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2. Skill Acquired Through Hard Training
4. Discipline
練 is a Chinese, Japanese, and Korean word that is the simplest way to say practice, train, drill, exercise, or to describe the effort taken to perfect one's skill.
If training or drill is important to you (especially for military drill and training), 訓練 might be just the thing for a drill master to hang behind his/her desk.
This term is universal in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja. It can also mean practice or exercise, depending on context.
鍛練 is the Japanese Kanji and Korean Hanja word used for discipline.
This has a meaning like “forging or creating something from lots of training and practice.” My Japanese dictionary translates this as “tempering, forging, hardening, disciplining, training.”
This is for Japanese and Korean only. In Chinese, these characters might be translated as (physical) “exercise.”
The modern form of the second Japanese Kanji looks like the first image to the right. There’s also an alternate modern form after that, and finally, an alternate traditional form. Because calligraphy is an art, the calligrapher could choose any of these possible forms. Let us know if you have a preference.
磨鍊 is a form of discipline which suggests training of the mind and character, aimed at producing self-control, obedience, etc.
One of my Chinese-English dictionaries even translates this as “tempering oneself” or turning yourself into hardened steel.
In old Korean Hanja, they use these characters in reverse order but with the same meaning. If you want the Korean version, please click this link instead of the button above: Korean version.
Skills cannot be perfected without perseverance in practice
不怕练不成就怕心不恒 literally translates as: Do not worry about not being able to master [a skill]; What [one should] be concerned about is lack of perseverance.
Figuratively, this means: One's skills cannot be perfected without perseverance in practice.
For me, I've learned that you can only get so much from school or studying. You've really got to do “on-the-job training” to perfect your ability and skill.
For martial arts students: You can read about a kick in a book, or someone can tell you about a certain kick but until you practice the kick, there's no way you'll master it.
A customer asked me to split these Wing Chun maxims into two parts, so he could order a couplet.
It thought this was a good idea, so it's been added here.
Be sure to order both part 1 and part 2 together. They need to be a matched set. It will be incomplete as a single wall scroll. Also, each wall scroll is handmade, so if you order them separately, weeks or months apart, they will vary a little by length, shade of paper, etc.
Wing Chun Kuen Kuit
This text is the chant or poem of Wing Chun.
I call it a “chant” because it was meant to be a somewhat rhythmic poem to help practitioners memorize many aspects of Wing Chun.
You will see this referred to as “Wing Chun Kuem Kuit.” This Cantonese romanization is popular in the west (and there is no official way to romanize Cantonese, so many variations exist). In Mandarin, it would be, “Yong Chun Quan Jue.” The last character (kuit or kyut from Cantonese, jue or chüeh from Mandarin) kind of means “secrets of the art.” It's a short way to write 口訣, meaning “mnemonic chant” or “rhyme for remembering.”
In the west (especially in the military), we often use acronyms to remember things. There are no initials to make acronyms in Chinese, so in ancient times, chants like this are used to remember vast amounts of information.
I will presume you already know the meaning of the 10 maxims, so I will skip that to keep this calligraphy entry from getting too large.
Some think 练拳者必记 is the title but that just says, “(When) training (the) fist, people should remember:.” Therefore, I've not included that in the calligraphy. However, you can put a note in the special instructions if you want it added.
Note: On a traditional calligraphy wall scroll, the characters will be written in vertical columns, starting from the right, and proceeding left.
Note: This is an except and variation from a huge 口訣. These 10 maxims are used extensively in Wing Chun training, and you’ll find them all over the internet. Just know there is a much longer version out there, along with several variations and excepts like this one. If you know of, or want a different version, just contact me, and I will add it for you.
Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your 練 search...
Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese |
Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
練 练 see styles |
liàn lian4 lien ren れん |
More info & calligraphy: Practice / Train / Drill(surname) Ren To train, practise, drill, exercise. |
練功 练功 see styles |
liàn gōng lian4 gong1 lien kung renkou / renko れんこう |
More info & calligraphy: Skill Acquired Through Hard Training{MA} skills acquired through hard training; feats of practice |
訓練 训练 see styles |
xùn liàn xun4 lian4 hsün lien kunren くんれん |
More info & calligraphy: Training / Drill(noun, transitive verb) training; drill; practice; discipline |
亜練 see styles |
aren あれん |
(female given name) Aren |
佳練 see styles |
karen かれん |
(female given name) Karen |
修練 修练 see styles |
xiū liàn xiu1 lian4 hsiu lien shuuren / shuren しゅうれん |
to practice (an activity); to perform (noun/participle) training; drill; practice; practising; discipline |
共練 see styles |
kyouren / kyoren きょうれん |
(place-name) Kyōren |
冬練 see styles |
fuyuren ふゆれん |
winter training (esp. baseball) |
凝練 凝练 see styles |
níng liàn ning2 lian4 ning lien |
concise; compact; condensed |
創練 创练 see styles |
chuàng liàn chuang4 lian4 ch`uang lien chuang lien |
to form and train (a military unit); to create and practice (a martial art); to train oneself (by real-life experience) |
団練 see styles |
danren だんれん |
(hist) type of local militia in China most active during the Qing dynasty |
團練 团练 see styles |
tuán liàn tuan2 lian4 t`uan lien tuan lien |
local militia formed to suppress peasant rebellion (old) |
塩練 see styles |
shioneri しおねり |
(surname) Shioneri |
大練 see styles |
ooneri おおねり |
(place-name) Ooneri |
小練 see styles |
koneri こねり |
(surname) Koneri |
幹練 干练 see styles |
gàn liàn gan4 lian4 kan lien |
capable and experienced |
彩練 彩练 see styles |
cǎi liàn cai3 lian4 ts`ai lien tsai lien |
colored ribbon |
戸練 see styles |
toneri とねり |
(surname) Toneri |
手練 see styles |
teren てれん |
means of deceiving another |
拉練 拉练 see styles |
lā liàn la1 lian4 la lien |
(military) to undergo field training (camping, bivouacking, route marching, live fire practice etc); (sports) to get into peak condition by competing overseas |
排練 排练 see styles |
pái liàn pai2 lian4 p`ai lien pai lien |
to rehearse; rehearsal |
操練 操练 see styles |
cāo liàn cao1 lian4 ts`ao lien tsao lien souren / soren そうれん |
drill; practice (noun/participle) drill (esp. military); training |
教練 教练 see styles |
jiào liàn jiao4 lian4 chiao lien kyouren / kyoren きょうれん |
instructor; sports coach; trainer; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2] (noun/participle) {mil} drill |
晨練 晨练 see styles |
chén liàn chen2 lian4 ch`en lien chen lien |
morning exercise |
曉練 晓练 see styles |
xiǎo liàn xiao3 lian4 hsiao lien gyōren |
to fully understand |
朝練 see styles |
asaren あされん |
morning training (e.g. before school) |
木練 see styles |
kiren きれん |
(surname) Kiren |
未練 see styles |
miren みれん |
(noun or adjectival noun) lingering attachment; lingering affection; regret; reluctance; ruefulness |
板練 see styles |
itaneri いたねり |
(place-name) Itaneri |
歷練 历练 see styles |
lì liàn li4 lian4 li lien |
to learn through experience; experience; practiced; experienced |
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Practice Train Drill | 練 练 | ren | liàn / lian4 / lian | lien |
Skill Acquired Through Hard Training | 練功 练功 | renkou / renko | liàn gōng lian4 gong1 lian gong liangong | lien kung lienkung |
Training Drill | 訓練 训练 | kunren | xùn liàn / xun4 lian4 / xun lian / xunlian | hsün lien / hsünlien |
Discipline | 鍛練 / 鍛錬 锻练 | tan ren / tanren | duàn liàn duan4 lian4 duan lian duanlian | tuan lien tuanlien |
Discipline Training Tempering Character | 磨練 / 磨鍊 / 磨鍊 磨练 | mó liàn / mo2 lian4 / mo lian / molian | mo lien / molien | |
Perseverance is the Key | 不怕練不成就怕心不恆 不怕练不成就怕心不恒 | bú pà liàn bù chéng jiù pà xīn bù héng bu2 pa4 lian4 bu4 cheng2 jiu4 pa4 xin1 bu4 heng2 bu pa lian bu cheng jiu pa xin bu heng | pu p`a lien pu ch`eng chiu p`a hsin pu heng pu pa lien pu cheng chiu pa hsin pu heng |
|
Wing Chun Fist Maxims (Part 2) | 步步追形點點朝午以形補手敗形不敗馬腰馬一致心意合一拳由心發動法無形活人練活死功夫 步步追形点点朝午以形补手败形不败马腰马一致心意合一拳由心发动法无形活人练活死功夫 | |||
Wing Chun Fist Maxims | 有手黐手無手問手來留區送甩手直沖怕打終歸打貪打終被打粘連迫攻絕不放鬆來力瀉力借力出擊步步追形點點朝午以形補手敗形不敗馬腰馬一致心意合一拳由心發動法無形活人練活死功夫 有手黐手无手问手来留区送甩手直冲怕打终归打贪打终被打粘连迫攻绝不放松来力泻力借力出击步步追形点点朝午以形补手败形不败马腰马一致心意合一拳由心发动法无形活人练活死功夫 | |||
In some entries above you will see that characters have different versions above and below a line. In these cases, the characters above the line are Traditional Chinese, while the ones below are Simplified Chinese. |
Successful Chinese Character and Japanese Kanji calligraphy searches within the last few hours...
All of our calligraphy wall scrolls are handmade.
When the calligrapher finishes creating your artwork, it is taken to my art mounting workshop in Beijing where a wall scroll is made by hand from a combination of silk, rice paper, and wood.
After we create your wall scroll, it takes at least two weeks for air mail delivery from Beijing to you.
Allow a few weeks for delivery. Rush service speeds it up by a week or two for $10!
When you select your calligraphy, you'll be taken to another page where you can choose various custom options.
The wall scroll that Sandy is holding in this picture is a "large size"
single-character wall scroll.
We also offer custom wall scrolls in small, medium, and an even-larger jumbo size.
Professional calligraphers are getting to be hard to find these days.
Instead of drawing characters by hand, the new generation in China merely type roman letters into their computer keyboards and pick the character that they want from a list that pops up.
There is some fear that true Chinese calligraphy may become a lost art in the coming years. Many art institutes in China are now promoting calligraphy programs in hopes of keeping this unique form
of art alive.
Even with the teachings of a top-ranked calligrapher in China, my calligraphy will never be good enough to sell. I will leave that to the experts.
The same calligrapher who gave me those lessons also attracted a crowd of thousands and a TV crew as he created characters over 6-feet high. He happens to be ranked as one of the top 100 calligraphers in all of China. He is also one of very few that would actually attempt such a feat.
Check out my lists of Japanese Kanji Calligraphy Wall Scrolls and Old Korean Hanja Calligraphy Wall Scrolls.