Gohitsu Shodo Kai (悟筆書道会 – The Enlightening Brush Japanese Calligraphy Association) is an independent western Japanese calligraphy society founded in 2010 by Esteban Martinez.
Gohitsu Shodo Kai aims to build a community of people looking to train in Shodo as a way to discover their inner spirit, enhance their senses, and find happiness. Unlike traditional calligraphy associations in Japan, Gohitsu Shodo Kai’s mission is not to promote calligraphy education from an academic perspective. Instead, we train in calligraphy and approach it from a Zen and martial arts point of view. We teach the technicality of writing Kanji in harmony with our kiai (気合 – spiritual power).
Ancient Chinese calligraphy and Japanese Zen masters heavily influence the style of calligraphy we practice. Most prominently in our study is the calligraphy of Yamaoka Tesshu (山岡 鉄舟, June 10, 1836 – July 19, 1888), the swordsman, calligrapher, and lay Zen master of the Meiji era. Tesshu was the 52nd, and last, headmaster of the Jubokudo (入木道) School of Calligraphy. Jubokudo calligraphy was transmitted from China to Japan by Kobo Daishi with its emphasis on the spiritual, rather than technical aspects of brushwork.
This method of training in calligraphy arrived in the west when Omori Sogen Rotaishi established Chozen-ji, a Rinzai Zen temple in Hawaii in 1972. He was both a dharma successor of the Tenryu-ji line of Rinzai Zen, and Yamaoka Tesshu’s Taishi School of Calligraphy. Omori Rotaishi established ZEN, KEN, SHO (Zen, sword, and brush) as the essential three training methods. This somewhat radical approach to using calligraphy and martial arts as vehicles for Zen practice is one that’s truly unique and effective.
Esteban Martinez
Esteban Martinez is a cook, Japanese calligrapher, martial artist, and lay Zen Buddhist. He’s been training in Japanese calligraphy for 20 years and teaching Aikido for almost that long. Esteban holds the rank of Godan (5th-degree black belt) in Aikido with the Aikikai Hombu Dojo in Tokyo, Japan. Today, in addition to Aikido, he also trains in the martial art of Muay Thai.
Esteban was born and raised in Puerto Rico and began Aikido training in 1995 at 13 under Iris Ruiz Sensei, the first woman in Puerto Rico to achieve a black belt rank in Aikido.
In the summer of 1998, he trained in Aikido and Zen at the Aikido International Foundation Summer School (Kenshusei Program) at Tenshinkan Dojo led by the late Fumio Toyoda Shihan in Chicago, IL. At the end of his training at Tenshinkan, Toyoda Shihan brushed a calligraphy for him. It was a special gift that he wasn’t expecting from him. He said, “I want to learn how to do this!” So, before he left Chicago to return home, he stopped by a Japanese store near the dojo and bought a few Japanese calligraphy supplies and a kanji book. With Toyoda Shihan’s calligraphy on the one hand and his new supplies on the other, Esteban would spend the following years trying to copy Toyoda Shihan’s calligraphy.
In 2008, after ten years of self-study and practicing Shodo, Esteban met Maki Narita, a Japanese calligraphy instructor in Providence, RI. He had the opportunity to learn formally under a Japanese teacher. Narita Sensei taught him Shodo (書道 calligraphy), and Shuji (習字 penmanship) through a series of personal lessons.
While training in Chicago, he also began Zen training in the Rinzai Zen tradition and currently trains in the Chosei Zen line of Rinzai Zen under Gordon Greene Roshi, resident priest of the Zen Dojo of Wisconsin in Spring Green. Today, Esteban’s calligraphy reflects years of trying to copy Toyoda Shihan’s calligraphy, Narita Sensei’s teachings, and Zen meditation. His calligraphies are displayed worldwide in dojos, offices, homes, and businesses. He has been commissioned to brush Japanese calligraphy for company logos, martial arts rank certificates, and tattoo designs.
In 2018, Esteban traveled to Japan and visited the Suimei Shodo Kai Kan school of calligraphy in Kyoto. While in Japan, he learned how to make sumi brushes with master brushmaker Yamazaki Kanohiro in Toyohashi. The brushes from Toyohashi are considered to be the finest in Japan and are used by the most prestigious calligraphers. He also visited the Kensho-An suzuri museum in Amehata where he met Gyokusen Mochizuki, the last living suzuri stone carver in Amehata, Yamanashi Prefecture.
Esteban currently teaches Aikido at Zenshinkan Dojo, in Worcester, MA as a senior instructor and President of the Board of Directors. He also teaches Zen meditation at Rhode Island Zen Dojo. When he’s not in the studio, he’s a chef and teaches Culinary Arts at Bristol Community College in Fall River, MA. He lives in the Ocean State with his wife, Rachel, and kids, Jasper and Madeline.
