Block · kaisho 楷書 · VB5C
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.
精力善用
seiryoku zen'yō
Maximum Efficiency Minimum Effort
The best use of energy.
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
精力善用 is a rule for how you spend yourself, on the mat and off it. The rule is about energy, not effort: whatever you do, use your energy in the best way. Kanō's own essay of 1925 says that judo's principle, applied to the body, makes the strongest body; to the mind, the best person; to business, its results. In that essay the best use of energy is the rule, and 自他共栄, prospering together, is what follows from keeping it.
精力善用 is composed of the words 精力 (read seiryoku) meaning "energy" and 善用 (read zen'yō) meaning "good use".
Kanō Jigorō made the best use of energy, 精力の最善活用, the first principle of judo in 1922, when he founded the Kodokan Cultural Society, whose creed leads from it to the common prosperity of mankind; the four-character 精力善用 is in the society's magazine by that November, and in a lecture whose shorthand record is dated 1925 Kanō says his principles can be summed up in the eight characters 精力善用自他共栄; the four characters had been ordinary Japanese since at least 1904.
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 精力善用.
