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Universal Sword
3rd October 2001, 17:38
I am interested in practicing Japanese calligraphy but I am pretty unfamiliar with the language as a whole. I have been trying to track down the a approriate kanji characters so that I can illustrate them.

First off what I am looking for is a translation of a term I saw in a martial art book. It was from a doka that Morehei Ueshiba wrote and refers to something he calls the "Universal Sword".

A reliable source told me that the appropriate kanji was Tai-a ken.

I have been unable to find the kanji for this, but then I am pretty ignorant in the use of a kanji dictionary.

Can anyone help me with how to find these characters so I know what they look like, or is there perhaps somewhere on-line that I can find a visual representation.

Any help that I can get will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Jeff Hamacher
4th October 2001, 04:26
Originally posted by Universal Sword
First off what I am looking for is a translation of a term I saw in a martial art book. It was from a doka that Morehei Ueshiba wrote and refers to something he calls the "Universal Sword".
A reliable source told me that the appropriate kanji was Tai-a ken.
I have been unable to find the kanji for this, but then I am pretty ignorant in the use of a kanji dictionary.

a quick look at the dictionaries i have doesn't turn up any entry for "tai-a", and you won't find "tai-a ken" since i'm almost certain this is a term that Ueshiba-sensei dreamt up. are you sure this isn't a typo? double check with your source and confirm the romanization you gave above.

i recently gave someone else i similar translation, and what i was able to find is the term "jizai", which can mean "freedom" or "unencumberedness"; this can be both mechanical (as in "universal joint") or abstract (as in "unfettered mind"). you will not find the term "jizai-ken" anywhere since that's just a rendering i came up with, but it may suit your purpose since "ken" is simply one reading of the kanji for sword and it appears as a suffix in other vocabulary ("katsujinken"). if by "universal" you mean something else, then we'll have to go digging again. hope this helps, and post a reply if you feel the urge.

Universal Sword
4th October 2001, 14:08
Jeff,

Thank you for responding so quickly. I double checked the translation and it was not a typo. As I looked in a Japanese English dictionary for Universal I found the word for university, the first part of the word was Tai which I took to mean roughly Big. It seems to me I have heard Tai Chi translated as Grand Ultimate.

I 'm not sure if Ueshiba sensei was refering to a cosmic connection to the universe or using universal to mean transending cultural restrictions which your term Jizai would seem to suggest or perhaps both.

If the translation I recieved is right and the kanji for Tai was the same used in University, is there a kanji character that you are aware of for the letter - a? and what would that mean?

I must admit I find this process quite fascinating if at the same time it is a bit frustrating.

Thanks again for the input and any other ideas you have in this direction would be greatly appreciated.

- Mark Gerardi

Jeff Hamacher
5th October 2001, 03:07
the first character of "university" in japanese means "big", in essence. in that case its pronunciation is "dai" rather than "tai", so that the word is read "daigaku", or "big school". "tai chi" can mean "against the ground" as in "air-to-ground attack", or "antithesis". the Kojien may give more entries.

i'll take a look through my dictionaries again and see what else i turn up. remember, this "tai a ken" may be nothing more than Ueshiba-sensei's creation (he seemed to have a predisposition for using language that nobody else could understand). another important point keep in mind is that japanese is rife with homophones, so that romanized japanese doesn't give a very clear indication of exactly what the writer means. because of the way that the japanese adopted the chinese writing system, you really have to learn something about the relationship between the characters and the vocabulary they represent before you can negotiate your way through the language. will post more later.

ghp
5th October 2001, 03:24
Jeff,

Another homophone is "Dai-A" -- a contraction meaning "Great Asia." Perhaps dai-a ken is greater asian sword??

--Guy, the homophone-phile :D

Jeff Hamacher
5th October 2001, 04:11
Originally posted by ghp
Another homophone is "Dai-A" -- a contraction meaning "Great Asia." Perhaps dai-a ken is greater asian sword??

it sounds plausible. i think i'll have to write Peter Goldsbury and see if he knows about the source that Mark is referring to, or we could even try bothering Stanley Pranin. Mark, have you read an english translation of this essay or whatever it is? if so, what's it called or where did you find it? curiouser and curiouser ...

as an aside, i found one other translation for "tai chi": "extremely stupid"!:laugh: it's probably not in common use today, but i thought it might be good for a laugh.

Mark Gerardi
5th October 2001, 08:19
Mark, have you read an english translation of this essay or whatever it is? if so, what's it called or where did you find it?

Jeff,
The term in question comes from the book Budo; Teachings of the Founder of Aikido by Morihei Ueshiba and Translated by John Stevens. It comes from some doka and the two verses in question are:

Forge the spirit
according to the divine will;
seek the light and heat
of the Universal Sword
and move on toward enlightenment.

Warriors!
Rally around and brandish the
Universal Sword.
Shine brightly and
reveal it to the world.

I asked a longtime Aikido practitioner and Iaidoist how he would translate Ueshiba sensei's use of Universal Sword and he told me Tai-A Ken. Unfortunately I have no way of contacting him to ask how he arrived at that translation or what the kanji might look like.

I really appreciate all the detective work and I'm looking forward to seeing what else turns up.

Thanks Jeff and Guy for the input.

- Mark

P Goldsbury
6th October 2001, 13:11
Originally posted by Mark Gerardi


Jeff,
The term in question comes from the book Budo; Teachings of the Founder of Aikido by Morihei Ueshiba and Translated by John Stevens. It comes from some doka and the two verses in question are:

Forge the spirit
according to the divine will;
seek the light and heat
of the Universal Sword
and move on toward enlightenment.

Warriors!
Rally around and brandish the
Universal Sword.
Shine brightly and
reveal it to the world.

I asked a longtime Aikido practitioner and Iaidoist how he would translate Ueshiba sensei's use of Universal Sword and he told me Tai-A Ken. Unfortunately I have no way of contacting him to ask how he arrived at that translation or what the kanji might look like.

I really appreciate all the detective work and I'm looking forward to seeing what else turns up.

Thanks Jeff and Guy for the input.

- Mark

As you stated, the poems you quote are 'doka' (Songs of the Way) written in a particular format. Thus, John Stevens translated the Japanese original. Unfortunately, your problem is complicated by three factors: (1) Mr Stevens did not include the Japanese original and such poems are notoriously difficult to translate. So we have no idea whether the actual phrase 'universal sword' appeared in Japanese. For example, Morihei Ueshiba often refers to 'kuasanagi-no-tachi', which is the sword used by Susa-no-O to slay a monster dragon. The episode is recounted in the early part of the 'Kojiki'. He thought this sword was identified with aikido. He used the phrase 'ta-chi', the first part of which can also be read as 'Tai'. But I have never seen the character 'ken' in the doka. (2) Unfortunately, the Japanese version of 'Budo' was never published and so the Japanese text of the doka you quote is not generally available. (3) Not all the doka in 'Budo' (or 'Budo Renshu', published in 1933) were actually written by Morihei Ueshiba.

Of course, you could translate 'universal sword', simply as an intellectual exercise, but the result would not have any real connection with anything that Morihei Ueshiba wrote. And I presume your interest in the phrase is due to the connection with O Sensei. Yes?

Anyway, if you can wait a little longer, on my next visit to the Hombu Dojo I will ask Doshu to show me the Japanese text of 'Budo' and see what is actually written. Then all your problems will be solved.

Best regards,

P A Goldsbury
___________
P A Goldsbury,
Graduate School of Social Sciences,
Hiroshima University

john mark
6th October 2001, 17:51
Mark,

If you are interested in calligraphy, I would begin with studying the basic strokes. I recommend studying Gate to Chinese Calligraphy by Guo Bonan and Learn to Write Chinese Characters by Johan Bjorksten. There are probably very good books on Shodo, but I do not have any in my library. Until you understand the basic strokes and stroke order, your calligraphy will be unnatural.

A good brush and ink set is also a good idea.

Before anybody gets on my case, I understand that Chinese calligraphy in stylistically different from Japanese calligraphy.

Good luck with your studies,

Nick
7th October 2001, 19:12
though my personal copy has walked off, I used to own a copy of Takuan's "Unfettered Mind", which is a collection of three of his letters... one, the fudochi shinmyo roku, has been made popular by "The Sword and the Mind", and the one at the end was called "The sword of Tai-a"... I believe it was a mythical sword describing wisdom, and it might be a chinese word, which is why it doesn't show up in Japanese dictionaries.

Nick

Mark Gerardi
8th October 2001, 17:52
Wow,

Lots of good input.

John,
Thanks for the advice on calligraphy, I'll look for the books you mentioned.

Nick,
Good catch. You are absolutely right the last letter in Takuan's "Unfettered Mind" is "The Sword of Taia". I've read it a couple of times and didn't remember that. As you said it does refer to an ancient Chinese sword that had "no equal under heaven" that Takuan seems to equate with possessing a clarity of mind.


Anyway, if you can wait a little longer, on my next visit to the Hombu Dojo I will ask Doshu to show me the
Japanese text of 'Budo' and see what is actually written. Then all your problems will be solved.
P A Goldsbury
Mr. Goldsbury, You are correct the term Universal Sword does have more interest because of its potential connection to O' Sensei. If you had a way to get access to the Japanese original to see what was actually written that would be ideal and of course I would be willing to wait for that and be gratefully for the effort.

Thank You all,
Respectully
Mark Gerardi

Kimpatsu
11th October 2001, 09:46
Just to add my two pence worth, I think that the correct rendering would be "Great Asia Sword". During the Japanese militaristic period of the 1930s in particular, the term (as in "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere) and "Universal" (as in "Universal Rights") were used pretty interchangeably, as the Japanese equated their own back yard (Greater Asia) with everything (i.e., the universe).
HTH,
Tony Kehoe

Universal Sword
11th October 2001, 16:03
Tony,

Guy Power suggested Great Asia Sword as one translation as well. Based on the time frame in question your argument would certainly make sense. I will still be interested to see what the original kanji used were.

Thanks for the input,

Mark Gerardi

Universal Sword
11th October 2001, 17:02
Tony,

Guy Power suggested Great Asia Sword as one translation as well. Based on the time frame in question your argument would certainly make sense. I will still be interested to see what the original kanji used were.

Thanks for the input,

Mark Gerardi