Shibumi: elegant simplicity

Shibumi is a Japanese word. I do not understand Japanese so I have no idea if I am understanding the concept properly. I can only go by translations that are offered. Some of the interpretations I have read:

• elegance
• elegant simplicity
• understated refinement
• refined to the point of austerity

An excellent book.

A book I owned when I was training in Wing Chun Kung Fu was called Living The Martial Way by Forrest E. Morgan. In this book he described the quality of shibumi. I was so taken with his words that I wrote it down on an index card which I have to this day. If you are training in the martial arts, or have any interest in this field, I highly recommend this book.

The quote reads:

“Developing your sense of shibumi is a deliberate process of carving away. You pare away everything in your technique, your conduct, and your manner that is imperfect or superfluous. What is left is simple, elegant, and dignified.”

I had already developed my philosophy of TWD very close to what it is today when I discovered shibumi. The austerity of TWD, the simplicity of it, and the concept of shibumi meshed in my mind instantly.

I had been going through the exact process he described as I worked on TWD. I had been paring away all the superfluous principles and ideas to arrive at the most elegant description of TWD that I was able.

The beginning.

This quote is the source of my interest in living a minimalist life. I hold the concept of shibumi as an ideal before me. It has influenced my living arrangements, my clothing choices, my personality, the way I go about my day to day interactions, pretty much everything.

How about you?

Have you ever experienced something similar? Can you remember reading or learning something that changed you in some fundamental way for the better? Something that you now hold as an ideal to which you aspire?