On the mat with David Mamet

HOLLYWOOD — David Mamet would prefer to avoid conflict, but he isn't above choking another man into unconsciousness. He knows where the body's pressure points are and how to use them. And although the Chicago transplant never sets out to "win" a fight, his aim, should he be drawn into one, is simple: Don't lose.

Turns out Mamet's got a purple belt in jiu-jitsu. Who knew?

Quite a bit of dojo wisdom came up in conversation one sunny morning outside Street Sports Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, the Santa Monica academy where the Pulitzer Prize winner has studied martial arts for the last seven years. Lately, the way of the warrior has been front of mind for Mamet on professional and personal levels.

The writer-director's cerebral martial-arts potboiler, "Redbelt," opened in Seattle and other cities Friday. The film follows a jiu-jitsu academy owner (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who obeys a strict samurai code of honor; the prizefight circuit is anathema to his sense of integrity. However, when he gets sucked into a typically Mametian vortex of corruption, exploitation and deceit, the character must either suit up for a high-stakes cage fight at an Ultimate Fighting Championship-style event or fall short of his high moral ideals and face bankruptcy.

"The movie is my love letter to the world and philosophy of jiu-jitsu," Mamet said.

Also, through his connections at Street Sports, Mamet was able to enlist a who's who of mixed martial-arts and boxing luminaries in supporting roles. Three-time UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture has a role as a commentator; former WBA lightweight champ Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini plays a movie stunt coordinator; and John Machado, a multiple world jiu-jitsu titleholder, and Ejiofor's character must square off in the film's climactic battle.

Mamet credits Renato Magno, his instructor at Street Sports and a technical consultant on "Redbelt," with inspiring him. "Much of it is a homage to Renato and the people he introduced me to," he said. "A lot of them, guys from Brazil like John Machado, Rorian and Rickson Gracie, they understand jiu-jitsu as a spiritual discipline. It's a way of looking at life."

Even though mixed martial arts has reached a kind of cultural apogee lately — with televised bouts scheduled to appear on CBS and reality television shows about the sport regularly airing on Spike TV and Black Entertainment Television — Mamet said nothing other than personal enthusiasm and kismet had factored into his making "Redbelt."

"It takes a long time to do a movie," he said. "And to have it synergistically mesh with something that's going on in the world, it's an accident."

Mamet surveyed the practice facility's padded walls and floors. "The guys who train here are real fighters," he said. "Cops and Navy SEALS, stuntmen and bouncers. They come to learn skills in the real world.

"Why do a movie about this? There's no real answer. One's choices are not the result of intellectualization. It's the result of inspiration."