What Does It Mean to Be Yudansha?

Many practitioners of the martial arts start their journey for a variety of reasons, but ultimately, their goal becomes a quest seeking the esoteric "Black Belt", and mastering their art.  Then they disappear, walking away into the sunset with a black band wrapped around their waist, as if that's all there was to the journey, to being Yudansha.  Having earned the first degree of black belt in their art of choice, they forget that starting this journey began with a single step, but this is a journey that never ends.

Yudansha is made of 3 words, "yu", "dan", and "sha", and translates to someone holding a dan rank, or a high-ranking person, but what does it mean to be Yudansha?  No matter if your title is sensei, professor, kru, teacher, or coach, you'll always be a perpetual student.  There is always another level, another tier, another ladder to climb.  In the world of martial arts, you're continuously learning, and there's always a bigger, meaner, hungrier fish.  So, what does it mean to be Yudansha?  It means never cease growing, never become stagnant. 

The stagnant pond is a dying pond, as is the stagnant human soul whose spiritual flames aren't being fanned but reduced to embers.  Yudansha elevate themselves physically, mentally, spiritually, striving to be better than yesterday's version of themselves.  Following some form of the "Bushido Code", a Yudansha is a warrior, above all else, in a physical and spiritual sense, and fans the flames of those he/she encounters along their path. 

Practicing whichever version of the ancient samurai's "Bushido code" that every warrior has instilled in him at some point, the Yudansha walks with justice, courage, benevolence, courtesy, honesty and sincerity, loyalty, self–control, and above all else, honor and integrity.  As Royce Gracie is quoted saying, "A black belt covers two inches of your ass.  You have to cover the rest." 

With that being said, Yudansha must act and hold themselves as such, holding themselves accountable for their actions, words, and emotions.  Not only are Yudansha high-quality martial artists, but high-quality human beings, mentors, and last, but not least, students.  Yes, students, even as black belts. 

Yudansha Fightwear emulates this view of the Yudansha, and as such, we strive for the highest quality training apparel and customer service available.  We hold ourselves to a higher standard, as all Yudansha should.   We aren't a company that caters only to black belts.  We are simply warriors assisting other warriors in their journey, or as Musashi Miyamoto said, "Their Way", the individual path that each of us must traverse.