Earlier in 2017, I accepted a commission from my son, Sensei Joshua Copson, a 4th-degree black belt, to create a series of five paintings for his martial arts studio, The Blue Dragon Dojang.
He has developed Five Fold Way framework for martial arts instruction. These paintings embody the progress in their spiritual studies of his Oh Do Kwan students. The shapes are consistent with the five elements of the Gorintou – the Five Ring Pagoda.
He teaches the 5 elements in a circular pattern: Water, Earth, Void, Wind, Fire – with none being more powerful than any others but rather continually moving one into the other as they support the whole.
The first painting completed is the painting for Earth.
Earth represents the foundation of the world. The cube is the basis – hard, solid, objective. This is where conditioning breeds strength, certainty, and integrity.
In the martial arts, to master Earth is to be the toughest and strongest, to root yourself to the world having all attacks break upon you as you break your opponent.
“Root yourself to the world, pushing down through your foundations and out through your technique.”
~Sensei Joshua Copson
The originals in the Five Elements series are 30″ x 24″ mixed media on canvas paintings and will be hung in the Blue Dragon Dojang in Lovingston, Virginia. But you be able to buy framed prints and posters in a variety of custom formats and reproductions printed on all sorts of stuff including tote bags, phone cases and coffee mugs.
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