Mike Terry (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is the chief instructor at the Southside Jiu-Jitsu Academy. Although a talented fighter, he refuses to compete in professional bouts: "Competition weakens the fighter." Instead he trains dedicated students in the art of self-defense: bodyguards, cops, soliders. At his brother-in-law's club one evening, Mike saves a famous action star, Chet Frank, (Tim Allen) from a severe beating. His defense of Frank leads to a job in the film industry, but other events conspire to force Mike to participate in a prize fight. An American samurai film set in the world of mixed martial arts, David Mamet's "Redbelt" is a story about the limits of a single man's integrity.