The tattoos is two of the verses of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dao_de_jing">Dao De Jing,</a> in Classical Chinese.
Chinese is read up-to-down, right-to-left.) The three columns on the right are chapter 6; the two on the left, chapter 71. (And since it's not Japanese, it ain't kanji.)
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<blockquote>
#6:
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The valley spirit never dies.
<br>It is the mysterious female,
<br>and its opening is the root of Heaven and Earth.
<br>Use it effortlessly; it will never run dry.
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#71:
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Knowing ignorance is strength.
<br>Ignoring knowledge is sickness.
<br>If one is sick of sickness, then one is not sick.
<br>The sage is not sick because he is sick of sickness.
<br>Therefore he is not sick.
</blockquote>
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There's also a zillion other translations of those two verses that look nothing like the ones given above. Ain't classical Chinese great?