Matching Pair of Martial Arts Scrolls

This was a commission for a personal dojo. These Karateka study Shito-ryu style of Karate. The kakejiku or wallscrolls have a very simple style.

One scroll reads First Purify Your Mind. The Second reads One Punch, One Mind (Ikken Isshin 一拳一心）. I used a lighter rosewood Jikusaki to contrast with the black cloth, but used the dark navy (Kon) hanging string to blend in with the black cloth. Customer requested a red ichimonji, which I think worked out very elegantly for this scroll.

If you would like a custom scroll made contact to sales@customjapanesecalligraphy.com





Scroll dimensions as follows:

Name in Kanji	Name in English	Size in Bun	Size in Inches
天	Ten	92	10.97
上一文字	Ue Ichimonji	14	1.67
紙本の幅さ	Artwork Width	55	6.56
紙本の長さ	Artwork Length	220	26.24
柱	Pillars	20	2.39
下一文字	Shita Ichimonji	8	0.95
地	Chi	60	7.16
掛け軸の幅さ	Scroll Width	95	11.33
掛け軸の長さ	Scroll Length	394	47.00

Dojo Scroll...

Does the scroll in the background look familiar? It does to me. You have to go way back, 3 years, but here it is at http://quansbushido-kai.com/

Jiko Ryu Karate Wallscroll

This custom scroll will be going to the United Kingdom. It turned out very nicely. I especially love the deep gold on gold Ichimonji of this scroll. It provides a mellow, yet distinct and royal contrast. It has a beautiful and simple navy silk cloth with plastic ivory jikusaki and a Gold Brown Hanging String.  The writing is in a Kaisho style written by Yoshimi Maples. (Ryugyoku) If you are interested in having a custom scroll designed and made for you please contact to sales@customjapanesecalligraphy.com Dimensions of the scroll below.          Name in Kanji Name in English Size in Bun (Inches)

天 Ten 86 (10.26)

上一文字 Ue Ichimonji 8 (0.95)

紙本の幅さ Artwork Width 54 (6.44)

紙本の長さ Artwork Length 218 (26.01)

柱 Pillars 18 (2.15)

下一文字 Shita Ichimonji 5 (0.60)

地 Chi 58 (6.92)

掛け軸の幅さ Scroll Width 90 (10.74)

掛け軸の長さ Scroll Length 375 (44.73)

菊松道場 Kiku Matsu Dojo Hanging Wall Scroll

This customer ordered with a tight deadline and I was really worried whether it would be ready or not...but the scroll was just shipped this afternoon. This is a long thin scroll, with the Name of the Dojo in Gyousho or Semi-cursive style Japanese Calligraphy. I think the cloth is beautiful, and that is why I took a closeup of the cloth. It is styled with a deep gold on gold karakusa Ichimonji that transitions well into the green kireji. It is completed with a black lacquer wood jikusaki and a Takuboku design kake/makihimo.

Dimensions as follows:
Name in Kanji Name in English Size in Bun Size in Inches


天 Ten 115 13.72

上一文字 Ue Ichimonji 11 1.31

紙本の幅さ Artwork Width 54 6.44

紙本の長さ Artwork Length 218 26.01

柱 Pillars 16.5 1.97

下一文字 Shita Ichimonji 7 0.84

地 Chi 75 8.95

掛け軸の幅さ Scroll Width 87 10.38

掛け軸の長さ Scroll Length 426 50.82

 

2 Dojo Scrolls with Dragon Cloths

The following scrolls were made for a Dojo just south of where I went to Graduate School (University of Memphis).

If you would like to order a custom scroll there are three ways to get started: 1. Go to my shopping site at www.shop.customjapanesecalligraphy.com 2. Download my scroll design workbook from my website at www.customjapanesecalligraphy.com to read about the concepts behind kakejiku or wallscroll design. 3. E-mail to me directly at sales@customjapanesecalligraphy.com 

This pair of scrolls is beautifully written in a Gyoushou style. Both scrolls say 雷電 道場 Raiden Dojo, or Thunder & Lightning Dojo. It is very appropriate considering the last name of the Sensei which I will not reveal. One is a Joufuku size scroll and the other is a Yatsugiri size scroll.

The cloths were chosen to blend with the colors of the dojo, which are black, gray and red. The Red Ichimonji particularly stands out and I think provides power to the effect of the scroll.

Two other things you will notice is that the Ten on the Joufuku scroll is particularly long. I did that on purpose so that a full dragon could be on that portion of the scroll. The second relates to the writing. Both Rai and Den have the identical radical. However, Yoshimi chose to write them differently. I asked her why and she said it would be boring to have both in the same gyousho style. There are variations within the Gyousho style, but that is a separate topic.

Dimensions of the scrolls as follows:

Joufuku

Name in Kanji Name in English Size in Bun Size in Centimeters Size in Inches


天 Ten 195 590.85 23.26

上一文字 Ue Ichimonji 11 33.33 1.31

紙本の幅さ Artwork Width 115 348.45 13.72

紙本の長さ Artwork Length 435 1318.05 51.89

柱 Pillars 18 54.54 2.15

下一文字 Shita Ichimonji 7 21.21 0.84

地 Chi 85 257.55 10.14

掛け軸の幅さ Scroll Width 151 457.53 18.01

掛け軸の長さ Scroll Length 733 2220.99 87.44



Yatsugiri Size Scroll
Name in Kanji Name in English Size in Bun Size in Centimeters Size in Inches


天 Ten 134 406.02 15.99

上一文字 Ue Ichimonji 8 24.24 0.95

紙本の幅さ Artwork Width 55 166.65 6.56

紙本の長さ Artwork Length 175 530.25 20.88

柱 Pillars 13 39.39 1.55

下一文字 Shita Ichimonji 5 15.15 0.60

地 Chi 80 242.4 9.54

掛け軸の幅さ Scroll Width 81 245.43 9.66

掛け軸の長さ Scroll Length 402 1218.06 47.96

Scroll or Kakejiku with Enso Circle & Taoist Phrase

If you would like to order a custom scroll there are three ways to get started: 1. Go to my shopping site at www.shop.customjapanesecalligraphy.com 2. Download my scroll design workbook from my website at www.customjapanesecalligraphy.com to read about the concepts behind kakejiku or wallscroll design. 3. E-mail to me directly at sales@customjapanesecalligraphy.com 

贈呈は初まりと終わり。


人格の道。

五息により幕を除去し、光空の門に導かれる。

Reading in Romanized Japanese:

Zoutei wa Hajimari to Owari.

Jinkaku no Michi.

Goiki ni Yori Maku wo Jokyo shi,

Hikari Sora no Mon ni

Michibikareru.

According to the customer, this is a Taoist phrase used in their karate dojo training. Thankfully the customer guided me to some correct words. The translation took much guidance from the customer because I was using particles that were not necessary at times and I used the word Present as in tense or now, but the word was actually to mean gift or a thing presented to someone else.

What I liked about this scroll  or Kakejiku is Yoshimi’s ability to balance everything in the writing, which included the writing of Enso in the top left corner (facing away from the scroll), the Large Enso Circle, with the signature to the right and then the writing in a Gyousho, semi-cursive style. This was more writing than we have usually put on a scroll, and the phrase underneath was written with a Hosofude, or thin brush. It is our ideal to provide what the customer wants within reason.

The Katana and Wakizashi are more appropriate for this display as the Dojo from the Great Lakes Region of the US, trains in the sword arts. He gave me a beautiful essay and write up on some of the philosophies they used, but being a laic in regards to martial arts, I honestly only understood about 65% of the essay. But what new things I did learn were very enlightening, particularly the new sword vocabulary in Japanese.
The customer chose a wine color cloth, and it is complemented the Enso circle along with a beautiful high gloss black lacquer wood jikusaki that has a gold band around the outer edge. The scroll includes a Gold Kakehimo with a white arrow pattern in it giving it a distinct look. The deep gold Ichimonji seems to help provide a good contrast between the work and the Kireji. The scroll is in the Maru Hyougu style with the following Dimensions in the traditional Japanese measurement of 分 Bun.
天  Ten                                   111
上一文字 Ue Ichimonji           12.5
紙本幅 Shihon Habasa          109
紙本長 Shihon Nagasa          210
柱 Hashira                               17
下一文字 Shita Ichimonji          9
地 Chi                                     70
掛け軸幅さ Scroll Width       143
掛け軸長さ Scroll Length      417.5
If you have interest in designing a scroll, order online at http://www.shop.customjapanesecalligraphy.com/ or e-mail me and ask me for a free scroll design workbook at sales@customjapanesecalligraphy.com