Click the "Customize" button next to your name below to start your personalized Bushidokan Dojo calligraphy artwork...
These two characters mean compassion and sympathy in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, which makes this word universal.
Compassion is caring and understanding someone is hurt or troubled (even if you don't know them). It is wanting to help, even if all you can do is listen and say kind words. You forgive mistakes. You are a friend when someone needs a friend.
道場で泣き戦場で笑う is a Japanese phrase that means “Cry in the dojo, laugh on the battlefield.”
You'll see this phrase in a lot of dojos as a kind of philosophical joke.
Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Hiragana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.
See Also: The More We Sweat in Training the Less We Bleed in Battle
道場 is the Japanese term for a room or hall in which martial arts are taught.
道場 is often spelled “dojo” which has become a word in the English lexicon. However, the true Romaji is doujou or dōjō.
Please note: The Chinese definition of these characters is quite different. In Chinese, this is a place where Buddhist or Taoist mass is held. It could also be a place where spiritual or psychic events are performed.
Death Match
In modern Japanese, 真剣勝負 means to take something very seriously.
The literal and historical meaning is “real sword battle.” In old times, a Samurai apprentice would practice with a wooden practice sword. Once trained and qualified, they would wield a real steel sword made for battle and killing. They were ready for a “death match” or Shinken Shobu.
真剣 is an adjective that has come to mean serious/earnest. The literal translation is “real sword.”
勝負 in the simplest terms, means match, contest, game, or bout. Depending on the context, it could also mean victory or defeat, winning and losing, or the outcome of a battle.
There is a suggestion in Shinken Shobu that you train with serious and real intent, as we should train with the same fervor and dedication as if the battle was real. “Train as we fight.”
See Also: The More We Sweat in Training the Less We Bleed in Battle | Cry in the Dojo - Laugh on the Battlefield
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Bushidokan Dojo | 武士道館道場 武士道馆道场 | bu shi dou kan dou jou bushidoukandoujou bu shi do kan do jo | wǔ shì dào guǎn dào chǎng wu3 shi4 dao4 guan3 dao4 chang3 wu shi dao guan dao chang wushidaoguandaochang | wu shih tao kuan tao ch`ang wushihtaokuantaochang wu shih tao kuan tao chang |
Welcome to the Dojo | 道場へようこそ | dou jou e youkoso doujoueyoukoso do jo e yokoso | ||
Compassion | 同情 | dou jou / doujou / do jo | tóng qíng tong2 qing2 tong qing tongqing | t`ung ch`ing tungching tung ching |
Cry in the Dojo - Laugh on the Battlefield | 道場で泣き戦場で笑う | doujou de naki senjou de warau dojo de naki senjo de warau | ||
Dojo Martial Arts Studio | 道場 道场 | dou jou / doujou / do jo | dào cháng dao4 chang2 dao chang daochang | tao ch`ang taochang tao chang |
Dojo Kun | 道場訓 道場训 | dou jou kun doujoukun do jo kun | ||
Shinken Shobu | 真剣勝負 | shinken shoubu shinkenshoubu shinken shobu | ||
Bushidokan | 武士道館 武士道馆 | bu shi dou kan bushidoukan bu shi do kan | wǔ shì dào guǎn wu3 shi4 dao4 guan3 wu shi dao guan wushidaoguan | wu shih tao kuan wushihtaokuan |
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. |
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.
Some people may refer to this entry as Bushidokan Dojo Kanji, Bushidokan Dojo Characters, Bushidokan Dojo in Mandarin Chinese, Bushidokan Dojo Characters, Bushidokan Dojo in Chinese Writing, Bushidokan Dojo in Japanese Writing, Bushidokan Dojo in Asian Writing, Bushidokan Dojo Ideograms, Chinese Bushidokan Dojo symbols, Bushidokan Dojo Hieroglyphics, Bushidokan Dojo Glyphs, Bushidokan Dojo in Chinese Letters, Bushidokan Dojo Hanzi, Bushidokan Dojo in Japanese Kanji, Bushidokan Dojo Pictograms, Bushidokan Dojo in the Chinese Written-Language, or Bushidokan Dojo in the Japanese Written-Language.