Learn Japanese Calligraphy as Moving Meditation

Learn Japanese Calligraphy as Moving Meditation
Click on the image above to order your copy of The Japanese Way of the Artist. Including extensive illustrations and an all-new introduction by the author, The Japanese Way of the Artist (Stone Bridge Press, September 2007) anthologizes three complete, out-of-print works by the Director of the Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts. With penetrating insight into the universe of Japanese spiritual, artistic, and martial traditions, H. E. Davey explores everything from karate to calligraphy, ikebana to tea, demonstrating how all traditional Japanese arts share the same spiritual goals: serenity, mind/body harmony, awareness, and a sense of connection to the universe.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Script Styles--Part Three


Sosho
Cursive-style characters are painted with an even greater sense of an unbroken flow of ki. They tend to be rather abstract, and most Japanese cannot read them unless they are studying shodo. Think of sosho as being more abbreviated and quickly written than semicursive-style characters. While cursive style appears to exhibit an effortless quality, you should be careful not to totally lose the sense of structure that was developed in your study of printed-style symbols. For this reason, students learn kaisho before practicing cursive-style kanji. Sosho contains the structure of printed-style and the rhythm of semicursive characters, which are combined to create a script that flows like dynamically rushing water.


Want to learn more about Japanese calligraphic art? Pick up a copy of The Japanese Way of the Artist. The Japanese Way of the Artist is a collection of three of H. E. Davey Sensei's most popular books. It's published by Stone Bridge Press (http://www.stonebridge.com/). Included in a single volume are:


* Living the Japanese Arts and Ways: 45 Paths to Meditation & Beauty

* Brush Meditation: A Japanese Way to Mind & Body Harmony

* The Japanese Way of the Flower: Ikebana as Moving Meditation


The three works anthologized here are essential to understanding the spiritual, meditative, and physical basis of all classical Japanese crafts, fine arts, and martial arts. Living the Japanese Arts & Ways covers key concepts—like wabi and “stillness in motion”—while the other two books show the reader how to use brush calligraphy (shodo) and flower arranging (ikebana) to achieve mind-body unification. Illustrated with diagrams, drawings, and photographs.