Ninja craze

[Ironcrane]

Ok, so we all know that the current fad in Martial Arts is MMA. And I mean no offense saying that, as the antics of the MMA fanboys are hated just as much by the serious MMA practitioners, as by the rest of us.

But what about the 80's during the Ninja craze? What where the antics of the Ninja fanboys? Did they throw down smokebombs, and try to hide somewhere in the middle of practice? Did anyone of them come into class wearing a full Ninja suit? Did they ramble on, and on about being sneaky, and having x amount of lethal techniques?

What did they do, and how did we handle them?

 

[Chris Parker]

Oh boy, memory lane, how I avoid thee...

The most common version of not-entirely-legitimate-ninja-guy was someone with some level of (often) karate or tae kwon do (as that is what was seen in the movies), changing the uniform to black (and yes, often adding the hood, sleeves, and more, despite the fact that the legit groups didn't have them...), adding a little bit of grappling usually taken from judo or similar, adding weaponry from Chinese systems (three-sectional staffs etc) and karate systems (nunchaku, tonfa, kama), a few more ninja-like items (shuriken, metsubishi, straight ninja swords), and a bit of gymnastics (often taken from gymnastics themselves, meaning that instead of rolling from shoulder to hip, the roll is along the spine, and often not very well done either).

There would also be "creative" histories, which could very easily be disproven. And, yes, most would harp on the "stealth" and "military" side of things, usually not anything to do with the actual art.

But the important thing to remember is that these schools filled a niche. They attracted those people looking for what they saw in the movies, and those looking for something real didn't stay there. Those that were looking for the fantasy-based version didn't stay in the legit schools either, leaving to go to one of the other kind. So there really wasn't much in the way of competition from them, the same way that if you are after a car to drive your family around, no matter how good/pretty the motorbike the dealer is showing you, you aren't going to buy it.

 

[Bruno@MT]

It's as Chris says: there is almost no overlap between the 2 groups. I've always avoided anything 'ninja'. I ended up in my Genbukan dojo accidentally because it was advertized as a jujutsu club, and only found out about ninpo when I had already agreed to drop by for a try-out lesson. Before I joined up I did a lot of research to make sure that I was joining a 'real' system and not someones fantasy world.

As for the ninja antics in the 80s: throwing stars were all the rage among young boys. We used plastic throwing stars that were used in the real world for fixing insulation in construction works. Some people started making their shuriken from steel plate. It was then that throwing stars got added to the list of banned weapons, and even today it is illegal to even own them.

 

[theletch1]

Heh, ya'll are acting as if there aren't any idjit ninjers still around. Either early this year or late last year there were a bunch of kids running around in full ninja gear getting into trouble (they were more like free runners) with running on roofs and vandalising property. The local flea market has a store that does a booming business selling stars, ninja-to, claws, tabi... you name it they carry it and sell plenty of it. I suspect that the movie "Ninja Assassin" will spark a renewed interest in movie ninja-dom for you guys to deal with. If you have folks coming through the door wanting to learn the movie stuff tell them what I tell folks coming through the door of my aikido dojo looking for a meditation circle... the truth about what and how you teach. If they're worth your time they'll stick around.

 

[Ken Morgan]

I'm still waiting for the iaido craze to hit full force....

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

I'm still waiting for the iaido craze to hit full force....

Hey Ken some thing tells me that it will be a long, long wait!

 

[Senjojutsu]

I'm still waiting for the iaido craze to hit full force....

When the iaido craze hits then we will have iaido groupies, yes?

Maybe women who were recent ex-strippers or even ex-Hooters' waitresses - who wish to reform their wanton ways and seek moral guidance in the modern world?
I have a dream.

 

[Senjojutsu]

But what about the 80's during the Ninja craze? What where the antics of the Ninja fanboys? Did they throw down smokebombs, and try to hide somewhere in the middle of practice? Did anyone of them come into class wearing a full Ninja suit? Did they ramble on, and on about being sneaky, and having x amount of lethal techniques?

What did they do, and how did we handle them?

The Ninja craze is still alive and well.

IT JUST MOVED ONTO YOUTUBE !!!

The Grandmaster Ashida Kim himself!

...and the torch is being passed to a new Ninja generation!

opcorn:

 

[Aiki Lee]

The Ninja craze is still alive and well.

IT JUST MOVED ONTO YOUTUBE !!!

The Grandmaster Ashida Kim himself!

...and the torch is being passed to a new Ninja generation!

opcorn:

Wow. That's just the best thing ever.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Ahh the ninja craze…. I will never forget seeing some guy walking down a main street in a city in Central Massachusetts during a week day in full Ninja regalia... and it was not Halloween

But rewind 10 years and you have the Kung Fu craze brought on by Bruce Lee and David Caradine. I would be lying if I said that did not, at least in part, contriburte to me staying in Martial Arts.... and many years later switching to CMA..... and we had throwing stars in the early 70s too

 

[girlbug2]

The Ninja craze is still alive and well.

IT JUST MOVED ONTO YOUTUBE !!!

The Grandmaster Ashida Kim himself!

...and the torch is being passed to a new Ninja generation!

opcorn:

Yes, pure awesomeness!

 

[IcemanSK]

In the early 80's, my buddy & I read the Stephen Hayes articles in "Kick Illustrated" & other magazines, but we never brought it on the mat. Our instructor would not have been happy. By the mid 80's, it was Sho Kosugi flicks that we laughed at & enjoyed. The local MA supply store stocked bunches of ninja stuff for all kids to miss-use in their back yards.

There was one guy at our school who was really into the ninja thing. He was a patient at the local state hospital who's doors President Reagan opened due to cost. This guy ("China") walked around town in either a ninja suit (minus the mask, cuz the cops asked him not to) complete with bo staff, or an orange jumpsuit & Palestinian head-covering that went really well with his long blond hair! He was harmless, really, but his appearance made a generation of kids in my town be able to put a face to the term "stranger."

 

[Kittan Bachika]

In the early 80's, my buddy & I read the Stephen Hayes articles in "Kick Illustrated" & other magazines, but we never brought it on the mat. Our instructor would not have been happy. By the mid 80's, it was Sho Kosugi flicks that we laughed at & enjoyed. The local MA supply store stocked bunches of ninja stuff for all kids to miss-use in their back yards.

Speaking of Hayes, that reminds me a story I heard when the great master made the mistake of attempting to train some Army Rangers at Fort Bragg. He was doing a seminar and asked one of the Rangers to attack him in order to demonstrate a ninja technique. The Ranger responded by picking Hayes and throwing him into the ground. From what I heard he was unconscious for 5 hours.

Thanks to Sho Kosugi, Lee Van Cleef and Michael Dudikoff, the general public were convinced that only Ninja could kill a Ninja.

Ahh. Those were the days.