Japanese calligraphy

For our last kanji class, we got to do shodou, Japanese calligraphy. Shodo is an art form of writing Japanese characters by using a brush and black ink. Our teacher brought some paintbrushes, paper and some ink and we all got the chance to paint our favorite Japanese characters.

It's actually harder than it looks. Because I like to draw, I thought it would be easier but I think it was more difficult just because I am so used to drawing with a sketching pencil. I'm used to drawing lightly and carefully applying pressure with my pencil to sketch the shape I want. With drawing, you can go over your lines, erase, and start back over. But with calligraphy, you have to be a bit rougher with the paintbrush, pressing harder here and then releasing the pressure in other areas to form the nice wing-like lines. The way the ink splatters on the page isn't always predictable... and you definitely cannot erase if you make a mistake.

Our kanji class

guess what these two characters mean? (Hint: it's a martial art)