"Crazy for Kanji"

H. E. Davey Sensei's Japanese calligraphy will be featured in the upcoming Stone Bridge Press book Crazy for Kanji. A sample of his brush writing, which will appear in the new book, can been seen above. It shows the three different script styles commonly used in Japanese calligraphic art.

The kanji, or "Chinese character," depicted in all three illustrations is do (a.k.a. michi), which means "a road" in its more utilitarian usage and "the Way" in more spiritual terms. Many traditional Japanese arts that are practiced for spiritual realization end with the character for do. Examples are shodo ("the Way of brush calligraphy") and budo ("the martial Way," in other words, martial arts). In the illustration above, do is brushed using kaisho, gyosho, and sosho script styles. Moving from left to right, each script becomes more and more abbreviated and abstract.

You can learn more about how shodo functions as an ancient system of writing, moving meditation, and abstract art, by visiting our sister blog Art of Shodo at http://artofshodo.blogspot.com/.

Living the Japanese Arts & Ways, the book that this blog is devoted to, is now out of print. However, the entire book has been reprinted in The Japanese Way of the Artist. You can purchase Davey Sensei's latest book The Japanese Way of the Artist, which covers Japanese calligraphy in detail, through Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Way-Artist-Living-Meditation/dp/1933330074/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229545807&sr=8-1

Want to find out more about the Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts Integrated Shodo & Meditation program? Just drop by www.senninfoundation.com.

You can read more about The Japanese Way of the Artist and the upcoming Crazy for Kanji at www.stonebridge.com. Stone Bridge Press focuses on books about Japanese culture that will appeal to many readers of this blog.

ForeWord Magazine Review

Living the Japanese Arts & Ways: 45 Paths to Meditation & Beauty

by: H.E. Davey
Issue Month: November/December 2002

Category: Spirituality

Publisher: Stone Bridge Press

50 illustrations

244 pages

Softcover

$18.95

ISBN: 188065671X

A spiritual path can emerge from learning Japanese calligraphy, flower arranging, tea ceremony, or martial arts. While millions of people around the world begin these practices, few go deep enough to experience the spiritual dimensions that are possible. How-to guides rarely cover enlightenment. This one, however, brings forty-five concepts the underpinning of all traditional Japanese cultural practices into focus. Understanding these Ways, the essence of living, points readers toward asking profound questions, getting inspired to take up a practice, and awakening to ultimate reality.The author illustrates how Japanese arts, followed with the right attitudes, can turn ongoing practice into moving meditation: "The Ways involve activity, and so their underlying principles can be discovered only by doing." Continued practice eventually embodies these essential universal truths in the body and mind of the practitioner, to achieve harmonious and effective ways of being in the world. A lifetime of mindful practice creates a physical understanding of, for example, in-yo, the Japanese equivalent of yin-yang, "the basic, complementary, and inseparable dualism evidenced in the relative world." Davey explains such aesthetic and spiritual terms at length, including some that Westerners may think they know like ki (life energy) or Do (the Way).

Connecting with the deepest possibilities in Japanese arts is a tall order. Davey is one Westerner able to deliver. He learned Japanese martial arts from his father and has practiced since he was five. He is now the highest-ranking American in the Nihon Jujutsu and Kobudo divisions of the Kokusai Budoin. This federation, sponsored by the Japanese Imperial Family, has conferred on him the title of Kyoshi or "Master's Certificate," equivalent to a sixth- to eighth-degree black belt. He is currently President of the Sennin Foundation, sponsor of Michi ("The Way") Online, an Internet magazine. In addition, he practices and teaches Japanese calligraphy and brush painting as well as a Japanese form of yoga at the highest levels. He has written books on the particulars of these Ways.

Because this learning must be experiential, there's much that won't be mastered by reading alone. However, the book offers some exercises called "experiments" to physically learn about the human center of gravity (hara), calmness (ochitsuki), and ki. An appendix provides sources for finding a good sensei (teacher). This holistic perspective presents a practical base of philosophy-in-action for those who want to take their Japanese arts beyond surface understanding. (November)

Review by: Bobbye Middendorf

http://www.forewordmagazine.net

The Writings of H. E. Davey

Selected Publications

Listed below are some of H. E. Davey’s award-winning books

Unlocking the Secrets of Aiki-jujutsu (McGraw-Hill)

“H. E. Davey’s book provides a useful overview of this fascinating art and a sampling of techniques from Saigo-ryu aikijujutsu . . . I would recommend Davey’s book to readers who are unfamiliar with aikijujutsu and looking for a concise introduction to this somewhat esoteric martial art.”
Journal of Asian Martial Arts

The first book in English about the techniques, history, and philosophy of aiki-jujutsu, a Japanese martial art. Published in 1997, Unlocking the Secrets of Aiki-jujutsu features Introductions by Sato Shizuya (jujutsu 10th degree black belt), Kawabata Terutaka (kobudo 9th degree), and Walter Todd (judo 8th degree, aikido 6th degree), among the world’s highest ranking martial arts experts.

Brush Meditation: A Japanese Way to Mind & Body Harmony (Stone Bridge Press)

“H. E. Davey combines a remarkable technical facility in the Japanese art of the brush with a deep understanding of its spiritual profundities. His book offers a marvelous practical introduction to Japanese calligraphy as well as insights into the essence of the art.”
Dave Lowry, author of Sword and Brush and numerous works on Japanese culture

One of the top ten best selling Stone Bridge Press books of 1999, Brush Meditation details the time-honored art of Japanese calligraphy and how it functions as meditation in motion. Read more about the book at http://brushmeditation.blogspot.com/. Read an excerpt here: http://books.google.com/books?id=HccZLz4VFvoC.

The Japanese Way of the Flower: Ikebana as Moving Meditation (Stone Bridge Press)

“A very welcome addition to students of Japanese culture, interior decorators, florists, and the non-specialist general reader with an interest in floral arrangements, The Japanese Way of the Flower is an impressive, authoritative, and comprehensive introduction.”
Internet Book Watch

Ikebana is the art of Japanese flower arrangement, and The Japanese Way of the Flower shows how it can lead to a deeper connection with nature and life. Published in 2000, it received numerous positive reviews. Read more about the book at http://japanesewayoftheflower.blogspot.com/.

Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation (Stone Bridge Press)

“Will make many yogis feel right at home... Davey's readable, friendly guide is definitely worth a look.”
Yoga Journal

The first book in English on the Shin-shin-toitsu-do system of Japanese yoga and meditation. Published in 2001, it received top reviews around the globe, including favorable comments from Yoga Journal in the USA and Tempu magazine in Japan. Yoga Japonesa: O Caminho da Meditacao Dinamica, the Brazilian version of Japanese Yoga was published by Editora Cultrix in 2003. Read more about the book at http://japaneseyoga.blogspot.com/. Read an excerpt here:
http://books.google.com/books?id=285lqWlQpq4C.

Living the Japanese Arts & Ways: 45 Paths to Meditation & Beauty (Stone Bridge Press)

“Demonstrating the Japanese aesthetic of elegance (shibumi), Davey uses words with clarity and simplicity to describe the non-word realm of practicing these arts--calligraphy, martial arts, tea ceremonies, painting--and the spiritual meaning of such practice.”
Publishers Weekly

Published in 2002, Living the Japanese Arts & Ways covers many classical Japanese arts and crafts, showing that universal principles of mind-body harmony underlie disciplines as diverse as martial arts, calligraphy, tea ceremony, flower arrangement, and other art forms. In 2003, Spirituality & Health magazine presented H. E. Davey with its Book of the Year Award for Living the Japanese Arts & Ways. The same book was one of ForeWord magazine's top five books and a finalist for their Book of the Year Award. Read more about the book at http://japaneseartsandways.blogspot.com/. Read an excerpt here:
http://books.google.com/books?id=ywgRtQC-YdsC.

The Japanese Way of the Artist (Stone Bridge Press)

Published in 2007, this anthology features some of H. E. Davey’s most popular books: Brush Meditation, The Japanese Way of the Flower, and Living the Japanese Arts & Ways. Three complete works, with an all new and detailed Introduction by the author. Read more about the book at http://japanesewayoftheartist.blogspot.com/.

Selected Magazines and Newspapers

H. E. Davey’s articles and Japanese calligraphic art have been featured in magazines and newspapers throughout the United States and Japan. Some of these publications are listed below.

· Body Mind Spirit
· Excellence: A Magazine about Porsche Cars
· Furyu: Journal of Classical Japanese Martial Arts and Culture
· Gendo
· Hokubei Mainichi
· Journal of Asian Martial Arts
· Karate Kung-Fu Illustrated
· Miata Magazine
· Miracles Magazine
· Nichibei Times
· Porsche Panorama
· Seeds of Unfolding: Spiritual Ideas for Daily Living
· Shudokan Martial arts Association Journal
· Yoga Journal