ZANSHIN MARTIAL ARTS

From all of us instructors, we’d like to express our heartfelt gratitude to our amazing students and their families. Your support and commitment make our community thrive, and we couldn’t be more thankful. We hope you have a joyful, safe, and peaceful holiday season surrounded by those you love.

Our classes will resume the week of 6 January, but please note that some dojo locations will open a little later due to scheduling changes. Keep an eye on our website, Facebook, and Instagram for updates, or feel free to reach out to me directly via text or phone if you have any questions.

Wishing you all the best for the festive season. We’re looking forward to seeing you in the New Year, ready for another exciting chapter of training and growth!

Warm regards,
The Instructors at Zanshin Martial Arts

Due to the setup for the ACT Election on the 19th, Zanshin classes at Taylor, Gordon, Coombs, and Amaroo are cancelled on Friday, 18th October. Classes will resume as normal the following week (Friday, 25th October).

Queanbeyan South classes will run as usual.

Don’t forget to check the website under “Locations” to find other available nights in your area to make up for missed lessons. For those at Coombs, the closest option is Evelyn Scott Primary School in Denman Prospect, with classes on Monday night.

Other nearby locations in the Gungahlin area and their schedules include:

• Harrison Primary School: Tuesday night
• Franklin: Wednesday night
• Palmerston and Neville Bonner: Monday night
• Ngunnawal: Thursday night

In the Tuggeranong area:

• St Clare of Assisi in Conder: Thursday night
• St Francis of Assisi in Calwell: Monday night
• St Anthony’s in Wanniassa: Tuesday night

Wow, it’s hard to believe that Zanshin has been part of the Canberra and Queanbeyan martial arts community for 10 years now! I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who turned up to celebrate with us.

Looking back, the journey has been incredible. After nearly 50 years in martial arts, starting as a six-year-old student, I made the decision to create something new – something that truly reflects the values we believe in. Zanshin Martial Arts is unique, and we’ve seen that difference in how our club has grown. When we first started, our grading numbers were much smaller, and now they’ve skyrocketed. Where we used to grade around 150 students, we’re now grading over 400+ students, which is a testament to the new direction we’ve taken with Zanshin.

One of the biggest changes has been shifting away from promoting the head of the organization. In many clubs, that can come across as just a big ego trip. But at Zanshin, we’ve taken a different approach – it’s all about the students and the instructors. We now have 27 instructors in our organization, and we’re floating between 1,200 to 1,500 students, which shows that both the instructors and students love the environment they’re in.

Another great thing about Zanshin is that we no longer have to travel for grading events or gatherings. Before, we used to take just a handful of students away to other places, but now, everything happens at our own club. This is a huge benefit for our students, as everyone has busy lifestyles, and now everything is under one roof – making it so much easier and more convenient for everyone.

My role, as the head of the organization, is just one small piece of the puzzle. The true strength of Zanshin lies in our students and our amazing instructors, both past and present.

This philosophy has proven to work, and our growth speaks for itself. We’ve not only tripled our grading numbers over the past 10 years, but this year alone, we’ve opened one new centers, continuing our mission to build a club that puts people first.

I want to say a massive thank you to every single student, instructor, and supporter who has been part of this journey. Whether you’ve been with us from the start or recently joined, Zanshin wouldn’t be what it is today without you. Together, we’ve built something truly special, and it’s a credit to everyone involved.

Here’s to our next 10 years – let’s keep growing, learning, and making Zanshin Martial Arts a club we’re all proud of!

The 24^th of August 2024 marked the 10^th anniversary of Zanshin Martial Arts training, an amazing achievement.

In the ten years, we’ve welcomed thousands of new students as they’ve first set foot onto the dojo floor, farewelled students as they leave to go on other paths, and welcomed many students back as their lives brings them around to Zanshin again.

While many students and instructors have previously studied and trained under different styles and clubs, Zanshin’s approach to martial arts has seen it through a myriad of challenges and hurdles, and move from strength to strength. The classes foster an environment where martial arts is not just a practice or an activity but also reflect in aspects of all students’ lives.

All through this time, Soshi Paul has been leading the dedicated team of instructors, who all work to bring a massive breadth of knowledge, experience, variety, and personality to training.

To students past, we hope you’ve taken some of the positive aspects of Zanshin with you.

To students future, you’ll always be welcome.

To students present, we’ll see you at class.

The 2024 Dan grading is on Saturday 24th August 2024 at the Erindale PCYC. We have 8 Dan grade applicants so please come along and support them.

There is an open Aiki class beforehand for all Senior students:

9.00 am – open Aiki class for senior grades. $15 training fee applies, not covered by monthly fee. Bring your training cards as you do get a signature for the class.

10:20am – Aiki class wraps up and a quick break.

10:30am – Dan Grading commences.

There is no timeframe for the Dan grading but we can expect about 2 hours.

The open Aiki class will cover some basic arm lock and pin techniques, grappling, rolling, use of weapons and break falling.

After the open Aiki class Senior students can keep uniforms on and be on the floor to support the Dan grading applicants, or you can change into other clothes and sit on chairs if you wish.

Spectators for the Dan grading are permitted.

The Dan grading is always an exciting time for Zanshin Martial Arts and we look forward to seeing you there, especially as we celebrate 10 years of Zanshin Martial Arts.

Soshi Paul Murdoch

We are thrilled to announce that our martial arts school, which has been serving the community for some time at the Anglican Public School, is now offering classes at both the Anglican Public School in Googong and the Googong Primary School.

Our classes are becoming quite popular, and we love seeing the enthusiasm from our young students! We invite all parents with young children to come along for a free class to experience the fun and benefits of martial arts.

Also, we do have special classes for parents as well, so the whole family can join in on the fun and fitness!

For more information or to schedule your free class, please contact us at:

• Phone: 0408 440 615
• Email: info@zanshin.com.au

Thank you all for your continued support. We look forward to seeing you there!

2024 promises to be another big year for Zanshin Martial Arts. It’s time to plan what you want to achieve in your martial arts journey and then train to achieve it. Most dojos recommence training this week – starting Monday 8th January. Please check the Zanshin Martial Arts Facebook page or website for all start dates at all dojos. Remember, throughout the school holidays almost all of our dojos will be operating again. Enjoy your training and aim for your goals.

As we wrap up this year, we want to extend warm wishes to you and your families for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. From myself and all the instructors, thank you for your unwavering support. We’re grateful for the incredible community we have in our club. A special appreciation to my fellow instructors for their dedication. We hope you’ve achieved all your training goals this year. Here’s to a joyous holiday season and continued success in the coming year.