Kanji Inscription Information

Kanji are ideographs and pictographs originating in China and used in written Japanese. From our large archive of martial art related characters, the kanji are burned by hand with a calligraphy stylus, oriented vertically, and read top to bottom. On every product that inscriptions are available, you'll see a pull-down menu on the ordering page. The appearance of our calligraphy will vary a bit from our online list. This is because in modern computer font, many characters are abbreviated to improve legibility on screens. While meaning the same thing, we'll sometimes use the older and arguably more beautiful versions. For example the modern character "ki" is often shown online as 気. We'll often use the more traditional form: 氣

Kanji inscription on enhanced bokken. Discreet 3/8" x 3/8" kanji characters are inscribed into the wood by hand with a calligraphy burning stylus.

Shown on the bevel of a hand cut bokken - one time one meeting (living in the moment)

Aikido (the way of combining energy)

Shown on a bokken bevel - floating clouds flowing water (taking it easy, going with the flow)

Shown on Yagyu bokken - tombo, "dragonfly"