I got first interested with bonsai when I first saw the Karate Kid Movies. Just this year, I decided to start a new hobby of doing bonsai. I figured that I might as well start while I'm young so that I can enjoy them when I grow older. Learning from my cousin who is by his own right a "Bonsai Master". I can't help but compare bonsai with my training in the martial arts, particularly Karate. Learning about the "wabi", "sabi", and "kami" I began to understand what Miyagi told Daniel-san in the Karate Kid Movies. The Philosphy behind bonsai and karate training are very much similar. I really enjoyed learning from my cousin and I hope and aspire to continue learning bonsai as I did in Karate.
I've had a bit of a play around with bonsai myself. The fundamental difference that I have discovered, between bonsai and MA, is that with MA you have to constantly practice to improve. With bonsai, one of the hardest skills is doing nothing - leaving the thing alone to grow! I was always tempted to constantly prune and rewire and shape and mess about. Very wrong indeed! However, I agree with your premise.
That's a half assed description! A bonsai is a shrub or tree that is cultivated in such as way that it grows to maturity while remaining dwarfed. Thus you have a miniature replica of a full scale tree. The trick is to make it look as natural as possible as if it were a full grown tree in the wild. Do a google search on bonsai and I'm sure you'll find loads of information.
In a way I must agree. But training your bonsai is never ending. Unlike any other works of art, when the art work is done, you just leave it as is. Like say, a painting or a sculpture. But with bonsai, it is never ending. It grows more beautiful in the passage of time. So does MA training. It takes time and a lot of dedication to train. But I do agree that the waiting is just too much. Hence, PATIENCE a martial virture is aslo very important.
what about bonsai kitty guys? what a bunch of weirdos for that thing but Bonsai seems really cool and looks absolutley stunning. I wonder if i'm bonsai material.
I've had a bonsai for about 6 months or so now and actually my bonsai is growing so good that my girlfriends sister asked me to look after her sick bonsai tree. I'm still basically a newbie at it though cause I havn't really studied enough to know more then the basics. But I just pruned my tree a few days ago, nothing much really just getting rid of branches that were have dead or branches that were growing too big. But they;re are deffinitly fun to have. Once I actually spent around 2 hours just sitting and looking at my bonsai from different angles, don't ask my why, but I was just fasinated by it for some reason. Have any of you done this? Oh! and one idea I have, well I got some red woods seeds while I was on an ecology trip to California, and I want to try to make a Bonsai redwood, don't know if it'll work, but it sure would be fun Peace, Relosa
Yeah me too Where can you (or me) get a bonsai tree? And can i grow a bonsai in a colder climate like Wisconsin??
cold climate Bonsai. If I can grow them in Canada you can sure as shootin grow them in Wisconsin........of course I'm west coast canada, which never ever ever freezes........but yes you can. Try Banyon tree's from Okinawa, they grow insisde. I have been growing bonsai for a while now, my wife no longer lets me go hiking in the mountains with a shovel and back pack. hahahah mike O'Leary
You definitely can grow bonsai in cooler climates, just use native species. We have a bonsai club here in Winnipeg and they seem to be able to pull it off. I think our climate may be comparable to Wisconsin's if not a little harsher.
You guys are so lucky you have cold climate. here in the Philippines, we have a tropical climate. Luckily though, I live in a Province were there are a lot of trees. It's quite cold here too.
I live in China and grow some small trees. Bonsai is the Japanese name for the ancient practice began in China thousands of years ago. In China it is called 'penzai'. If you make a landscape with several plants rocks and maybe figures it is called 'penjing'. I actually began my journey in the Arts of the Way studying Japanese gardening and Bonsai at the age of seventeen. My family had tree and flowere nursery and hired a Japanese family to do Japanese landscaping. It was a great way to start the journey.