This was Akira Kurosawa's first movie as the credited director. It's basically The Karate Kid except it's based on a real story and it's about judo. In the movie, it's the typical path of mastering oneself then mastering the marital arts. He is a street thug who ends up winning tournaments yada yada. But the real life is actually funnier/tragic. He started off winning tournaments and ended up a street thug. Anyway, a fine first film but definitely a first film.