Calligraphy Brush Strokes in Martial Arts

​Practicing calligraphic brush strokes is the same as practicing martial arts movements. Most people think of Chinese brush calligraphy as handwriting or an art form.  Actually, the principles of these two training are the same.  We use our arms, our wrists and fingers, legs and stances to accomplish a finished form with the aid of our breathing and the strength of our Qi. It is a training for mental focus, physical strength, correct postures as well as managing space and distances.
 
Recently I saw a video at the National Palace Museum in Taipei about the evolvement of Chinese ideograms.  It clearly demonstrated how the final shape of the word evolved from human form and its multiple moving and thinking actions. Each Chinese character is composed of individual shapes, with connectivity of action, emotions, meaning and background stories.  It is not a dead picture but a moving and comprehensive communication tool. 
 
With martial movements, we also convey strength, intensity of our focus. With our body language we can tell our opponent or audience about our philosophy and our standards.