“You make it look so easy,” said a student at a recent workshop after I demonstrated how to brush the eight basic strokes. “It is,” I replied. After the demonstration I stopped by her table to check her work. She shook her head. “It’s really hard. It looks a lot easier when you do it.” “Oh, that’s easy!”, said a 7 year old kid when I demonstrated how to make banana spring … [Read more...] about It’s so easy
In Aikido, just like with most martial arts, you can take promotion tests and to go through the ranks. The tests are basically a demonstration of a set of techniques and body movements required for specific ranks. Usually, a dojo will have a printed document with such minimum tests requirements. Students then study these requirements and practice them in preparation for … [Read more...] about What is Meiso ho and Kokyu ho?
I remember the first calligraphy I ever sold. It was for a friend at the dojo I trained at the time. I brushed a scroll of Ichi Go Ichi E for the dojo’s Kamiza (front wall) and I did a bunch of other works and gifted them to other students. I hadn’t met Maki Sensei yet. My calligraphy was raw; it had good energy, but characters were poorly composed and there was a lot of … [Read more...] about Are you ready to start selling your work?
The term KEN ZEN SHO (sword, zen, and brush) was coined by Omori Sogen Roshi as a way to identify the three vehicles used in his Zen training. Omori Roshi’s lineage can be traced all the way back to Tekisui Giboku, connecting him with the famous Zen and Sword master Yamaoka Tesshu. Tesshu was, in a way, Omori Roshi’s inspiration in integrating Shodo and Budo as tools into Zen … [Read more...] about What is Aikido?
As I dig deeper into the management and business world with my graduate studies, (oh yeah, didn’t I tell you I’m going to grad school? I just felt like I had too much time in my hands and needed something more challenging to do!) I keep finding the topic of mindfulness thrown out a lot here and there. Mindfulness is a movement in the business world. Managers and leaders are … [Read more...] about Make Shodo a Mindful Practice
