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Courageous Energy
勇氣 is one of several ways to express bravery and courage in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
This version is the most spiritual. This is the essence of bravery from deep within your being. This is the mental state of being brave versus actual brave behavior. You'd more likely use this to say, “He is very courageous,” rather than “He fought courageously in the battle.”
The first character also means bravery or courage when it's seen alone. With the second character added, an element of energy or spirit is added. The second character is the same “chi” or “qi” energy that Kung Fu masters focus on when they strike. For this reason, you could say this means “spirit of courage” or “brave spirit.”
This is certainly a stronger word than just the first character alone.
Beyond bravery or courage, dictionaries also translate this word as valor/valour, nerve, audacity, daring, pluck, plucky, gallantry, guts, gutsy, and boldness.
This is also one of the 8 key concepts of tang soo do.
While the version shown to the left is commonly used in Chinese and Korean Hanja (and ancient Japanese Kanji), please note that the second character is written with slightly fewer strokes in modern Japanese. If you want the modern Japanese version, please click on the character to the right. Both styles would be understood by native Chinese, Japanese, and many (but not all) Korean people. You should make your selection based on the intended audience for your calligraphy artwork. Or pick the single-character form of bravery/courage which is universal.
內力 is the shorter version of inner strength (can also be translated as “internal force”). The first character holds the meaning of “inner” or “internal.” The second character means “power,” “force,” or “strength.”
內力 is a Kung Fu way of talking about an inner power or strength from within. This is a way to express “inner chi.” This is something that you might hear in a real Chinese Kung Fu movie.
While understood in Chinese and Japanese, this can have a secondary meaning of “inner stress” in Japanese.
Chi Energy: Essence of Life / Energy Flow
This 氣 energy flow is a fundamental concept of traditional Asian culture.
氣 is romanized as “Qi” or “Chi” in Chinese, “Gi” in Korean, and “Ki” in Japanese.
Chi is believed to be part of everything that exists, as in “life force” or “spiritual energy.” It is most often translated as “energy flow” or literally as “air” or “breath.” Some people will simply translate this as “spirit,” but you must consider the kind of spirit we're talking about. I think this is weighted more toward energy than spirit.
The character itself is a representation of steam (or breath) rising from rice. To clarify, the character for rice looks like this:
Steam was apparently seen as visual evidence of the release of “life energy” when this concept was first developed. The Qi / Chi / Ki character is still used in compound words to mean steam or vapor.
The etymology of this character is a bit complicated. It's suggested that the first form of this character from bronze script (about 2500 years ago) looked like these samples:
However, it was easy to confuse this with the character for the number three. So the rice radical was added by 221 B.C. (the exact time of this change is debated). This first version with the rice radical looks like this:
The idea of Qi / Chi / Ki is really a philosophical concept. It's often used to refer to the “flow” of metaphysical energy that sustains living beings. Yet there is much debate that has continued for thousands of years as to whether Qi / Chi / Ki is pure energy or consists partially or fully of matter.
You can also see the character for Qi / Chi / Ki in common compound words such as Tai Chi / Tai Qi, Aikido, Reiki, and Qi Gong / Chi Kung.
In the modern Japanese Kanji, the rice radical has been changed into two strokes that form an X.
The original and traditional Chinese form is still understood in Japanese, but we can also offer that modern Kanji form in our custom calligraphy. If you want this Japanese Kanji, please click on the character to the right instead of the “Select and Customize” button above.
More language notes: This is pronounced like “chee” in Mandarin Chinese, and like “key” in Japanese.
This is also the same way to write this in Korean Hanja where it is Romanized as “gi” and pronounced like “gee” but with a real G-sound, not a J-sound.
Though Vietnamese no longer use Chinese characters in their daily language, this character is still widely known in Vietnam.
See Also: Energy | Life Force | Vitality | Life | Birth | Soul
氣功 or Qigong is the title of a technique that is somewhere between medical practice, meditation, and in some cases, religion.
The definition is blurred depending on which school of Qigong you are following. In some cases, it is even incorporated with martial arts.
Some people (even Chinese people) mix this title with Tai Chi (Tai Qi) exercises.
Lately, in China, people will claim to practice Tai Chi rather than Qigong because the Qigong title was recently used as a cover for an illegal pseudo-religious movement in China with the initials F.G. or F.D. (I can not write those names here for fear of our website being banned in China).
You can learn those names and more here: Further info about Qigong
If you are wondering why I wrote “Qi Gong” and “Chi Kung” as the title of this calligraphy entry, I should teach you a little about the various ways in which Chinese can be Romanized. One form writes this as “Chi Kung” or “Chikung” (Taiwan). In the mainland and elsewhere, it is Romanized as “Qi Gong” or “Qigong.” The pronunciation is the same in Taiwan, mainland, and Singapore Mandarin. Neither Romanization is exactly like English. If you want to know how to say this with English rules, it would be something like “Chee Gong” (but the “gong” has a vowel sound like the “O” in “go”).
Romanization is a really confusing topic and has caused many Chinese words to be mispronounced in the west. One example is “Kung Pao Chicken,” which should actually be more like “Gong Bao” with the “O” sounding like “oh” for both characters. Neither the Romanization system in Taiwan nor the Mainland is perfect, in my opinion, and leads to many misunderstandings.
In modern Japan, you may see this written as 気功, but the original 氣功 is still recognized. If you need the Japanese version, please contact me.
劍 is pronounced “jian” in Chinese. When you say it, imagine that you are making the sound of a sword as it clashes with a metal shield. This might get you closer to the correct pronunciation in Chinese.
I actually wonder if this word came from the metallic ringing sounds of a sword in battle - but such knowledge is lost in history.
The sword is a symbol of a warrior. The one thing that a soldier in ancient China lived and died by. A warrior with his skills and sword proves himself of great value. A warrior who losses his sword instantly becomes worthless.
劍 is an excellent scroll for someone in the military (especially officers of all services - as well as enlisted NCO Marines since they still carry swords even if mainly for ceremonial purposes). Or perhaps someone who practices variations of kung fu or tai chi that involve weapons.
Please note that while this character is understood with the sword meaning in Japanese, you might be looking for the word “katana” which also means sword in Japanese but means “knife” in Chinese.
There are other ways to write sword, and here are a few...
If you are particular about the version you receive, please let me know when you place your order (Note: Special styles are only available from one of our master calligraphers).
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Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your chi kung search...
Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese |
Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
功夫 see styles |
gōng fu gong1 fu5 kung fu kanfuu; kunfuu / kanfu; kunfu カンフー; クンフー |
More info & calligraphy: Kung Fu / Gong Fu(kana only) {MA} kung fu (chi: gōngfu); (male given name) Norio work |
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 |
気功 see styles |
kikou / kiko きこう |
breathing exercise; breath control; spirit cultivation; chi kung; qigong |
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Bravery Courage | 勇氣 勇气 / 勇気 | yuuki / yuki | yǒng qì / yong3 qi4 / yong qi / yongqi | yung ch`i / yungchi / yung chi |
Inner Strength | 內力 内力 | nai ryoku / nairyoku | nèi lì / nei4 li4 / nei li / neili | |
Life Energy Spiritual Energy | 氣 气 / 気 | ki | qì / qi4 / qi | ch`i / chi |
Qi Gong Chi Kung | 氣功 气功 | ki kou / kikou / ki ko | qì gōng / qi4 gong1 / qi gong / qigong | ch`i kung / chikung / chi kung |
Sword | 劍 剑 | ken / tsurugi | jiàn / jian4 / jian | chien |
Tai Chi Wing Chun Kung Fu | 太極詠春功夫 太极咏春功夫 | tài jí yǒng chūn gōng fu tai4 ji2 yong3 chun1 gong1 fu tai ji yong chun gong fu taijiyongchungongfu | t`ai chi yung ch`un kung fu taichiyungchunkungfu tai chi yung chun kung fu |
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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. |
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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.
Some people may refer to this entry as Chi Kung Kanji, Chi Kung Characters, Chi Kung in Mandarin Chinese, Chi Kung Characters, Chi Kung in Chinese Writing, Chi Kung in Japanese Writing, Chi Kung in Asian Writing, Chi Kung Ideograms, Chinese Chi Kung symbols, Chi Kung Hieroglyphics, Chi Kung Glyphs, Chi Kung in Chinese Letters, Chi Kung Hanzi, Chi Kung in Japanese Kanji, Chi Kung Pictograms, Chi Kung in the Chinese Written-Language, or Chi Kung in the Japanese Written-Language.
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