I never rush my commissions. Commissions are done on a first come first serve basis, so I have to work on them in the order I get them. However, that doesn’t mean if I finished one commission Thursday night that the next one will be brushed on Friday night. Each calligraphy represents a moment in time of my mind connected with the brush. That moment happens once and it doesn’t … [Read more...] about Connecting Mind and Brush
Articles
Inside Zen
I drove by a building with a sign that read: Zen Real Estate Group, with the slogan “peace of mind”. What the hell is so Zen about Real Estate? Yes, I know, you can find Zen in anything. There is: The Zen of cooking. The Zen of house cleaning. The Zen of selling real estate. The Zen of whatever it is you want to make Zen of. Zen is a term used as a marketing tool. We … [Read more...] about Inside Zen
The First Time I Sat in Zen Meditation
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
What does KIAI mean?
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?
What is the Hiragana?
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?