The Japanese Way of the Artist

To learn more about Japan's classic arts and crafts, pick up a copy of The Japanese Way of the Artist by Sennin Foundation Director H. E. Davey. Included in a single volume are:

* Living the Japanese Arts and Ways: 45 Paths to Meditation & Beauty

* Brush Meditation: A Japanese Way to Mind & Body Harmony

* The Japanese Way of the Flower: Ikebana as Moving Meditation

The three works anthologized here are essential to understanding the spiritual, meditative, and physical basis of all classical Japanese crafts, fine arts, and martial arts. Living the Japanese Arts & Ways covers key concepts—like wabi and “stillness in motion”—while the other two books show the reader how to use brush calligraphy (shodo) and flower arranging (ikebana) to achieve mind-body unification. Illustrated with diagrams, drawings, and photographs.

Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation

For a limited time only, we're offering autographed copies of H. E. Davey Sensei's landmark book Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation for just $18.95. These are BRAND NEW copies of an out of print book, which is becoming increasingly hard to find and going up in price.

Emphasizing gentle stretching and meditation exercises, the ultimate goal of Japanese yoga (Shin-shin-toitsu-do) is enhanced mind/body integration, calmness, and willpower for a healthier and fuller life. Developed by Nakamura Tempu Sensei in the early 1900s from Indian Raja yoga, Japanese martial arts and meditation practices, as well as Western medicine and psychotherapy, Japanese yoga offers a new approach to experienced yoga students and a natural methodology that newcomers will find easy to learn.

After a brief history of Shin-shin-toitsu-do, H. E. Davey Sensei presents Mr. Nakamura's Four Basic Principles to Unify Mind and Body. These principles relate the meditative experience to the movement of everyday living and thus make it a "dynamic meditation." Each of the Four Basic Principles is illustrated with step-by-step explanations of practical experiments.

Readers are then introduced to different forms of seated and moving meditation, health exercises, and self-healing arts. All these are linked back to the Four Basic Principles and can enhance performance in art, music, business, sports, and other activities. Readers learn to use Japanese yoga techniques throughout the day, without having to sit on the floor or seek out a quiet space.

Included at the end of the book are simple but effective stretching exercises, information about ongoing practice, and a glossary and reference section. Amply illustrated and cogently presented, Japanese Yoga belongs on every mind/body/spirit reading list.

Synopsis

Based on the eclectic Western-Eastern teachings of Nakamura Tempu Sensei, this step-by-step introduction to Japanese yoga (Shin-shin-toitsu-do) presents stretching, healing, and meditation exercises designed for mind/body integration. It is the first book in English to detail the life and teachings of Mr. Nakamura. In Japanese yoga, which is based on mind and body unification principles, the ultimate goal is enhanced concentration, calmness, and willpower for a longer, healthier, and fuller life. H. E. Davey Sensei also shows how Japanese yoga relates to various classical Japanese arts as part of a tradition of spiritual practice with spiritual and aesthetic roots in India, Japan, and the West. Illustrated, with a glossary and reference section.

Reviews

"Will make many yogis feel right at home... Davey's readable, friendly guide is definitely worth a look."

— Yoga Journal, July 2002

Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation is the first and only book in English on the original Shin-shin-toitsu-do system of Japanese yoga. It received outstanding reviews in various magazines around the world, including Yoga Journal in the USA and Tempu magazine in Japan. On Amazon.com, Borders.com, and Barnes & Noble.com, it received an overall five star top rating, but you can't get BRAND NEW autographed copies of this out of print book from anyone but us! Visit http://www.senninfoundation.com/davey_yoga.html to order your copy today.

Japanese Jujutsu

The Sennin Foundation Center presents instruction in Saigo Ryu aiki-jujutsu, a traditional and non-competitive martial art. While many Westerners use "jujutsu," "jujitsu," or "jiu-jitsu" to describe their art of self-defense, most of these methods bear little resemblance to the original Japanese jujutsu, Japan's oldest martial art. Both aikido and judo stem from jujutsu, and our dojo is one of few in the USA to offer authentic Japanese jujutsu.

Book Review: "The Sound of One Hand"

The Sound of One Hand: Paintings and Calligraphy by Zen Master Hakuin

By Audrey Yoshiko Seo and Stephen Addiss

Reviewed by H. E. Davey

Hardcover: 288 pages

Publisher: Shambhala (September 7, 2010)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1590305787

ISBN-13: 978-1590305782

Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 8.3 x 1.2 inches

Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds

List Price: $65.00

Hakuin Ekaku (1685–1768) is one of the most prominent figures in the history of Zen, and this gorgeous book focuses on his life, ink paintings, and brush calligraphy. He can be considered the instigator of contemporary Japanese Rinzai Zen practice, one of the two major schools of Zen in Japan. He notably emphasized the value of koan practice in awakening, a technique that concentrates on the solving of metaphysical questions, such as the famous koan, “What is the sound of one hand clapping?”

He is also known for having rejuvenated the monastic existence of his time. However, his philosophy wasn’t restricted to the monastery. Hakuin was the classic Zen master of the people, celebrated for taking his instruction to every branch of society, to people in all walks of life, and his painting and calligraphy were particularly potent vehicles for those lessons. He used long-established Buddhist images and sayings—but also themes from legends and every day living—many of which are found in this lavishly illustrated hardback. Hakuin fashioned a new visual idiom for Zen: insightful, whimsical, and different from everything that came before. He is one of the most famous practitioners of Zensho, “Zen calligraphy.” Admirers of Japanese calligraphic art (shodo) should, however, note that not all calligraphy indentifies itself as “Zensho,” and this is but one of many styles of calligraphy practiced in Japan.

In his long life, Hakuin produced thousands of ink paintings and calligraphies. These works of art, combined with his voluminous writings, stands as a testament to his philosophy, illuminating why some feel he was the most significant Zen master of the past 500 years. All of this is thoroughly covered in The Sound of One Hand. The tone of the writing is more scholarly than light, and while his artwork and life is painstakingly examined, The Sound of One Hand will not serve as a basic introduction to Zen. It’s focus is on Hakuin’s Zen life and Zen art, and to some degree it presupposes an existing knowledge of Zen Buddhism.

The Sound of One Hand is a study of Hakuin and his art, illustrated with examples of his work, well-known pieces like “Three Blind Men on a Bridge” as well as lesser acknowledged artwork. It is, without a doubt, the most complete volume on Hakuin and his Zen art currently available.

About the Reviewer: H. E. Davey, the Director of the San Francisco Bay Area-based Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts, is also the author of The Japanese Way of the Artist, Brush Meditation: A Japanese Way to Mind & Body Harmony, Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation, and other works. He is a direct student of the famed calligrapher Kobara Ranseki Sensei, and he holds the highest rank in Ranseki Sho Juku calligraphic art. His Japanese calligraphy and painting has been in numerous exhibitions in Japan, where he has received multiple top awards. For more information about H. E. Davey and his classes in Japanese arts and forms of meditation, visit http://www.senninfoundation.com/

Testimonials from Japanese Yoga Experts

Hashimoto Tetsuichi

"H. E. Davey has shown great diligence in his study of the Shin-shin-toitsu-do method of Japanese yoga. As my personal disciple since 1986, he has successively received private instruction, through correspondence, telephone, and in periods of intensive tutoring ...during his travels to Japan.I would like it to be known that he has made great progress in his assiduous practice of Shin-shin-toitsu-do and I expect him to advance further in the future. As an expert in the arts of Japan, particularly classical brush writing and the martial arts, he has thoroughly researched the relationship of Shi-shin-toitsu-do to these skills.I wish to commend him for his consummate character and attainment, and fully endorse him as an educator." — Hashimoto Tetsuichi Sensei is a resident of Tokyo, and he is one of the most senior disciples of Nakamura Tempu Sensei, founder of the Shin-shin-toitsu-do system of Japanese yoga. He started his study of Shin-shin-toitsu-do directly under Nakamura Sensei in 1950.

Sawai Atsuhiro

"I would like to recognize and praise H. E. Davey Sensei's long years of great effort and sincere teaching of Shin-shin-toitsu-do, or Japanese yoga. In Japan, there are a number of teachers of the methods discovered by Nakamura Tempu Sensei, founder of Shin-shin-toitsu-do. I am one of those teachers, but we teach on the average of once a month at best. With the exception of the late Nakamura Sensei, Davey Sensei is the only member of the Tempu Society that is a fulltime instructor of Shin-shin-toitsu-do.More and more people in Japan are coming to know of Davey Sensei's teachings and practices across the Pacific Ocean (as well as the activities of his students and assistant instructors). They are greatly impressed—especially by the fact that Master Davey has been teaching Japanese yoga professionally almost every day for many years. Our head of the Tempu Society in Japan, Mr. Omi Koji, is among the people that admire Master Davey's talents and efforts." — Sawai Atsuhiro Sensei is a direct student of Nakamura Tempu Sensei, the founder of Japanese yoga. He has attained the highest level of instructor certification in Japanese yoga, and he is one of the most advanced practitioners of Shin-shin-toitsu-do in Japan. He began studying Shin-shin-toitsu-do in 1958, and he eventually served as a personal assistant to Nakamura Sensei.

"The Japanese Way of the Artist"

Check out The Japanese Way of the Artist Blog at http://japanesewayoftheartist.blogspot.com/

Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation

Want to read more about Nakamura Tempu Sensei, Japanese yoga, and the book Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation? Just drop by our sister blog at http://japaneseyoga.blogspot.com/. You can also learn more about these subjects at the Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts website: www.senninfoundation.com.

Art of Shodo

Check out H. E. Davey Sensei's new review of The Sound of One Hand, a book about Hakuin's Zen calligraphy, at the Art of Shodo Blog (http://artofshodo.blogspot.com/). Davey Sensei is the author of The Japanese Way of the Artist and the Director of the Sennin Foundation.



Japanese Art

For more information about Japanese fine arts go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_art