書道Shodo-the art of Japanese Calligraphy.

Recently I joined the Japanese calligraphy club in the next town. Every Wednesday I go to a little old lady’s place hidden in an alleyway and take lessons in a big old musty room, filled with ink stains. For an hour and a half I sit with my legs folded under me, my brush poised just so, and my back as straight as the scroll-clad walls behind me. My Shodo Sensei guides me in the correct swishes, hooks and strokes, and before long I’ve written my first: 永久 ‘Forever’ (I think this will be the hint for how long it will take me to perfect calligraphy!) I leave with a new calligraphy kit in hand, and a zest to spend the rest of the night with my brushes and ink. The kind of calligraphy I’ve enrolled in is graded. Every month I submit a certain number of calligraphy to get marked, and if I pass then I move to the next rank. At the moment I’m 新 (new). There are about 25 ranks and the highest are held by most of the elderly population. I’ll most likely be an “obaachan” (old lady) before I get anywhere near there!
So, word had gotten around that I had joined the calligraphy class. (As long as they don’t look at my attempts thus far I’m fine!) My supervisor’s calligraphy teacher, who was taught by the grand master of calligraphy, also had heard. She wanted to give me private lessons but has retired due to poor eyesight. Instead she wanted to give me her personal Shodo tools. I was beside myself when I heard this. My supervisor took me to her house and at once I was overwhelmed with beautiful hanging scrolls and perfectly written calligraphy from wall to wall. This woman got the highest possible rank. She handed me her shodo set, a soft brown leather case with well-worn brushes lain inside. I felt like I had a little part of this woman’s history, and felt so priviledged that she chose to give it to me. As she handed it to me she said the equivalent of “The importance of practice is the success of Shodo.” Those words rang in my ears for hours afterwards..
Since retiring from Shodo she has taken up Japanese classical singing, and she treated both my supervisor and I to a personal concert. It was so incredibly beautiful.
I hope that in my years in studying Shodo I can come even as close as a 5th to what this woman has become.