between a beginner and Master swordsman isnt skill or knowledge, but focus.Whilst the beginner swordsman focuses on his goals and overthinks how he can best hit his opponent, the Master swordsman is completely detached not only from the opponent, but also himself.The Master swordsman in tentionally shifts his focus away from the goal, towards his body and mind in a state of relaxed awareness that isZanshin.Its from this place ofZanshinthat the master swordsman effortlessly focuses on a target and achieves his goals, even when he cant see the target.And two hundred plus years later, the legendary archer, Master Kenzo Awa, successfully passed on this ancient wisdom ofZanshinto Herrigel.By shifting our focus away from the outcome and towards the process, we can significantly improve the odds of achieving success in whatever we do.The next time youre struggling to stay focused on your work, relationships, health or finances, just remember this forget the goal, aim without aiming andZanshin.P.S.If youd like to learn practical strategies to help you master the art of focus, eliminate distractions, shave up to 10 hours off your workweek and get important things done, check outThe Art of Stress-Free Focus Seminar.Mayo Oshin writes atMayoOshin.Com, where he shares the best practical ideas based on proven science and the habits of highly successful people for stress-free productivity and improved mental performance. To get these strategies to stop procrastinating, get more things by doing less and improve your focus,join his free weekly newsletter.A version of thisarticleoriginally appeared atmayooshin.comasZanshin How to Master the Art of Focus and Concentration From a Legendary Japanese Archer.FootnotesThe power of proper breathing cannot be overstated for breaking bad habits and developing the willpower to resist distractions.Rarevideo footageof the traditional Zen archery.