The Oni
Project
0.01
The Beginning
Submission Concepts was my foundation for starting martial arts. Their facilities and community gave me more than I could have expected.
When I was presented with the opportunity to create a unique variation of an oni to be used on multiple designs for products of the gym, Submission Concepts, so came my next palm to bare. The main goal was to develop a version that represented their main values of tradition discipline and community. An oni symbolizes safety and protection from evil forces. This ignited my curiosity.
Challenges
The goals were simple. The form, however, took much to consider. I began diving into what inspired my take and chose to include the logo of the gym. The meaning of their logo was home and so it made sense to center it within the forehead of the helmet. Once this became clear everything around it was to represent the wisdom it takes to meet danger with such resilience. Horns for strength and grounding as are trunks to trees. A swirl of wind and water on each of the sails on the temples resembling flow and grace. The rage, as if forged by fire, in the face of the mask marking the fearlessness within.
What It Became
It’s now an established symbol of the gym and all its fortitude. All the lessons I and many others have come to possess lie in a simple design. I couldn’t be more thankful to have had the opportunity to create this design.
This wasn’t my dream to be someone who became responsible for showing others why discipline is so necessary or to have come up with a symbol to represent such resilience. What I desired most was safety itself- to be so sure in my ability to handle my surroundings.
How It Lives On
That is what Submission Concepts, and all its members have given me- a safe place to learn, mess up, and develop hard skills without judgement.
I found structure there; I found community and was given guidance. When I look at this symbol that is what I'm reminded of. There are no easy days in life, yet if you are given the right people and tools, life can be lived, even in suffering, with joy.
