Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body in Japanese Calligraphy

痛みは体から抜ける弱さ (itami wa karada kara nukeru yowasa)

痛みは体から抜ける弱さ (itami wa karada kara nukeru yowasa): pain is weakness leaving the body, the Marine Corps drill instructor's line, in Master Takase's Japanese. 痛み (itami) is pain and は makes it the subject; 弱さ (yowasa) is weakness; between them 体から抜ける (karada kara nukeru) is leaves from the body, and the is goes unsaid, which is how Japanese writes a motto on a wall. The verb carries the whole image: 抜ける is what goes out of something it was inside, the air from a tire, the tiredness from a body, so the Japanese says exactly what the English does and reads as Japanese rather than as a translation. The English was a favorite saying of drill instructors before the Corps made it a recruiting slogan, and every service has claimed it since; the meaning has never moved: the pain of training is the weakness going out of you, so welcome it.

Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body (痛みは体から抜ける弱さ) in Block style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase

Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body 痛みは体から抜ける弱さ itami wa karada kara nukeru yowasa Block Vertical VB4C

Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body 痛みは体から抜ける弱さ itami wa karada kara nukeru yowasa Block Vertical VB7C

Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body (痛みは体から抜ける弱さ) in Cursive style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase

Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body 痛みは体から抜ける弱さ itami wa karada kara nukeru yowasa Cursive Vertical VC4B

Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body 痛みは体から抜ける弱さ itami wa karada kara nukeru yowasa Cursive Vertical VC7B

Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body (痛みは体から抜ける弱さ) in Design style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase

Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body 痛みは体から抜ける弱さ itami wa karada kara nukeru yowasa Design Vertical VD4B

Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body 痛みは体から抜ける弱さ itami wa karada kara nukeru yowasa Design Vertical VD5B

Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body 痛みは体から抜ける弱さ itami wa karada kara nukeru yowasa Design Vertical VD7B

Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body (痛みは体から抜ける弱さ) in Semi-Cursive style Japanese calligraphy by Eri Takase

Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body 痛みは体から抜ける弱さ itami wa karada kara nukeru yowasa Semi-Cursive Vertical VS4C

Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body 痛みは体から抜ける弱さ itami wa karada kara nukeru yowasa Semi-Cursive Vertical VS4D

Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body 痛みは体から抜ける弱さ itami wa karada kara nukeru yowasa Semi-Cursive Vertical VS7C

Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body 痛みは体から抜ける弱さ itami wa karada kara nukeru yowasa Block Horizontal HB6A

Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body 痛みは体から抜ける弱さ itami wa karada kara nukeru yowasa Cursive Horizontal HC4A

Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body 痛みは体から抜ける弱さ itami wa karada kara nukeru yowasa Design Horizontal HD3A

Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body 痛みは体から抜ける弱さ itami wa karada kara nukeru yowasa Semi-Cursive Horizontal HS5A

About the Designs

Each design is Master Japanese Calligrapher Eri Takase's hand-brushed calligraphy of the word or phrase on this page, delivered as a PDF you can print. Every PDF includes the line art, so a tattoo artist or a craftsperson can work from the outline as well as the brushed image.

Delivery

Your PDF is available for download the moment your order completes, and a copy is attached to your emailed receipt.

Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body

痛みは体から抜ける弱さ (itami wa karada kara nukeru yowasa)

About the Designs

Delivery

Also available as a hand-brushed Japanese scroll