It has been said by some that the warriors of the Heavenly Kingdom do not belong on the Field of Honor

It has been said by some that the warriors of the Heavenly Kingdom do not belong on the Field of Honor.
(Samurai do not belong in the lists)

The Three Vows of Honour
I vow to honor my foe and call his blows fairly and trust that he is fair in turn
I vow to honor my chosen ancestors, to learn well their weapons and the manner in which they wield them.
I vow to honor my hosts, to learn well their weapons and the manner in which they wield them.

It has been said by some that the warriors of the Orient do not act like guests among us and upset the tranquility of the Kingdom.
(Samurai do not act like guests)
(Samurai mar my medieval groove)

The Three Vows of Harmony
I vow to remember that I am a guest within this society and show gratitude for the hospice.
I vow to keep my arms, armour, and dress suitable to my station.
I vow to show respect to the King, the Peers of the Realm, the Nobles and Barons, and all the populace of the Kingdom.

The Three Vows of Knowledge
I vow to learn deeply of the ways and customs of my chosen ancestors
    - to honor, cherish, and emulate them.
I vow to learn deeply of the ways and customs of my hosts
    - to honor, cherish, and emulate them.
I vow to share what I learn to those who wish to know but never preach to those who do not."
    - Otagiri Tatsuzou, October 25, 2005.

Honor - Harmony - Knowledge
- Saionji no Hanae, December 2005. Acrylics on paper and silk.

Painting based on photo by William Sancheval at Clan Yama Kaminari's website. (Detail shown below.)

When the muse wakes you out of a sound sleep in the wee small hours of the morning with a crystalline vision so perfect you can't ignore it, what do you do? Within hours of reading Otagiri's eloquent words, I was messaging Hiraizumi-sensei to find out what the kanji for "honor," "harmony" and "knowledge" were and flipping through art books to look at how samurai armor was rendered in scroll and screen paintings from the feudal period. Several weeks followed, in which I practiced my non-existent calligraphic skills on the three kanji, made sketches, experimented with colors, brushwork effects and tried to decide how best to meld the realities of list-legal SCA armor and Yamato-e stylistic convention.

For the record, I do NOT recommend using acrylic paint and conventional paint brushes for Japanese calligraphy.

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