Chinese or Japanese

I am working on a calligraphy of 'Supreme Way Has No Hindrance'. A member of a martial arts forum I'm on sent me an image file with what he said is the kanji. However, the characters look more Chinese to me. I want to find out for sure and what exactly they say:

http://s40.photobucket.com/albums/e207/ladylupin/?action=...

Kanji characters in Japanese *came from* Chinese, so there of course is a great overlap :) The four characters exist in Japanese.

But the meaning of the phrase:
至道無難
...to me is a bit different. To me this says "To learn the Way is not difficult." Somehow the English phrase you are referring to sounds more like "where there is a will, there is a way" kind of detemination, this one (actually there is a second part to it) is more "accept things as they are" type of sentiment.

I know Japanese was influenced by Chinese, but I just wanted to be sure.

As for the translation, it was made by the late Robert Trias, whom played an important part in bringing karate to America. I'm not sure what he meant exactly by the phrase, but I rather like your take on it. it sounds like it's more meaningful that way.

Incidentally someone else was looking for the same phrase too...

http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+44960

Actually, that is me. Karrit is a nickname I use, but I'd rather use my real name on here.

Oh I see :) Good to see that you are finding all the bits and pieces for your project! :)

Indeed. But I also want to be careful. I don't want to be like someone I know of who got a tattoo of kanji that turned out to be something different than what she thought it was. She thought she had 'beauty', but it was the word for 'deer' instead.

Ouch! That's always the risk of getting a tattoo in a language you are not fully familiar with... with scrolls, it's not for life as it is with tattoo! I assure you there is no blunder like that in this phrase of yours at least :)

That's very true. LOL. And if there was, I'd hear it straight from Yuki-san. I'm going to start working on my project soon. A friend even offered to make me a custom stamp for my signature. I believe that's what the stamps with red ink were used for. =)

Enjira is Angela, but I prefer Tenshi as my Japanese name.