Self-Discipline 克己
kokki2 characters10 strokes
克己 (kokki) means self-discipline: winning out over your own urge to slack off and your selfish wishes, so you can keep moving toward your goal.
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Meaning 意味
What 克己 means
The Japanese word for self-discipline, written with 2 kanji and read kokki.
克己 means overcoming the part of yourself that wants to slack off or have its own way. The two characters say it directly: 克, overcome, and 己, oneself.
Where it comes from. The word comes from the Analects of Confucius, where Confucius says that mastering yourself and returning to proper conduct (克己復礼) is true goodness.
When people write it in Japan. People in Japan write 克己 to express a firm resolve to keep working toward a goal without giving in to themselves.
Japanese students learn the last of these kanji in junior high school.
How to write it 書き方
Brush tips for 克己
Three things to watch
- In 克, keep 十 at the top small and make the 口 in the middle wide, with the lower part set beneath it.
- Bend the last stroke of 克 to the right, then flick up, balancing it with the left sweep.
- 己 has 3 strokes. Bend the last one at the bottom, stretch it to the right and flick up, keeping the gaps between strokes about even.
Stroke order
Follow the vermilion stroke, frame by frame.
Stroke order data: KanjiVG by Ulrich Apel, CC BY-SA 3.0.
How to practice 練習
Trace first, then copy
- PrintPrint both pages at actual size, on US Letter or A4. Page 1 is the model. Page 2 is the tracing sheet.
- TraceTrace the outlines with a brush pen. Or lay thin hanshi paper over the page and trace with brush and ink.
- CopySet the model beside your paper and copy it stroke by stroke. Look at the model more than at your own paper.
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