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The Kodokan Tenugui
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| The above shows the Chinese characters from the sho or shodo (calligraphy) on the tenugui with the Japanese pronunciation and in English, their Confucian meanings. | |
| The Combination of the characters (Jin-Gi-Rei-Chi-Shin) is called Gojo in Japanese. Gojo represents the five ethics which should be kept by a human being in Confucianism. The Tokugawa Shogunate adopted Confucianism as an official ideology. Gojo therefore became a samurai's ethics standard. These are also the five values represented by the five pleats in the front of a hakama and in the 5 knots in the bamboo of a shinai Tenugui have been used as a ceremonial ornament since ancient times. They were also used as a guard under the helmet in the age of civil wars. Kabuki actors designed their own original tenugui and gave it to their patrons as a gift since the early days of the Edo era. |
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also 'thanks' to Nagao Sensei for the information on tenugui and the characters. |
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The Kodokan Kamon (club emblem) is a butterfly - 'chocho' in flight design, evoking the famous quote from Muhammad Ali - 'Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee' (made at the weigh-in for his fight with Sonny Liston 25th February 1964)
