Experimenting with Naturalness and Relaxation

Try a simple experiment. Tense your arm as much as possible, and draw a circle rapidly in the air with your index finger. Do it over and over. Next, try relaxing your arm as much as possible, and draw the same rapid circle. For most of us, it is much easier to draw a quick, smooth, and dynamic circle in a state of relaxation.

Many people comprehend this, but few seem able to truly attain relaxation in activity. This is not because relaxation is unnatural or exceptionally complex. The dilemma stems from mistaken convictions and faulty habits (such as painting with the shoulders slightly lifted, which causes tense shoulders and headaches, instead of relaxing and allowing the shoulders to settle into their suitable spot naturally). Many either consciously or unconsciously believe that relaxation is comfortable but powerless. They think that relaxation does not permit a person to display noteworthy physical force. So, when they attempt to produce a particularly dynamic-looking character, they also frequently produce tension. This tension, in turn, creates something that, to the discerning eye, actually looks rough rather than dynamic. Some individuals have even come to believe that when they are relaxed they are not working seriously or giving their all.

Once this impression becomes part of your subconscious, it sways all of your conscious responses. In a pinch, or during a stressful moment while painting, you'll discover yourself unable to relax although you wish to. As you consciously teach yourself to relax and remain peaceful during troublesome moments in painting, you'll also cultivate the capacity to relax under pressure as a subconscious habit, which will influence your everyday life.

Understand that both positive and negative kinds of relaxation exist. For many of us, the difference between the two is not crystal clear. Clearing up the distinction between these two states has been spoken of in the Japanese fine arts, as well as martial arts, since antiquity. The Tengu-geijutsu-ron, composed in 1730, declares, "Weakness and softness are not the same. Rest and slackness again are not the same. Rest does not let go the living ki; slackness is near to dead ki."

Positive relaxation suggests an energetic posture in which the mind and body are one. When the mind and body perform as a unit, we are in our most relaxed and serene condition, but we are likewise filled with energy. Negative relaxation is to relax without this structure of coordination. It is a form of physical and mental limpness, one that results in giving up vitality and alertness. Positive relaxation is filled with energy but does not contain unneeded tension.

In shodo, and in daily living, you want to grasp a posture and demeanor that is not tense or flaccid-an alive state that is poised between tension and limpness. Relaxation and collapse are not the same, and each causes opposite results in terms of mind-body oneness and the free flow of ki. As an experiment, try to notice in your daily life when you fall limp and when you grow tense. What is your state of mind at these times? When do you most often fall into these two conditions? By understanding the nature of tension--and its opposite, limpness--you can find the middle path of positive relaxation.