Dojo in the home?

[mjchip]

Hi folks,

For those of you who either have a personal dojo in your home or train in someone else's home dojo (in their residence), I'm thinking of turning one of my rooms into a private dojo (to practice aikido and iaido) and was looking for input on mats, raising ceilings, sectioning off the dojo space from the rest of house, kamiza design, where you got calligraphy, etc.. Any pictures or input would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Mark Chiappetta

[Mark Brecht]

Dear Mark,

welcome to ebudo. You posted a good thread here.

I think priority would be saftey. That means you should get good mats. This will make training safe and avoid unneccsary injuries. There are many places where you can buy new ones on the net. A more economic solution would be to check with the local YMCA or HS, to see if they have old mats they want to get rid of. This would do it for the beginning (you can always get better ones later). If the surface of the mats is not nice anymore, you might want to ask your better half to help you saw a extra cover, which would fit the colors of the room.

As for asthetic and room atmosphere you might want to consider building your own shoji walls. This will also make it easy to divide living space and dojo space. Making them is not to difficult. There are several good books out there in English on how to build them. I recommend you check your local public libary (why buy it if you can borrow them for free...). As for the Shoji paper, we could provide this (it is actually available in various designs, e.g. with bamboo patterns, etc).

Here is a link about one of these books:

Shoji book on Amazon, with references to other good books (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0870118641/qid=999759008/sr=2-1/ref=aps_sr_b_1_1/107-4283745-6092518)

As for the kamiza, we can help here easily...

Kamidana, Accessories, Mirror, Shimenawa, etc... (http://204.95.207.136/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4065)

http://images.honesty.com/imagedata/h/297/34/22973458.jpg


Also for calligraphy artwork you came to the right place...

http://images.honesty.com/cgi-bin/honesty-image/8100408/ph-Wide-1/


http://images.honesty.com/imagedata/6/7/2/17114672.jpg

Please check this thread for details:

Custom CALLIGRAPHY, Wallscrolls etc... for your dojo or home! E-budo Special ! (http://204.95.207.136/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4344)

We can further provide a variety of Japanese items for home and dojo decoration. such as Ningyo dolls, Oni/Tengu masks, Noren, etc... We are located in Japan, and can provide you with pretty much anything from Japan, for reasonable and affordable prices.

I hope this helps if you have any further questions or inquries please do not hesitate to contact us.


Copyright Japanese Treasurs 2001. All Rights Reserved.

[Mark Brecht]

Here is a review from one of our customers, who decorated his dojo with our items. This might give you some additional ideas.


Originally posted by Tetsutaka
Introduction

Let's start with the beginning. Julie and I wanted to do things differently with Tetsutaka Dojo. Before, we operated from either community centers or even outdoor locations. In this case, we wanted to have a business that would represent a stable, long-term commitment to the community. Likewise, we wanted to provide an environment that would allow the students to come to us, and really be able to "leave behind" whatever was in their lives and focus on their learning. Also, we wanted to provide students with the highest quality products [for both the self-defense seminars and for their long term martial arts training needs] so that they can enjoy their pursuits without the hassle and worry of "getting the right thing" for their training.

Likewise, we didn't want to just sell the "standard fare" of cheap imports from the usual suppliers. We wanted to have a unique selection of products that offered quality and value to our clients and students.

When it came time to pick a supplier of Japanese products and artwork, working with Japanese Treasures and Mark Brecht seemed to be a logical step, as I had received good comments from others that have seen the work of Mieko Kakizawa. Julie and I wanted to have some things for the dojo itself - as well as products to sell that would be "hard to find" in this area. Japanese Treasures fits the bill "in spades".

In this review, I will present my impressions in three parts: 1) packing and delivery, 2) product presentation and quality, and 3) artistry. I consider all three to be of equal, importance - in fact - if one suffers, so the other two follow.

10 Packing and Delivery

The shipment was delivered via US Postal Service through EMS, Japan's "Express Mail Service". Delivery was in less than a week, which exceeded our expectations.

The box was the OEM container for the kamiza, which seems to be suited for long journeys. Dual corrugated carboard and good quality end flaps made a very stuurdy container. It arrived in very good condition, which is [i]not always the case. The package was wrapped in a good heavy-weight paper with clearly laid out address labeling. I was impressed [and my apologies to the US Postal Service - even a little surprised] that the covering paper was not ripped anywhere. Likewise, the box was not dented or scarred in any way. Whew.

Once opened, I found the contents to be very well packed. Each kamiza item was carefully surrounded with bubble wrap and placed in a position where it cannot move during shipment. [As some of you know - on a trip that long - movement inside a container can kill.] Also, each piece of art was surrounded by a high-quality clear plastic cover that kept them separated from each other, and therefore from smudging, etc. These were packed alongside the kamiza's back wall - in a way that they could not move, and therefore kept them from being damaged in shipment.

The wallscroll and weights came in their own boxes, and were placed snugly within the box as well.

The surprises found inside were nice as well. ...more on that later...

2) Presentation and Quality
Below are a few examples of some of the things that we are displaying at our dojo, both as permanent installation, and as items for sale.

I believe that they in many ways speak for themselves, so I will be less wordy here [group sighs of relief heard round the globe].


http://www.sagesystems.org/images/brecht/kamiza5.jpg

Julie and I decided to mount the Genbukan and Kokusai Jujutsu emblems on either side of the kamiza, in order to balance its visual weight. I had initially chosen the "wrong wall" to mount it, and so had to make arrangements to place it above the wall [West wall] where we had mirrors installed. My apologies in advance to anyone who might see this as innapropriate. It's one of those things that we had to improvise, and seemed to turn out well, from our view.


http://www.sagesystems.org/images/brecht/scroll1.jpg

Shikishi Kakejiku near the door, hanging next to our other dojo supplies. Note that there is a total of 5 plates. Beautiful and elegant.


http://www.sagesystems.org/images/brecht/tetsu_shodo1.jpg

"Tetsutaka" Shikishi Kake over the desk - see comments below on "artistry"

http://www.sagesystems.org/images/brecht/hanko1.jpg

The hanko is an exquisite piece of artwork in and of itself. The Taisho character set is fascinating. I'm sorry I had to mark the image, but them's the breaks. If you would like to see a real stamp image, simply write to us [with SASE]and we'll be happy to respond on official letterhead with a stamp at the bottom. I hope to have more pictures [of the hanko in use] later this weekend.

http://www.sagesystems.org/images/brecht/cert4.jpg

The Tetsutaka Dojo Tanzaku is mounted in the dojo where people will walk in and see it first, along with the other certifications.

http://www.sagesystems.org/images/brecht/kite1.jpg

The surprise: kites [no pics right now]. Along with everything else, Mark saw fit to squeeze in some Japanese kites that had some wonderful images on them. Right now we have them mounted in the anteroom and restroom in the back of the dojo. It definitely adds color [and even some humor - you should see the kite where the samurai seems to be "overting" his eyes - hung on the wall right over the john.]

http://www.sagesystems.org/images/brecht/kite2.jpg

Be nice to Mark and say PUHHHHLEASE! and I bet he will sell you some of them for your dojo, even though they are not part of the official catalog.

You can of course see more pics in the thread posted by Mark.

http://204.95.207.136/vbulletin/showthread.php?threadid=835


3) Artistry

The artwork itself is beautiful - and how shall I say? - "relaxed". Don't misunderstand what I am saying here. I spend most of my days looking a DBCS character sets, which means standard Chinese and Japanese characters in a browser. When I say "relaxed", I mean that in the Shodo you can see the direction and effort put into each stroke. You can see its rhythm, and its focus. This is something that you cannot see in computer generated DBCS text, of course. It is also difficult to see in standard Kanji Block that has been written on certificates.
[i]This is very different, and very special.

When you spend any time with great Shodo, you can get a sense of the "immediacy" of the act of creating that particular work, but also you get a sense of the years spent in perfecting that movement, and also the generations of knowledge gives its foundation. In a way, it is like watching the movement of a master martial artist - you see the past in the exquisite moment of their movement. This is something special, and cannot be underestimated.


In Closing

I wanted to compose a review that could transfer to interested readers just how impressed I was with the products and services of Japanese Treasures. I'm sorry, but words cannot do that. These pictures cannot extend to you the feeling I have for their hard work and incredible artistry. My deepest gratitude and respect goes to Mark Brecht and Shodo artist Mieko Kakizawa for their diligence, effort, and professionalism.

I have great confidence that they will impress you as much as they have impressed Julie and myself.

Domo Arigato Gozaimashita

[Edited by Tetsutaka on 07-16-2000 at 12:44 PM]

The whole thread and more info is here:

REVIEW: Japanese Treasures shipment to Tetsutaka Dojo (http://204.95.207.136/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=853)

[Jason Chambers]

If you are interested in having a photo of your Sensei or Soke of your art enlarged, I can have them done for around $3.00 plus shipping.

Any size up to 24 x 36.

Pics must be in .bmp format for quality photo reproduction.

Note, this is not a commercial announcement, rather a public service announcement for the benefit of all.

[KenpoKev]

Depending upon what weapons you intend to use will determine the necessary ceiling height. This fall I will be converting a large shop-office area at my home to create a dojo. Due to truss design, I am stuck with 9'4" ceilings, so I will need to be careful with certain weapons.

Flooring: I managed to score a superb deal on some of Mike Swain's wonderful mats, however at our church dojo, I used 3 layers of 5/8", 8 pound carpet pad over a low pile commercial grade carpet. You could do pretty intense throws safely on this surface, but for mat work, the carpet isn't nice at all. You might also consider checking on the latest generation 1" jigsaw mats that you can get for about $20 a square meter. (the 7/8" ones a just a tad to skimpy for heavy throwing) try www.tigerclaw.com (Andy Ching) for the better ones. Lastly, you might want to check with Tiffen Mats (I think in New Jersey) as they have some good quality stuff as well.

Carving out a room in your house might work, but the majority of folks I train with have either converted garages or built small structures on their property.

Best of luck in your project, it will be worth the efforts.
Regards,

[mjchip]

Well, thanks for the replies so far. I'm totally fighting with the idea of building a free standing dojo in my back yard OR converting either my garage or living room into a training space. The down side of conversion is that I'm stuck with low ceilings and I practice aikido and iaido so I'd like to be able to use my jyo, bokken, and shinken inside. The up side is low cost.

Now, the freestanding dojo concept will be costly (I think) and will take a bunch of time. On the upshot, I can have whatever size mat space with just about any ceiling height that I want. Then my only challenge would be to fill it with dedicated students.

KenpoKev, can you tell me a little more about your friends conversions or free-standing dojos? Thanks!

Mark Chiappetta

[KenpoKev]

Hi Mark:

Conversions: Usually adding insulation in the ceiling and walls and covering the ceiling with sheetrock, walls with OSB or light weight plywood 7/16" (not sheetrock, too fragile) Use shielded lighting (covered flourescent or incand.) A single car stall gives a pretty comfortable environment for a small training gruop, but free sparring has to be controlled. Cost for a single car unit with R-19 insulation, probably about $1,500 - $2,000, not including flooring. (See earlier post on options)

Free Standing: Permits, foundation, framing, roofing, electrical. DYI will suck up a bunch of time. I'd suggest that you inquire from local builders the cost of erecting a free standing garage, assuming you have sufficient property. Check in with your local planning-building department for regs. Locally, you can get a 24' X 24' slab foundation garage for just under $7,000, but you'll still need to finish out the interior. Plus side of this is increased property value, offset by increased prop. taxes and initial cost.

Doing a garage can be done sans permits, but really adds very little to the value of the property. However it won't likely raise your taxes either.

If I had the property and could afford the $$$ to build it, I'd go that route, as the accessory structure does help resale value. If you decide martial arts sucks, you can convert it into a art studio and paint pictures of fruit bowls or naked ladies. :)

Hope this helps,


BTW: Defintely get some of the cool stuff from Mark to give the dojo the correct "feeling". (Mark, an order is forthcoming, K)