This is how to write "kill" or "massacre".

This is an absolutely shocking word to have on a wall scroll. It will bewilder, scare, and perhaps offend any Chinese, Korean or Japanese person who sees it. I do not in any way recommend this for a piece of calligraphy artwork. This entry is only here because our calligraphy search engine received so many requests for "kill" and "massacre".

You are all a bunch of sick puppies!

This is how to write "to kill" or "killing".

This is an absolutely shocking word to have on a wall scroll. It will bewilder, scare, and perhaps offend any Chinese, Korean, or Japanese person who sees it. I do not in any way recommend this for a piece of calligraphy artwork. This entry is only here because our calligraphy search engine received so many requests for "kill".

Note: In Korean Hanja, this character is not often used alone - see the other two-character entry for "kill".

This can be translated as "martial arts skills", "warrior skills", or "military skills" depending on usage. In both Japanese and Chinese, rather than meaning martial arts, this speaks more to the skills that you posses in regards to martial arts. This phrase also has a light suggestion of "having an itch to show off these skills".

This is the transliteration to Mandarin Chinese for the name Killien

This literally translates as: Only after much tempering is steel produced.

Figuratively, this means: True character must be tested in hardship.

This is a mild form of saying, "Whatever doesn't kill me, makes me stronger".

One of the most famous types of martial arts in the world - and not just because of Bruce Lee.

Some translate the meaning as "Accomplishment by Great Effort". I think this is partially true, but directly translated it literally means "Merit/Achievement/Accomplishment Man". The word "fu" can sometimes mean "husband" or "porter", but in this case, it can only mean "man". However, few in China will think "man" when they hear the word "Gong Fu" spoken.

This term is also used for things other than martial arts. In fact, it's used to refer to a person with excellent skills in crafts that require a great deal of effort such as cooking, tea ceremonies, and calligraphy.

What a lot of people don't know is that the spelling of "Kung Fu" was actually taken from the old Wade Giles form of Romanization. Using this method, the sounds of the English "G" and "K" were both written as "K" and an apostrophe after the "K" told you whether it was supposed to sound like a "G" or not. Nobody in the west knew this rule, so most people pronounce it with a "K-sound". And so Gong Fu will always be Kung Fu for most westerners.

Also, just to educate you a little more, the "O" in "Gong" has a sound like the English word "oh".

The popular Chinese dish "Kung Pao Chicken" suffers from the same problem. It should actually be "Gong Bao Chicken".

Historical note: Many will claim that Kung Fu was invented by the monks of the Shaolin monastery. This fact is argued in both directions by scholars of Chinese history. Perhaps it is more accurate to say that the Shaolin Monks brought the original fame to Kung Fu many generations ago.

Japanese note: While this does mean Jung Fu in Japanese, in most cases, Japanese will use Katakana to approximate the pronunciation of "Kung Fu". However, virtually any Japanese person who is into martial arts will recognize and understand these characters.

This is the most sophisticated way to write "assassin" in Chinese, Korean and Japanese. The unsophisticated way just means murderer.