Thursday, December 3, 2009

'Love' in clerical style of Chinese calligraphy

There are a few words in Chinese/Japanese that calligraphers tend to write over and over. Love, Dream, Beauty are some of them. Sometimes I roll my eyes when I find myself writing the common kanji. But in second thought they are written commonly for a reason. They are the core themes of life.

There is a style in Japanese called raisho




Budo thoughts for the day

Love the art. Love the people you train with. Respect and love the people that generously teach you. Love the people that come to you to learn. Love the process. Love the sweat. Love your dojo so deeply that it becomes a magical temple. Love the history of the art, the foreign languages and all the people cross your path.

Intersting this 'love' kanji is from the Aikido perspective. The top and bottom parts of it is the character for Uke, or "to receive". This is the same word and symbol for uke, or receiver of technique. Stuffed in the middle of the 'uke' symbol is heart/mind. So the idea behind the symbol is "to receive the heart and mind of another". Love.

Receiving the heart and mind of another. Sounds like learning. Sounds like this whole aikido thing.

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