Custom Karate Chinese & Japanese Calligraphy Wall Scroll

The short, and widely-used-in-English version of karate-do without the "do" or "dao" on the end.

Literal meaning: Empty Hand.

Credit is given that karate started in China, but migrated and became refined, and vastly popular in Japan. The literal meaning of these characters is "empty hand method". Karate is a martial art that uses no blades of weapons other than the "natural weapons" that God gave to humans (fists and feet). The last character somehow became optional, but the meaning of that character is "method" or "the way" as in Taoism / Daoism.

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This is the title of the Goju-Ryu Karate-Do school of martial arts.

This is the full title for Isshin-Ryu Karate-Do. The literal meaning is "one heart method empty hand way". There are also other ways you can translate this, but if you are looking for this title, you already know that.

This would make a great wall scroll for your dojo or private studio, if you study this form of Japanese (technically from Okinawa) Karate.

Because this is a specifically-Japanese title, we strongely recommend that you select our Japanese Master Calligrapher to create this artwork for you.

The first two characters mean "fist law" which is Romanized from Japanese as "Kenpo" or "Kempo".

The last two express "karate" - technically they express "empty hand". That "empty hand" translation can be understood better when you grasp the idea that karate is a martial art without weapons (other than the weapons organic to your body, such as your foot, hand, fist, etc). When you practice karate, you do so with empty hands (no weapons).

Note: There is also an antiquated way to write karate. It has the same pronunciation but a different first character which means "Tang" as in the Tang Dynasty. Some dojos use that form - let us know if you need that alternate form, and we'll add it for you.

The first two characters mean "fist law" which is Romanized from Japanese as "Kenpo" or "Kempo".

The last two are a secondary way to express "karate".

Notes:
The more common way to express "karate" is literally "empty hand" (meaning "without weapons in your hand"). This version would be translated literally as "Tang hand" (as in the Tang Dynasty) or "China hand" (sometimes "Tang" means "China" in Japanese). Even though the character for "Tang" is used instead of "empty", it's still pronounced "kara-te" in Japanese.

This is not commonly used in China - so please consider it to be a Japanese-only title.

Many Japanese people will say the last two Kanji are the old and antiquated way to say Karate. This fact does not stop this title from existing, as these four characters are often seen in Kenpo / Kempo Dojos around the western world.

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This is the title for Nippon Karate-Do Genbu-Kai.
A Japanese karate association of the Genbu school.

Note that while this title does make perfect sense in Chinese, it is really a Japanese title. In fact, the first word is "Japanese/Japan".

If you'd like your martial arts school, dojo or club added to our calligraphy database for easy ordering of a custom calligraphy wall scroll, just post your request on our Custom Asian Calligraphy Request Forum.

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This is the title for Shito-Ryu Ki-Me-Kan Karate-Do.
A school of Karate.

Note that while this title can be pronounced in Chinese, it only makes complete sense in Japanese.

These Kanji characters make up the title for Shotokan Karate.

This should be considered a Japanese-only title. It does make sense and is pronounceable in Chinese and Korean, but only as a title for a building (perhaps a martial arts hall) surrounded by pine trees - followed by the characters for "The empty hand method" (kong shou dao / Karate-do). Also, the first two characters were simplified in both Japanese and Chinese. The third character was simplified in Chinese, but not Japanese.

Upon request, we can offer the fully traditional Chinese version, but be sure you know what you are asking for.

Note: This would be understood in Chinese and Korean Hanja by a person from those cultures who is familiar with martial arts and various schools of karate.

Wado-Ryu is a style of Karate or Jujutsu (Jujitsu).
Note: Many will argue as to whether this is a style of Karate or Jujutsu.

While some find Wado-Ryu similar to Shotokan Karate, enough differences exist in perspective and technique that it stands by itself.

Breaking down the characters into the proper Japanese Romaji, you have "wa dou ryuu" or "wa dō ryū". The meaning is roughly-translated as "Harmony Way Style" or "Peace Method Style". The first Kanji should probably be read as harmony, rather than peace in this case.

This is a very seldom-used title for Karate. This title uses a character which represents the Tang Dynasty of China. Thus, this is often translated as the "Tang Hand" or incorrectly, "Tang Fist". I have also seen some call it "China Hand".

There is not a lot of information on this title, but some believe that a simplified form of Kung Fu that started in China, and ended up very popular in Japan used this title initially. It was later changed in Japan to a different Karate title which means "Empty Hand" (as in, without weapons).

I am sure that some will suggest a different history or argue a different origin. I think that nobody can be sure.

Note: Just like the more conventional Karate title, this one can have the "way" or "method" character added to the end, as in Karate-Do.

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This is the title of the Uechi-Ryu Karate-Do school of Okinawan martial arts. Uechi actually means "higher stages of practice" in a Buddhist context.

This is a specific type of martial arts in Japan that claims origins in the Kung Fu practiced in the original Shaolin Monastery of China.

The first three characters mean "Shaolin Monastery" and you might notice the Japanese is pronounced in a very similar way. This is because many words were "borrowed" from the original Chinese when Japan did not have a written language and simply absorbed Chinese characters into their language around the 5th century. When a Japanese word did not exist, the Chinese pronunciation was often absorbed as well as the written form.

The last two characters mean "fist law" or "method of the fist". It has long been argued as to whether the Japanese for these characters should be Romanized as "kempo" or "kenpo". The official method should be "kenpou" but it's common to drop the "u" that comes after the "o".

I imagine if you are looking for this title, you already know what it means, so the above is simply extra information that a student of Shorinji Kempo might want to know.