"Ninja Sword" Non-Controversy
My friend Scott W. found a 20-year old issue of a ninja magazine with a quote from Masaaki Hatsumi that supports what I have said about ninja swords for decades. I do not own a copy of the magazine, and I had long ago forgotten about the article. A few silly people envious of the attention my work has gotten over the past 30 years have tried to use a debate over ninja swords to discredit my authority. “If you can’t beat him, at least cheat him,” might be their battle cry. One of the “reputation-killer arguments” put out by those critics has been an attack on my...
read moreiNinja Steve Jobs?
A funny story hit the news today, in which it was reported by Japanese magazine SPA that Steve Jobs had some metal ninja shuriken throwing stars confiscated by the Japanese version of TSA security as he boarded his private jet back to America from Kyoto. Minutes after the story broke, I was phoned by reporter Brian Palmer of Slate.com, who wanted to know all the inside scoop about the ninja throwing stars. The story was later denied by Mr. Jobs’ people at Apple. Hmm… a ninja-style intelligence breach cover-up by the Apple people? Nonetheless, Slate.com ran Brian’s story...
read moreNinja Assassin and High Integrity
We discussed the movie “Ninja Assassin” in an earlier blog post. I got a lot of strong comments about what the movie was and what it could have been. Did you get a copy of the “Ninja Assassin” movie on Blu-Ray? Be sure you check the “Additional Features” section on the menu. Blu-Ray only; not the standard DVD. Before the film hit theaters, the producers flew me to Los Angeles to tape some commentary on the historical background of Japan’s real ninja. Also in the interview is actor Sho Kosugi from the movie, commenting on cultural perceptions of the ninja, and a local California...
read moreTeacher Teaches by Doing
Here’s a brief follow-up to my admonition to remember to include greenery on your martial arts dojo kamidana spirit shelf. A few friends wrote and chided me for not personally teaching them what they needed on that shelf. “How are we supposed to know? We didn’t live all those years in Japan like you did,” seemed to be a reasonable indignant response. (Awkward pause for effect) Uh… Well, try looking around. You’ve been to my dojo. You have seen photos of my school on the internet. You have read the books that describe how to set up your dojo (Enlightened...
read moreHow Real Was "Ninja Assassin"?
Some friends asked me what I thought of the movie Ninja Assassin. “So how real was it?” some asked. “Real? What can I say? It was a real movie, and it was about ninja assassins,” was all I could reply. “No, I mean is that what ninjutsu really looks like? How real was the stuff in the movie?” What am I supposed to say? Would you ask the CEO of Toys R Us how “real” he thinks the Nutcracker Ballet is in terms of its depiction of the way toys come alive at night and dance around under Christmas trees? What could he say? “Yes, but, you were trained in ninjutsu in the 1970s,...
read more1984 Ninja Night Warriors
Let’s go way back in time, back to the early 1980s. Think of a time when there was no internet, no DVD, no self-publishing, no MP3, no YouTube. Old enough to remember such a time? We had magazines. We had books. Those were my only possible channels for getting word out to the world that there was a new possibility in the martial arts – the training legacy of the ninja. And those channels were owned and controlled by a tight group of business people known as “the publishing industry”. If a publishing company did not believe that: My credentials were authentic I was capable of...
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