My origami journey

Origami, an art form that breathes life into a sheet of paper, always attracts me to find how the folds can transform a paper into a three-dimensional creature. So, I wanted to share my personal journey of discovering and falling in love with origami.

Origami is the ancient art of paper folding. The word “origami” comes from the combination Japanese word “ori” (folding) and “kami” (paper).

About the origin of Origami, we all know that papers come from China, but it was in Japan that origami is considered as a tradition art, also developed into high level nowadays.

Traditional origami

The traditional origami is quite simple, with no limitation on the type of paper or folding techniques used. You can use a square, triangle, or any shape of paper you desire. Glue or cutting is necessary for many models. The topic of traditional origami is also narrower, mostly about the tradition culture of Japan.

For more traditional and simple origami, you can visit Mr. Fumiaki Shingu's website .

Modern origami

Over the years, origami has evolved, giving rise to modern techniques and more complex designs. The art form has become increasingly challenging and diverse.
There are numerous complex and interesting models, along with their creators. Perharps I may not be able to mention all of them here. I will make a separated post about this topic.
And then, let me share how I stumbled upon origami and my own Origami journey.

The early years

When I was at the primary school, we had a weekly craft class where we learn create some simple crafts from paper or clay. I was introduced to basic origami models like the lotus flower, crane, and paper ship. However, I didn’t know it was called origami at the time.

One afternoon,when I was in grade 5, my friend gave me a strange paper airplane. He demostrate its ability to fly , swing in the sky for a long time before landing. I was amazed by this unique airplane, unlike any I had seen before.

When I asked him how to fold it, he suggested me seach on Youtube with the key word: “How to make a paper airplane that flies forever”. That sound strange, but I gave it a try, and the result was amazing. It was my first glimpse of the incredible potential of paper.

After that, I made more search about the paper creation, that open the gate for me to the world of Origami : “How to make a paper dinosaur?”. The search results delighted me, displaying numerous origami models that instantly captured my attention. I realized I had discovered something truly fascinating.

The first video I watched was about the Tyranosaurus-rex by Mr.John Montroll, made by Mr.Jo Nakashima, you can find the turtorial here.

And well, I failed at folding the first model, even after many attempts.

From this time, I spend most of my time to just folding and more folding. I spend hours in bookstores in my town, go through shelves for Origami books. The first journey was challenging, many folds was very difficult, one of the most memorable model is three-headed dragon of John Montroll. It took me over one years to recognize how to fold the head, which come from a bird-base, in a right way.

The choice of paper is crucial

In the beginning, I used whatever paper I could find, from my notebook paper to magazines and even old newspapers. Each paper had its own unique qualities and challenges. While color paper is colorful, but the size is so limit, and it just suiltable with simple models. On the other hand, newspaper is much larger, also thin and strong enough to fold more complex models, but the only weekness is the lack of vibrant colors, of course.

But when the model becomes more complex, and also, my skills has been improved overtime, my requirements for myself become harder. I want to find a better type of paper. At this time, I found that Crumple paper is very popular in Viet Nam Origami Commnity.Ahh, I want to try it. But in my town, i can't find this paper in any shops. Haizz.

But forget about that, let's move to the next part

The turning point

A significant turning point came when I entered grade 9. After spending years folding models from YouTube tutorials and books, I discovered another valuable resource in my origami journey: crease patterns (CP). CPs are simplified representations of origami structures, offering a more advanced form of instruction. While most complex model is so time-cosumming to make a detail tutorial or diagram, create pattern is a good choice to present the structure of model, also a challenge for anyone who want to fold this model. After years and years folding diagrams, I recognize that every model was the combination of many different structures, and the most simple structure, called traditional bases, can be apply to every model we want. I have folded many create pattern, also appy the basic base to expand the old model. Then I recorgnize that we can change a little in the structure and develop the fold in the way we want, to present out own view about this model.

That’s why I found joy in folding, modifying existing models, and exploring my own creative variations.

A year later, as I graduated from secondary school, and move the live in my relative house for the high school. I also start to use the social media, then connected with more origaminists in Vietnam and around the globe. Engaging with this community gave me chances to see more and more beautiful models, helped me refine my folding skills, also defined my unique style.

And yeah, I got my first Crumple paper at this time, from that, most of my folds are made of it. However, I just kept a little pictures of them:

Yeah, This is the captures of my journey from the beginning to my final year in the high school. After that, I took a break for a while to prepare for an important graduation competition

When I come to the university, and have some really insteresting experience here. But i will tell you later. This post is already so long.

Finally, I hope you enjoy reading. In the next post, how about introducing some of my favorite origaminists, or delve into the process of folding a specific model. With origami, every model have it own story, and I was just in the beginning to unveil a little of these stories.