The phrase BUNBU RYŌDŌ 文武両道 means “the martial and literary ways are one path”.
Last weekend I had the exciting opportunity to teach an Aikido / Calligraphy Seminar in Marshall, Wisconsin. Back in 2015, Marcel Uttech commissioned me to brush two scrolls for his dojo;
Eventually, our conversations steered towards the idea of having me go over to Wisconsin and teach a workshop. Knowing that Marcel and the folks attending this class were also Aikido students, I proposed to him a weekend-long seminar of Aikido and Calligraphy. The concept of this training was to integrate the two practices and explore the relationship between martial arts and calligraphy to understand how they complement each other. Marcel loved the idea, and before I knew it, I was on a two-hour flight from Boston to Milwaukee to teach a one of a kind Aikido seminar.
The idea of integrating martial arts training with calligraphy is not new, and I certainly did not come up with it. For centuries warriors of the Samurai class engaged in other cultural arts such as calligraphy, writing, and painting. It is true, however, that most of this dual training happened during the peaceful era of the Tokugawa Shogunate in the Edo Period. When Tokugawa Ieyasu took control of Japan as Shogun in 1603, he united Japan under one militaristic government effectively eliminating civil conflicts across the country. The Samurai, trained to fight wars, found themselves without wars to fight and therefore became government leaders, scholars, and artists. Shodo was a preferred study of the Samurai. The found calligraphy to sharpen their awareness to even the slightest shifts in movements which became critical to their martial training. The Samurai also appreciated other elements of calligraphy such as mastery of movement, rhythm, control of the brush, and decisiveness.
The integrated practice of martial arts and calligraphy was passed down through the generations. During the Meiji Period, Yamaoka Tesshu surfaced as a great example of martial arts, calligraphy, and Zen training practiced simultaneously to develop a high level of KI energy and internal strength. In the 20th century, Omori Sogen Roshi brought this integrated practice to the west via Chozen-ji in Hawaii and Fumio Toyoda Shihan, one of my Aikido teachers, helped spread it across the United States and Europe.
Aikido specifically has a strong relationship with calligraphy practice. Ueshiba himself was an avid calligrapher. Later in his life, he brushed hundreds of calligraphies; most of them given to his students. However, Ueshiba Sensei didn’t start brushing calligraphy until well into his seventies when he began to take lessons from one of his students, Seiseki Abe Sensei. When asked, during an interview with Black Belt Magazine, why Ueshiba Sensei wanted to study calligraphy, Abe Sensei answered:
“O-Sensei had a tremendous amount of ki. But in his aikido, the ki would disappear on a moment-to-moment basis. The ki of O-Sensei could not even be captured by a movie camera. It was so fast and invisible. O-Sensei wanted to capture his ki and wanted to learn calligraphy. He wanted to put his ki on paper.”
Consequently, many of Ueshiba Sensei’s students practiced calligraphy as well to complement their Aikido training and development. Interestingly though, the integration of Japanese Calligraphy with Aikido training, something deeply cherished by the founder and historically rooted within the world of martial arts is rarely discussed or taught cohesively.
For all of these reasons, I was beyond excited for the opportunity to teach the integration of Aikido and Calligraphy in a seminar setting. A few years ago, I taught a calligraphy session at an Aikido seminar in Brooklyn. During this event, another instructor taught the Aikido session while I taught calligraphy. I thought it was a great success, and I had a lot of fun doing it. However, I realized that for students to truly understand the relationship between these two arts, I had to teach both sessions (Aikido and calligraphy) to maintain the link between the Aikido and calligraphy classes effectively.
The seminar in Marshall was indeed one of a kind. It was a total of 11 hours of training. Friday night, I taught a two-hour calligraphy introductory class. This session focused on the basics of calligraphy; how to hold the brush, how to draw lines and dots, and how to clean the brush after practice. Saturday morning, everyone was on the mat at ten for Aikido training. I kept the training dynamic and focused on techniques that emphasized the use of center and engaged the
Sunday morning began again with a dynamic Aikido class to bring everyone’s energy up and fill the mat with strong KIAI. After an hour and half of rolling on the mat, without a break, everyone gathered all the calligraphy supplies and began brushing their final piece for the weekend. I chose for them to write the word 明心 MYŌSHIN, clear mind. We brushed this last calligraphy while sitting in seiza (traditional seated posture with legs folded underneath) engaging the breath and body to develop a clear mind understanding that the calligraphy we were about to brush was already done. At the end of the seminar, we went over everyone’s calligraphy and contemplated the fantastic work everyone had done and appreciated the exceptional quality of everyone’s lines truly manifesting the KIAI developed over the weekend. I could not have been happier with the results.
This experience cemented the fact that more of this type of training is needed. While I certainly hope to be back in Marshall next year, I hope more opportunities arise in the martial arts world to teach this type of seminar where the benefits are truly remarkable. I am forever grateful to Marcel and the students of Aikido of Marshall for such a wonderful weekend. They trained hard and sincerely and gave it all both on the mat and on the paper.
If you or anyone you know is interested in hosting an Aikido / Calligraphy seminar please contact me via email for more information.