Learning Calligraphy in Japan
Combining meditation and the spirit of a Sumo wrestler in every character.
Japanology class began later…the lesson was calligraphy – and it was taught by a married couple who had apparently been doing it for twenty-five years. You’d think calligraphy would be an interesting lesson, but not so much. In fact, it was outright boring until the husband did his demonstration. And let me tell you, it was intense.
He crouched on the ground over a giant sheet of paper, brush still dipped in the ink. He breathed deeply a few times as if in meditation, and then, all at once, he dragged the brush out, put it to paper, and began feverishly writing, ridiculously fast. He didn’t breathe either, only letting out grunts of breath after every character he wrote. As he leapt backwards to continue writing, he would inhale quickly, but he simply wouldn’t breathe otherwise. After about ninety seconds of this, he finished, kneeled back on his heels, and started panting for breath, motioning for his wife to take his example to the front so everyone could see the finished product.
I asked why he hadn’t breathed, and he explained. “It’s like sumo,” he said. “You release your spirit with your breath, and only when your attack is at its end. Each breath regains more spirit, and each time you exhale, it’s like the work has that much more value.”
Well, I wasn’t precisely convinced. But I wasn’t going to mess with this guy. Some of his brushes were the size of my arms.