Spirit Over Technique

Spirit Over Technique in Japanese is 技術より心術 which is read gijutsu yori shinjutsu

技術より心術 (gijutsu yori shinjutsu): the mind's bearing over the technique.

より weighs one word against the other: 術 is in both, 技 is the skill of the hands and 心 the heart. 心術 is old Japanese, and the dictionaries' first citation for it is Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō; it was a Zen word for the bearing of the mind long before it was karate's. Funakoshi Gichin, the founder of Shōtōkan karate, set the pair among his twenty precepts. Spirit over technique is the received English; mentality over technique is the other.

Philology of 空手に先手無し · 先づ自己を知れ而して他を知れ · 技術より心術 · 心は放たん事を要す · 常に思念工夫せよ

The scroll is completed within 1–3 business days and is shipped from Master Takase's studio in Washington State by USPS Priority Mail. It arrives ready to display.

The scroll is packed in its own box inside the shipping box. A printed page travels with it showing the art with its English, romaji and Japanese. Sending it as a gift? Ask us when you order and we will include your message.

The scroll is $220. Shipping is USPS Priority Mail, calculated at checkout from your address: within the United States it is roughly $13 to $22; to Canada about $47; to Europe, the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, Korea and Brazil about $69 to $86. Outside the United States, import tax and customs charges are collected by your customs authority at delivery and are not part of what you pay us. Germany is the one exception: we collect them at checkout so nothing is owed at the door.

Every order is covered by our 100% money-back guarantee for 30 days. Contact us first and we will confirm the return details. If your item arrives damaged, or we made an error, we replace it or refund you in full, including shipping. Refund policy

Eri Takase was born and raised in Osaka, Japan, and holds the rank of Shihan, the highest rank in Japanese calligraphy, from the Bokuteki-kai and the Bunka-shodo. About Master Takase

Master Takase personally brushes your Japanese scroll when you order. Each scroll proudly bears her red seal, 英利, and her signature.

The scrolls are 12 1/4" W × 43" H (31 × 109 cm) with real silk borders and Japanese paper that are layered so the scroll hangs straight and will not warp over time. The scrolls themselves are made by Sankō (株式会社三幸) in Gifu prefecture, which has been making high quality scrolls since 1947, and we have worked with Sankō for over two decades.