Block · kaisho 楷書 · VB4C
Block or kaisho (楷書) styles are the most common and recognizable styles. Block styles are easily read and are noted for their angular form and their vertical and horizontal lines.
居合道
iaidō
Iaido
The way of drawing the sword: an art of meeting an attack from rest, in the moment of the draw.
by Master Eri Takase
Born and raised in Osaka, Japan, Eri Takase received the rank of Shihan, master, from two calligraphy societies, the Bokuteki-kai and Bunka-shodō, and won best-of-category awards in all-Japan national competitions. She has created calligraphy for people around the world for more than thirty years, and with your order she will be creating calligraphy for you.
In a ritual as old as calligraphy itself, Master Takase prepares the ink, meditatively rubbing the ink stick against the stone until it reaches the perfect consistency for the paper. Then, properly loading the brush with ink, she brushes your scroll. And only when the scroll is just right and meets her approval, she signs it and affixes her seal, completing your original scroll.
12 1/4" × 43" (31 × 109 cm) Japanese Scrolls
The scrolls have woven damask borders and special layered Japanese paper (washi), designed to last generations by a scroll maker in Gifu, Japan, with whom we have worked for over two decades.
Gift-Ready
Your scroll arrives boxed, with a printed insert describing the words in detail.
Sending it as a gift? Add your message at checkout and we will include it with the insert.
Ships in 1-3 days from Washington State
Your scroll is brushed when you order it and completed within 1 to 3 business days.
Your scroll ships from Master Takase's studio in Washington State. Shipping is calculated at checkout. We ship worldwide.
30-day money-back guarantee
Every order is covered by our 30-day money-back guarantee. If your scroll arrives damaged, or we made an error, we replace it or refund you in full, including shipping.
Explanation
居合道 is the sword art in which the cut comes in the same act as the draw. Its principle, in the words of a Japanese encyclopedia, is that victory is decided at the moment the point leaves the scabbard. As practiced now, it is forms performed against an imagined opponent, within a time limit, judged by referees. The dictionaries read the first character two ways, as sitting or as being there when the enemy is. A manual of 1938 chose 居合道 over 居合術, seeing 道 as the realm where body and mind are one.
居合道 is composed of the kanji 居 (read i) meaning "exist, be present", 合 (read ai) meaning "fit; join; suit; meet" and 道 (read dō) meaning "teachings, the way".
The art of drawing the sword, 居合, is said to go back to Hayashizaki Jinsuke Shigenobu in the late sixteenth century, and is first seen, in the sources read, as 居相 in a sword master's license of 1579, which a modern scholar reads as a technique corresponding to it; the word 居合道 is in print by 1933, was argued for in a manual of 1938, is in the Butokukai's titles by 1943, and settled as the art's general name from about the years of the national federation founded in 1954.
Learn More About These Words
We want you to be as happy with the meaning as you are with Master Takase's art. To learn more, visit Philology of 居合道.
