Jigoro Kano and themes of his calligraphy

Jigoro Kano Memorial International Sport Institute wrote:
“順道制勝 (Jyundô-Seïsyô).”
This phrase highlights Kano’s belief that: “regardless of winning or losing, you need to follow the right path and, even if you lose by following this right path, it is more valuable than winning being against the path." (Jigoro Kano, “In the spirit of cultural philosophy of Kodokan Judo”, in Yuko-no Katsudou, Vol.8, No.2, 1922).

常択最善志堅行力 (Kônan/甲南) (collection of Hyogo University of Teacher Education)
Lectura: Tsune ni Saizen wo Erabi Kokorozashi Kataku Tsutomete Okonaü
Significado: Siempre elige el mejor camino y haz un esfuerzo firme y determinante.

成己益世 (Shinkosaï/進乎斎)　(owned by Ms Asako Yokoyama)
Reading: Onore wo Nashite Yo wo Ekisu
Meaning: Putting the utmost effort to grow up to be a great person should come first and then contribute to the society

修己治人 (Shinkosaï/進乎斎) (owned by Ms Asako Yokoyama)
Reading: Onore wo Osame te Hito wo Osamu
Meaning: Discipline oneself and govern others

力必達 (Shinkosaï/進乎斎) (owned by Ms Setsuko Otaki)
Reading: Tsutomu-reba Kanarazu Tassu
Meaning: All effort shall pay off to achieve a goal

擇道竭力 (Ki-Issaï/帰一斎) (owned by Mr Michio Tanimoto)
Reading: Michi wo Erabi-te Chikara wo Tsukusu
Meaning: One shall choose his way and do it to the best of his ability

盡己竢成 ” (Ki-Issaï/帰一斎) (owned by Mr Michio Tanimoto)
Reading: Onore wo Tsukushite Naru-wo Matsu
Meaning: Do your best and await success

教育之事天下莫偉焉 一人徳教広加万人 一世化育遠及百世 (Shinkosaï/進乎斎) (owned by Ms Asako Yokoyama)
Reading: Kyoiku no Koto, Tenka Koreyori I-naru wa nashi
Hitori no Tokkyo, Hiroku Ban-nin ni Kuwawari
Isseï no Kaïku Tôku Hyakuseï ni Oyobu
Meaning: Nothing under the sun is greater than education. By educating one person with virtue and sending him/her into the society of his/her generation, we make a contribution by extending a hundred generations to come.

自他共栄　(Shinkosaï/進乎斎)　(collection of University of Tsukuba)
Reading: Jita-Kyoei
Meaning: an attention to the mutual prosperity for oneself and others

NBK wrote:Kano shihan's scrolls have been cataloged pretty well; this is a partial list.  

In the old forum there was a long, interesting (at least to me... ) thread about the origins of those sayings.  There was a Chinese gent in Switzerland that contributed quite a bit; unfortunately that was all lost.  

The discussion attempted to differentiate and identify the elements, phrases, and thoughts from  Confucian, Taoist and Buddhist philosophies.  

NOTE: the terms
(Kônan/甲南)
(Shinkosaï/進乎斎)
refer to different pen names Kano shihan used at different times of his life.  There were more.

NBK

For those interested in Kanô's caligraphies, note that most have something to do with education and that most that are offered on the market are fakes. As to the art of shodô itself, personally I don't think they are all that great. I think that Mifune's reflect more character. Still, Yamaoka Tesshû's calligraphic skills remains at a level of which one one can only dream ...

In the old forum there was a long, interesting (at least to me... ) thread about the origins of those sayings. There was a Chinese gent in Switzerland that contributed quite a bit; unfortunately that was all lost.

The discussion attempted to differentiate and identify the elements, phrases, and thoughts from Confucian, Taoist and Buddhist philosophies.

Anatol wrote:Hi CK

For those interested in Kanô's caligraphies, note that most have something to do with education and that most that are offered on the market are fakes. As to the art of shodô itself, personally I don't think they are all that great. I think that Mifune's reflect more character. Still, Yamaoka Tesshû's calligraphic skills remains at a level of which one one can only dream ...

I agree completely. Thx for the hint to Yamaoka Tesshu - impressive life, very impressive caligraphies.

Hi NBK

In the old forum there was a long, interesting (at least to me... ) thread about the origins of those sayings. There was a Chinese gent in Switzerland that contributed quite a bit; unfortunately that was all lost.

The discussion attempted to differentiate and identify the elements, phrases, and thoughts from Confucian, Taoist and Buddhist philosophies.

If you mean the User "Wuji" - that was me. I do remember the discussion. It also included a poem of Katsu Kaishū, which I translated from Hanzi to English:

With an empty mind
(wu xin)
enter
the naturalness/ spontanity (ziran)
of
the mysterious/wounderful (miao = the offspring of all life, see Laozi 1)
Without any action (wu wei) !
after all
(you will) transform (hua)
to spirit (shen)

I am not Chinese, but interested in philosophy of West and East. I translate Daoist Classics like the Neiye, the Laozi and the Zhuangzi and Tang Poems into German. The poem then was an eye opener for my Judo. I transformed the Judo Terms into Daoist Terms and this helped me a lot to do better Judo.

Thx a lot for the discussions!
.

PS - a separate thread on your translation of 'judo terms into Daoist terms' would be very interesting, I think.  Please consider it.

NBK wrote:Kano shihan often dispersed proverbs from ancient texts and his own coined phrases in his correspondence.  I recently found a long list.  Some examples with a couple of my poor translations:

我心匪右不可轉 - From the Cypress Boat section of the Classic of Poetry - 'My mind is not a stone; It cannot be rolled about' addressing the difficulty of affecting your own mind versus the physical world.  

和敬 - short version of 和敬清寂 Wa, Kei, Sei, Jaku - “harmony, respect, purity, tranquility” the principles of the tea ceremony

我忘吾 - I forget my self

尺有所短, 寸有所長 - the Western equivalent would be "sometimes a foot may prove short while an inch may prove long." The fortune teller told Qu Yuan about injustice in life and how the outcome can depend on you alone, not the intervention of the heavens (principles or fate).  
　　
志士於道而耻悪衣悪食者未足興議也 - Confucius said, “Even a person who aspires to pursue his studies, if he feels shame at poor clothes and meals, is not worthy to discuss.”

山高水長　- Song dynasty era poet 范仲淹　Fan Zhongyan writing that the sages' morality is as 'Tall as the mountains, as eternal as the flowing waters'  

流芳 - your name survives you

主一無適 - a neo-Confucian saying about focusing on one thing / not dispersing your attention

流水不腐、戸樞不蠧 - flowing water does not stagnant, a door hinge does not become worm-eaten (A rolling stone gathers no moss....)

As CK noted, there are many references to water, flowing, etc.

NBK

Cichorei Kano wrote:
Thanks for posting these. Did you also find kakejiku by Kanô for these aphorisms and proverbs ?

I am always in awe of well-read Chinese and Japanese scholars trained in the Chinese Classics and Chinese or Japanese literature. It leads to much inspiration and amazing images represent a confluence between artistry and activity. My concern is when they start building extensive projects around such images they sometimes seem to fail to distinguish poetry/fantasy from science. I had to think of a cat and how watching a cat could lead to endless extrapolations about how we should move in the martial arts, etc. Heck we could attempt to create ukemi based on cats and argue that if we land on all fours we will be saved injury. Sometimes I think that this is the process of thought of many Asian masters of the past follow. But then there is hard science, and hard science says: "forget it". Why ?  Because the spine of a cat is anatomically and physically built very different from that of a human and has the ability to dissipate enormous amount of energy; a human spine can't and would be damaged and broken by only a small fraction of what a cat's spine can sustain in shocks, because the human spine would have no way of getting rid of that enormous amount of energy. There's the mismatch between a rationale perfectly acceptable in the thinking pattern of many masters, yet completely absurd from scientific point of view.

Kanô's obsession with water is intriguing, exciting even, but one must be acutely aware of the limits of its application and that of other poetic images to jûdô. Sometimes I think that Kanô instead of indulging himself in classics and philosophic thinkers would have better spent some of his time reading and studying Bernouilli.

noboru wrote:

http://www.goko.kumamoto-u.ac.jp/data_2.html

「順道制勝行不害人」の扁額
　明治24年、31歳での若さで着任した第三代校長嘉納治五郎による書で、自らが創始した講道館柔道の極致を表したものといわれている。文武両道に秀でた人として生徒たちの人望を集めた。昭和13年JOC委員として東京オリンピックの招致に成功したがアメリカからの帰国の途中氷川丸船上で肺炎にかかり5月5日死去した当年79歳であった。

english translation from Google translator    :
Hengaku of "Jun-do-sei Katsuyuki not harm people."
1891, in the third generation principal Jigoro Kano written by who arrived at the young in the 31-year-old, it is said that the himself expressed the Kodokan Judo of perfection that was the originator. I have collected the popularity of students as people who excel in Bunburyodo. Were successful bid of Tokyo Olympics as 1938 JOC committee but was Hikawamaru 79-year-old year that died May 5 takes to pneumonia on board during the return from the United States.

noboru wrote:NBK: I'm sorry, please can you explain the meaning of part calligraphy 行不害人 ?
行不害人 ??? Gyofu Gaijin ???  "link not harm people" ???

Is this the meaning?
順道制勝行不害人 - Jundo Seisho Gyofu Gaijin - 順道制勝 Jundo Seisho "Achieve the goal, realize great results."  行不害人 Gyofu Gaijin "The Best Behaviour Harms No One"

"Achieve the goal, realize great results with the best behaviour harms no one."

Thank you a lot.

I found some story ( in japanese ) about this calligraphy.
For example: http://www.goko.kumamoto-u.ac.jp/b03.html

noboru wrote:
Jigoro Kanos poem - source http://www.nagaragawagarou.com/works/en-jigorou-d262.html

http://www.nagaragawagarou.com/ga/jigorou262sho1.jpg

Anatol wrote:Hi Lance

Good judgement. That calligraphy is definitely not painted by Kano Jigoro.

It is a *copy of* a calligraphy by Kano.

http://www.artnet.com/artists/jigoro-kano/xingshushiwen-calligraphy-D-6LFhKHPYF_2kIlHzy8vg2

Completely different individual style in running script.

Don't want to critisize too much both of them but I admire the calligraphies of Katsu Kaishu.

Was Katsu Kaishu a mentor of Kano Shihan?