What Kesshi Actually Means

Whether it's a bruised knee or a broken heart. Could even be a burnt recipe in your oven. Don't regret trying.

Kesshi (決死) is not just a clothing brand. It's a philosophy. The two kanji translate into “Decide” and “death.” When you put those two together, you get “Do-or-Die Spirit” or a "Preparedness for death.” It describes the commitment it takes to achieve a goal, the spirit, the commitment, the sacrifices you end up making to see your dreams come to life.

Sacrifice and Hesitaion

Now, the days we are all living in don't call for a noble sacrifice or an ultimate goal that demands death upon completion. Realistically, we're replacing all that “death” with “failure.” The only way a dream can fail; Is if you never try. The fact that this website is up right now means that we are upholding our part of the Kesshi Philosophy. Acting on our dreams and giving it our best shot.

One of the main points of this “Do-or-die” mindset is the removal of hesitation. This world is painfully filled to the brim with it. Hesitation destroys your focus, your momentum, and your freedom as a human. You won't be able to get the chances you never took back again. Your hesitation forces you to watch others succeed. Others who are less prepared, experienced, less deserving will take those chances purely due to them stepping up and moving while you hesitated.

Fail, Fail, and Fail again

A “Kesshi” thought process requires a devotion to the “Now.” With less regard to the outcome. Because the simple, hesitant question of “Will this work?” shatters your focus. It'll make you sit there and think about all the ways you can fail. A Kesshi mindset eliminates the fear of failure, you accept failure, you accept “death”. Failure is only scary to those who have never won. Those who have won, understand the importance and necessity of failing.

If you just do it; and fail as it happens so often. The great news is that you only have one option. Try again, rather than never having given it a shot in the first place. “There is no failure in life when the goal is to experience.” Is a nice way of phrasing this “Kesshi” mentality. Kesshi has failed, we have failed, so many times. Designs that don't make the cut, orders that have gone wrong, prints that didn't turn out. We have failed so hard to the point of putting this dream on pause for nearly two years. But we came back, we have never “failed”, because this dream is still alive, and failure only comes from giving up.

The funny thing is that you actually don't even need to learn from the experience of failing all the time. You can fail. Not try again, and say to yourself, “Well, I tried.” and leave it at that. Failing is a part of life, learning comes naturally. Whether you try or not, you will learn from every experience, more so from your failures than anything else.

Whether it's a bruised knee or a broken heart. Could even be a burnt recipe in your oven. Don't regret trying.