Have you ever wondered why there are many sakura (cherry blossom) designs on martial arts equipment?
In Japan, there was a saying "花は桜木、人は武士" - Hana wa Sakuragi, Hito wa Bushi.
Meaning, "The best flower is cherry blossom (sakura) and the best human is samurais".
Japanese people considered cherry blossom the best flower as it is beautful and flashy when they bloom.
They also considered cherry blossom falling to be most beautiful and graceful.
Back in Edo Period, they had a class system, and samurais were considered to be the highest among all people. Just like the cherry blossom, they considered samurais to be the best people as they also die (fall) gracefully.
Thus, samurais started using cherry blossom design with the idea of "we are beautiful and graceful just like sakura".
