He emphasized that strokes must not be analyzed in
isolation, but in relation to the whole of the writing.
In other words, there are two procedures in analyzing
handwriting: analysis and synthesis.
The latter relates
to the intricacies of how the mind works.
From then on, more and more respected philosophers,
psychologists and scientists studied handwriting analysis,
being curious about personality revealed through
handwriting, and wanting to dig deeply and open the
veil of its mystery.
Through the power of pursuing knowledge and exploring
from multiple directions, handwriting analysis developed
toward a more mature status. In the first half of the 20th
century, Milton Bunker established the American
Grapho-analysis Society in the United States. Much of the
way handwriting analysis is now understood and taught has
been profoundly influenced by Bunker's way of teaching
the subject.
In addition, research has continued, mostly in Europe,
establishing the statistical validity of the correlation
between strokes in handwriting and traits of personality.
Within the last decade, the
Grapho-Analytics Institute of
Handwriting Analysis, established by Mr. Bart Baggett,
has become one of the best known and most well
respected schools of handwriting analysis in the United
States.
Mr. Baggett also has credentials in
Neuro-Linguistic
Programming and hypnosis, and has pioneered the
integration of these approaches to understanding the
human mind with the study of handwriting. In the late
1980s he invented the Grapho-deck, probably the
easiest way to quickly learn and begin using handwriting
analysis in daily life.
Chou Wen-chuan
When I, first approached Mr. Baggett with the idea of
establishing a branch of his institute in Taiwan, he
responded with enthusiasm. Every step of this project
has proceeded with his guidance, and now the history
of handwriting analysis is entering a new stage. As
you now learn and apply this science and art you, too,
are becoming an important new part of this history.
The Relationship Between Handwriting and Personality
According to European research, the relationship between
the formation of letters and the neurology of the brain is
very exact. Any stroke, whether dot, hook, line, curve, or
loop, is directed by neural impulses governed by the
conscious or the unconscious mind.
From these strokes we can see quickly a person's thinking
patterns, learning ability, manner of expressing feelings,
low or high self-confidence, fears, attitudes and abilities in
communicating with others, ability to set goals, and attitude
to carry out the goals - the list could go on.
It has been estimated that there are between 100 and 120
basic personality traits that can be reliably deduced from
handwriting, yet these basic elements of personality cannot
be seen in isolation. According to the research the
relationships between these elements of personality can
wax and wane, interacting in an interplay of mutual
production and destruction. Therefore the basic 100 to
120 traits can multiply into a vast array of evaluated traits
sufficient to describe the complexity of human behavior
and personality.
An American statistician has pointed out that the odds of
two people having identical handwriting are
68,000,000,000,000 to one. In a world of only 6 billion
people it is extremely unlikely that any two people will
ever have exactly the same handwriting, or the same
personality.
Even so, handwriting analysis is more than capable of
dealing with the complexity and uniqueness of any
person who is able to write the Western European type
of cursive handwriting.
Handwriting is brain writing, and the personality revealed
by the handwriting remains constant no matter what part
of the body is used to write. Even if disease, violence, or
accident results in losing use of the hands so that the
person has to use their mouth or foot to write, the
handwriting remains constant enough to still reveal the
personality through the same traits that are written by
the hand.
Some things cannot be reliably deduced from
handwriting. Age, gender, nationality, and racial background are not
revealed in handwriting. Some people think that they can
tell whether a handwriting sample was written by a man or
a woman, but when put to the test these assertions invariably
fail.
Applications
In the West, handwriting analysis is generally used in
three ways:
1) Analyzing the personality of the writer,
2) Changing neural patterns, and
3) Questioned
document examination.
The latter is generally
considered a distinct field.
Acceptance of handwriting analysis in the United States
has been increasing for the last 50 years. It's accuracy is
always amazing. It is not only used in law enforcement,
it is being used increasingly as a psychological projective
test. After learning handwriting analysis we are able to
know in greater depth and breadth our mental activities
and the traits of our personalities.
Many examples show us that the one who can master their
own destiny is the one who knows and uses their mental
power. Bill Gates, in his recent book "Business at the
Speed of Thought," points out that in the next decade the
emphasis will be on speed.
In other words, the ones who can grasp the first
opportunity in a very short time are the ones who
will enjoy success the most quickly.
So, how to smell the first opportunity? And then, how do
you grasp it? The answers to these questions lay in the
potential for change in the human mind. The more
effectively you can reprogram your neural processing, the
better prepared you will be to take advantage of the
opportunities all around you.
Grapho-therapy offers an amazingly effective process to
reprogram your mind by repatterning your neurology.
After learning handwriting analysis we not only know
ourselves, at the same time it helps us to know other
people.
For instance, when teachers understand students'
individual learning patterns, they are then better
prepared to teach according to each student's
learning ability, and to remove confusion, and so
guide them to their fullest potential.
The same principle can apply to hiring the director
of a company. If they know the qualifications
required for a position, they can better evaluate
prospective employees by analyzing their handwriting.
There is a Chinese saying: "A man is afraid of getting
into the wrong career. A woman is afraid of marrying
the wrong man." Is it possible to detect potentially
destructive personality traits in a potential partner before
getting involved? For example, violent tendencies,
bizarre sexual appetites, habitual deceit, jealousy, dual
personality, and so on?
And is it possible to detect any clue to incompatibility
before finding out after getting emotionally involved
with each other? The answer to both questions is,
"Yes." In a situation that one may want to make romantic,
how do you impress that potential partner favorably?
Understanding their needs and emotions is essential, and
these can be detected instantly by analyzing a sample of
their handwriting.
The authors are both professional personal consultants.
In order to rapidly detect clients' mental bottlenecks we
use the skill of handwriting analysis. Its accuracy always
puts a finger on the clients' greatest disturbances in an
amazing way.
The analysis of personality through handwriting is the
result of scientific research. It cannot predict the future
or tell us what has happened in the past.
In other words, it is not fortunetelling. It can however,
detect the potential for success within our personalities.
With the guidance of a handwriting analyst trained in
grapho-therapy, we can change the unconscious mental
behaviors that hinder success, happiness, and confidence.
In school we were taught to write in ways that required
modeling our writing styles on the writing of some dead
people from long ago. In American schools, this involved
adhering to a style of writing known as the Palmer System.
In Taiwanese schools it involved imitating the
brushstrokes of the examples provided. In Taiwan,
practicing these brushstrokes was taught as a way
of cultivating ourselves.
Chou Wen-chuan
After learning handwriting analysis I, was surprised at
the wisdom of the elders who promoted this method of
self-cultivation. At the same time I was concerned about
their criteria for choosing the models, because we don't
know the personalities of the original writers.
What personality traits could we have been installing in
ourselves without being aware of it? It seems that how
children are taught to write both reflects and forms societal
character.
For example, throughout the first half of the 20th century,
German children were taught to write with very tall and
sharp humps on their m's and n's. This is related to a very
rapid style of thinking, one which includes tremendous
curiosity. Is it any coincidence that this country then
produced many of the greatest physical scientists of this
century?
When schools begin incorporating the fruits of
grapho-analytical therapy into their teaching methods and models,
it will produce a revolution in education the likes of
which has rarely been seen before.
Written by Chou Wen-chuan & Dennis Rudolph
(Copyright 1999 by Chou Wen-chuan & Dennis Rudolph)
You will find the Handwriting University Taiwan Website Here.
