Calligraphy and Martial Arts

[kuri]

The Background thread got me to thinking about my training in Japan so I was looking around the net tonight for info on Shorin-Ryu and lo and behold I found a page featuring not only my Shorin teacher, Patrick Rault, but also my calligraphy teacher, Mr. Tamizo Tsuji.

Tsuji sensei passed away about 3 years ago but I treasure every moment I could spend with him. Undoubtedly the greatest teacher I have had the pleasure to meet.

A master calligrapher, poet, and tea master, he was also formerly a kendo (sword) teacher and pretty handy at boxing in his younger years.

At the time I lived down the street from Tsuji sensei, and every Saturday evening Patrick & I, along with 2 or 3 other students would study calligraphy from him. We would write for a couple hours after which Mr. Tsuji would always prepare the powdered green tea used in tea ceremony and serve it in pottery he himself had made.

We would sit around the table and Mr. Tsuji would talk about the deeper meanings of Chinese characters we were practicing, connections with budo, or about morals, compassion and such matters.

Tamizo Tsuji's calligraphy (examples of this calligraphy are further down the page)

I have three works Mr. Tsuji made for me hanging on my walls, and are among my most treasured possessions.

What a stroll down memory lane!

[kuri]

For those who might be interestedhere is another page I found showing Tsuji Sensei at home, and more of his works.

Mr. Tsuji and my Shorin teacher Patrick together in Mr. Tsuji's living room, where we studied Shodo (calligraphy). The bamboo hanging on the wall behind him are all handmade. He would cut the tree, select a section, dry the wood, then carve the Chinese characters (kanji) into them, then apply laquer to the carved portion.





I'm fascinated by the deep connections between calligraphy & martial arts, and in a larger sense East Asian history and cultures.

[Chris Correia]

That's really neat to read about, Kuri. I have not had those experiences, but always enjoy reading them.

On my trip to Korea, we did go somewhere to do pottery, and Grandmaster Yun told us that we need to all take a pottery class at some point. He talked about the seeking (but never quite getting)to make the perfect piece.

Have you ever read stuff by Dave Lowery? I think you'd like it. Autumn Lightening is a half true, half story account (alternating fashion) of his sword training with a Japanese master. Moving Toward Stillness and Traditions are short essays on various topics of life and the martial arts/ways.

[kuri]

CC, I have read Autumn Lightning and Moving Toward Stillness and really enjoyed them.

I agree too that pottery is an art with alot in common with calligraphy. In those arts as in martial arts one always seeks perfect form.

Speaking of pottery another friend of mine, Mr. Kusakabe, just published a book on his own style of Japanese wood fired ceramics. (I went to college with his son in WI)

It's being sold at Amazon

I lived with his family for a month one summer in Fukushima & have great memories of helping he and his university students do a 3 day firing at his country studio.

But back to calligraphy.

Mr. Nakamura, 10th Dan & Patrick's teacher in Okinawa, when he was in his early 80's claimed he had just figured out how to punch correctly.
I think theres a lesson in there somewhere

Before he passed away Mr. Tsuji and Patrick were working on a book concerning the connections between calligraphy and martial arts. The last time I met Patrick in Japan he showed me a manuscript in progress, but I don't know if they ever completed it.

I know some make the connections between the brush & the sword, but personally I always felt the greatest benefit of doing Shodo (calligraphy) to be patience and control. Shodo is EXTREMELY difficult - at least for me as I have terrible handwriting.

After each calligraphy lesson with Mr. Tsuji I remember walking home feeling completely refreshed, like I had just spent 2 hours soaking in a hot spring.

Living in LA now I really need to break out my calligraphy materials again...

[Chris Correia]

(My recollection of this) The head of my association (our branch of the family tree under Grandmaster Yun) once told us about Grandmaster Yun walking into a meeting with a couple of them and saying how happy he was because he had a good workout and felt like his jab was really starting to come along. This is a man who has done something like 200 or 500 jabs each morning for the past few decades! Yes, there is a lesson in there. Same lesson, too. Funny, isn't it?

[kuri]

Now how interesting would that be to witness Grandmaster Yun and Mr. Nakamura training together?!

Perhaps someday, say 50 years down the road, you & I will figure out how to throw a decent straight punch

[Chris Correia]

How old is Mr. Nakamura? Grandmaster Yun is 64, but his conditioning and ability is top notch. To see him move, he is still so explosive, strong and smooth. In that respect, he is intimidating/awe inspiring. He might as well be 40. I can only imagine what he was like at a younger age, because he seems ageless now.

[kuri]

Wow, that's impressive. At 64 we can only hope to be doing round kicks.

Mr. Nakamura is 89 now. I don't think he runs his dojo in Okinawa anymore but believe one of his sons took over some years ago.

When this happened Patrick split from the school to form his bunbukan school. Apparently Nakamura's son wouldn't promote foreigners such as Patrick beyond 5th dan. His attitude is to reserve the leadership ranks for Okinawan/Japanese.

At least that's what Patrick told me.

Sad that so many organizations become infused with politics.

[Chris Correia]

I used to wonder about the US 6th Dan masters in my system becoming Grandmasters (7th Dan) for that reason. A number of them have trained with Grandmaster Yun since he came to the US in the 70's. However, two have recently tested and were promoted in Korea, and one more -- my association head -- will do so in the Spring. The others are likely to follow down the line. I assume that the several masters that are association heads will test up at some point, given their tenure, ability, and roles. Thus will be futher established the main branches of the family tree.

RE age and my Grandmaster: he is still relatively young. He personally leads the early morning runs and trainings on the Korea trips of black belts, and can run young guys who aren't in top shape into the ground. He is both former military and Korean "secret service" and trains like it. Still skydives, stunt plane flys (a champion, I believe), and pilots jets. He is a true renaissance man, and a gentleman.

[kuri]

Wow, you are fortunate to be able to train with such a teacher!

So there are some American 7th Dans in your system?

I believe it's fine that in some cases people branch out and do things their own way, perhaps leading to progression that might not occur otherwise. In the case of Bunbukan Shorin-ryu, Patrick became interested in grappling and now studies Judo & BJJ.

I don't know if it had anything to do with it but after I had been doing Judo/jiujitsu in the US for a couple years I went back and trained with them in Japan for a week. During sparring I tapped out guys there once it hit the ground as they hadn't been doing much in the way of groundfighting. During this time Patrick was doing some Judo himself, and occassionally invited the Judo club that trained next door to have little sparring sessions, but apparently didn't teach much of that to his students.

But at the time he was still in Nakamura's Shorin-ryu organization.

If incorporating grappling from other systems helps his students become better martial artists then I'm all for it.

Just another tool for the toolbox.

[Chris Correia]

Yes, we are fortunate. He is not a big name in the public martial arts world, but I think among people in the know (here and in Korea), he is very highly regarded and respected. He still carries some very special status in various important places and ways in Korea. As we find out more about him, I realize what I lucked into.

Re the branching out, I think we get good at handling what we usually deal with, and can have a hard time with what we don't usually see. But, I only have so much time to work on stuff. I'm nowhere close to even quasi-mastering what I already know. I do think there is something to the "jack of all trades, master of none" concept in the martial arts but, again, it depends on one's goals and what one wants. Tkd, hapkido, and kumdo: those are three completely separate arts right there, and one of them is sword training. That's enough for a little while, like the rest of my life. For sure, the ground fighting is missing in that mix, but, as long as I carry my sword under my long coat . . .

Re the 7th Dans, that is a very recent development, and with masters who have trained under Grandmaster Yun since the 70's, so about 30 years or so. But, yes, we have some and will have at least one more in the near future.