Kanji Tee
$27
Classic fit, fine jersey tee. The front side features a rounded Japanese kanji design which can be translated as “The Gentle Art.” The back side features a large “BJJINK” logo with the words “Técnica & Pressão” and additional kanji logographic that translates to “INK.” Printed locally in Orange County, California.
Design
- Crew neck
- Side seamed
- Softhand plastisol print
-
Description
Técnica & Pressão
Retracing Concepts
Methods of combat are as old as time and continually evolve. The Japanese of the Nara period (c. 710 – c. 794) combined early forms of Sumo and other martial arts to focus on hand-to-hand combat. Other techniques such as throwing, joint locks, and chokes were more systematically developed in later feudal Japan, particularly within samurai martial traditions. They were all rooted in the principle of using an attacker’s energy against him, rather than directly opposing it.
The kanji featured in our design reads “Ju-Jutsu,” and can be broken down into two parts. The first character “Jū”(柔) is a concept. The idea meaning “to be gentle”, “to yield”, “to blend”, or “to give way.” In contrast, “Jutsu” (術) is “the action” part of Ju-Jutsu. In Japanese this word means technique, science, or art. What we know today as “The Gentle Art” began by developing efficient methods for defeating armored opponents in combat without using weapons. Emphasizing leverage and technique over brute force, while using an opponent’s force against them rather than opposing it.
Drawing the lines
The evolution of “Ju-Jutsu” is never ending in its forms and manifestations. What we know as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was first developed in the 1920’s after a traveling Japanese judōka named Mitsuyo Maeda passed techniques to students that included Carlos Gracie and Luiz França.
The Gracie family went on to develop and modify their own self defense system named Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, and have been largely successful in combat sports over the last 80 years representing the art. With the rise of the UFC in the 1990’s, Rorion Gracie helped bring full-contact combat sport events to America which were modeled after similar “Vale Tudo” events in Brazil. Through the vehicle of MMA, the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu subculture has rapidly expanded all over the world. Our collective history as martial artists enables us to share this common thread of unity.
