Kintsugi no-gi set in blue and gold. During our social media campaign about this product, a lot of our fans really resonated with the concept behind this no-gi set and we are very excited for you all to be wearing it.
Kintsugi is the name used in Japanese pottery to denote when something is cracked or broken, but fixed and made whole again and maybe even improved. It carries the theme that objects are made to be used and might – or in fact should – receive wear and tear over time that will lead to imperfections, but we should embrace these imperfections as proof that the object is fulfilling its purpose in life. People are like this too – most of us have scars, either physical and mental or both (definitely physical if you do jiujitsu), but each of the scars is an integral part of us.
“Not only is there no attempt to hide the damage, but the repair is literally illuminated… a kind of physical expression of the spirit of mushin….Mushin is often literally translated as “no mind,” but carries connotations of fully existing within the moment, of non-attachment, of equanimity amid changing conditions. …The vicissitudes of existence over time, to which all humans are susceptible, could not be clearer than in the breaks, the knocks, and the shattering to which ceramic ware too is subject. This poignancy or aesthetic of existence has been known in Japan as mono no aware, a compassionate sensitivity, or perhaps identification with, [things] outside oneself.”
— Christy Bartlett, Flickwerk: The Aesthetics of Mended Japanese Ceramics
