“Sisu”: What a Finnish Action Masterpiece Teaches Us About Grit
You might’ve seen the movie Sisu (2022) by Jalmari Helander—the film throws you right into late-WWII Finland, where a gold prospector, Aatami Korpi (played by Jorma Tommila), is ambushed by a Waffen-SS unit. Instead of backing down, he unleashes an unstoppable fusillade of revenge—viscerally, creatively, relentlessly. It’s the kind of action that has critics calling it “Fury Road meets John Wick”, and a one-man killing machine on a blood-soaked rampage through snowy Lapland GQWikipedia.
But beneath that gore-laden fury lies something deeper: sisu—a Finnish word that literally can’t be translated. In Sisu, the tagline frames it perfectly: “Sisu is a Finnish word impossible to translate. It signifies a white-knuckled form of courage and unimaginable determination. Sisu manifests when all hope is lost.” Wikipedia
That’s the heart of the film—and the heart of what I want you to feel when training, when facing adversity, when life pushes back.
What “Sisu” Means On Screen—and In You
Aatami Korpi embodies sisu: silent, stoic, and unstoppable. His gold is stolen, his world is stripped away—but he refuses to surrender. He fights by any means necessary, and his sheer will becomes his weapon WikipediaGQ.
The movie itself is a testament: lean, high-octane action that’s as brutal as it is beautiful, set against the harsh Finnish wilderness. Grit isn’t abstract—it’s every punch, every struggle captured in white snow and blood-red streaks GQWikipedia.
Beyond the action, sisu is a cultural touchstone—“extraordinary determination in the face of extreme adversity,” marrying courage, perseverance, and stoic resolve Wikipedia.
Let’s Bring It Into Our Training—and Our Lives
You’ve seen Sisu. You felt it. Now let's make it your metric.
You’re on the mat, exhausted. A normal person taps out. You? You tap into sisu. You hold—because quitting isn’t in your playbook.
You’ve been beaten on, life’s knocked you down again. Sisu isn’t just bouncing back—it’s rising, with fire in your eyes, ready to face what’s next.
You’re training your body—but are you also training your mind? Sisu isn’t a rep count. It’s the voice that says, “One more.” Long after the body protests.
In Sisu, the movie tells us what the word really means: ‘a white-knuckled form of courage and unimaginable determination.’ But what it shows—that’s where the fire lies.
So the next time you want to quit—whether on the mat, at work, or in the fight of your life—remember Aatami Korpi. Remember Sisu.
Sisu is that quiet beast inside you that surfaces when the world says “no more.” Train for strength. Train for resolve. Train for Sisu.