Chicago. July 1998. I was 17 years old. I've never been on an airplane and away from home. On a Friday night, I arrived in Chicago to train in Aikido for the summer at Tenshinkan Dojo, headquarters of the Aikido Association of America led by the late Fumio Toyoda Shihan. I spent the weekend acclimating to the new environment. I had a bit of trouble understanding English, but … [Read more...] about The First Time I Sat in Zen Meditation
In many martial arts there is this concept widely practiced but barely explained. I'm talking about KIAI. Most people think is just a yell. But KIAI is more than that. I mean to the general public, people yelling at the dojo looks a little silly and how many times have we lost our voices because we yelled too much during class? For some KIAI, is a yell when executing a … [Read more...] about What does KIAI mean?
Last week I wrote about the difference between Chinese and Japanese calligraphy. Both styles use kanji (Chinese characters) but differ in aesthetics. Like I said last week, the main difference between the two is the use of kana in Japanese calligraphy. But what is kana? And why is it important when practicing Shodo? Kana stands for hiragana and katakana; two … [Read more...] about What is the Hiragana?
The other day we had dinner at Five Guys. My wife pointed out a muscle guy who had a tattoo on his right tricep. He had two Kanji characters tattooed in Kaisho. "Do you know what it says?", she asked. I said I recognized the first one, but I was having trouble with the second. "How come?", she asked to which I replied because it was Chinese. "How do you know if its Chinese … [Read more...] about Japanese vs. Chinese Calligraphy
I've had many people tell me my calligraphy looks like Toyoda Sensei's. In fact, I’ve had people commission me for calligraphy specifically because they want it to look like Toyoda Sensei's. I take this as a complement. I did studied Toyoda Sensei's calligraphy a lot. Many of my practice sessions were spent literally copying his work. It is natural that my style resembles … [Read more...] about How to develop your own Shodo style
