SEVEN SAMURAI

As you can see, this design is based on the poster art for the classic film SEVEN SAMURAI by Akira Kurosawa. 

The Samurai has always been a central archetype in BJJ culture. Perhaps this is no surprise: Jigoro Kano devised his art as a means to preserve and cultivate those virtues he saw as best in Japanese culture - namely those contained in Bushido, the code of the Samurai - in the face of the deteriorating effect of Western influence. One can therefore assume that the spirit of these virtues would have been central to the art taught by Mitsuyo Maeda to a young Carlos Gracie. 

Now, as then, the lesser elements of Western culture work to undermine the long-standing martial virtues. Easy promotion entices and flashy marketing distracts. Gaudy showmanship overshadows quiet discipline. 

The Seven Samurai stood against an army of bandits: bandits who used the weapons and the skills of the samurai for their own selfish and violent ends, preying on the weak. Their story is the story of true samurai spirit standing against its own corrupted and fallen mirror image. 

Nowadays the fight continues, only now the bandits are less obvious. Nowadays those who corrupt the samurai spirit for their own selfish ends hide in plain sight. But just look around and you'll see them. There's a McDojo on every street corner, promising a black belt in two years if you just sign on the dotted line. There's a slick salesman in a kimono making empty promises. He tells you he's the real deal. He lets you believe in his character. He doesn't take your money: you hand it over.

​Five belts against an army of imitators. Five belts that can't be bought, that must be earned. The spirit of the seven lives on in Jiu-Jitsu from Brazil.

​Get the teeshirt here.