I can’t imagine the insurance is an issue any more so than any other martial art, If you have kids being thrown to the ground, someone is just as likely to land wrong and dislocate a shoulder as they are to get hurt when a special “soft” throwing star is thrown at their head while they are wearing a protective helmet. Like anything else, you would eliminate all the very dangerous jumping portions and focus on improvising weapons, quick takedown and escape, and other ‘dirty’ fighting techniques that you associate with the ninja. Since ninjas are so “secret” anyway, I would think you could develop your own curriculum and have it certified by a self created “ninja approval committee” as gospel. You could tailor it to the age of the kids taking the class to make it sufficiently hard, but not undoable since we now live in an era where “everyone gets a trophy to build their self-esteem”. I can’t thnk of a better way to build up confidence in a kid while they learn something they otherwise think is cool. Who wants to play soccer when you could join the elite Ninja Academy!
Kabuki, actually. The black outfits of bunraku puppeteers serves the same ‘ignore this guy’ purpose, but a puppeteer wouldn’t burst into the scene as a character, because they’re not puppets. A kabuki actor however, could dress as though he’s a stage hand (and thus not to be paid attention to) until the moment when his character magically appears out of nowhere, and aside from the ‘person who doesn’t exist’ becoming part of the action, it’d be no different than any other play.
Edit - And I have heard of one story of a real ninja actually wearing the black pyjamas while doing his job - but that was deliberately to draw attention to himself to act as a diversion for a compatriot who was doing the more standard ninja thing of looking like he was supposed to be there.
I just came here to say that “Strip Mall Ninja” would be a good band name.
but a terrible movie…
Not a strip mall but there is a Ninja school that made the news around the corner from my place.
When I first saw videos of Parkour, my first thought was “that explains ninjas!”
If I wanted to train to be a ninja, that’s where I’d start. After all, if you can access areas that nobody in their right mind would think are accessible, and escape from somwhere from which escape seems impossible, you’re pretty darn ninja-like.
Didn’t Pauly Shore… ?
The real problem is that all the belts are black belts.
I read that wrong, I was wondering why there would be schools that teach Mall Ninjas to strip. And yes, Mall Ninjas do exist, at least on the Internet.
You can’t have anyone use real weapons for liability’s sake.
You’ll have to teach them to use their imagination…
Here’s Knight camp. Pimp camp I can’t find, sorry.
NM
This “ninja costume derived from artistic convention” is great stuff! I love it! There ought to be a field of study dedicated to occasions where ‘life imitates art’.
My ninja info comes firstly from James Clavell’s “Shogun”, and then from movies and graphic novels. While I will not claim these as reliable sources, I find my that the Clavell novel mostly informs my emotional reaction to ninjas: that while effective, they are sneaky and underhanded and beyond the pale- not nice people at all. As a consequence, I’ve always had major difficulties swallowing movies with ‘good guy’ ninjas (that is excepting the TNMT- love those guys!).
In addition to the ninja schools lets also have a few more peace shops.
Across the street and to the left:
http://www.pimpsandhoessociety.org.uk/pimpology
There’s even an online test!
With respect…
The art and practice of Kendo is a simulation of sword combat in which the combatants are in padded gear and using shinai [shin nye …phonetically spelling out Japanese will be a fun exercise here], which are (for the sake of this post) straight substitutes for swords made of split bamboo. All practitioners use shinai, but don’t be fooled; a skilled Kendo practitioner can still deliver deadly blows. Kendo practitioners begin with the two facing each other and pointing their shinai at each other.
In contrast, there is another art called Iaido* [Ee-aye-dough] which was developed to exploit the curve and the new (at the time) manner of wearing the samurai sword. Beginning Iaido students will start with a wooden sword (bokken [bow-ken] or Iai-nugi [Ee-eye New-ghi] or bok-to [boke toe] depending on your regional term for the chunk of wood whittled down to match the weight, dimensions, and curvature of the katana. Students who advance enough will eventually use a metal sword. Zinc-aluminum is common, particularly in Japan, because the widespread ownership of sharpened (sharpen-able) katana was outlawed after WWII.** Outside of Japan, there are some of us who use real sharpened steel. Unlike Kendo, the Iai practitioner begins (and often finishes) with the sword in the scabbard. Drawing and cutting are emphasized, and a facet of the art is the demonstrable ability to deliver a clean cut. I’ll leave the details of that to vivid and twisted imaginations – or those who are interested enough to go research more on The Net.
I would argue (respectfully, of course) that Iaido/Iai-jutsu is closer to “katana-usage” than Kendo/Kenjutsu.
As for the “ninja school in the local mall” idea:
If a major part of the ninjutsu culture is about covert operations, wouldn’t a storefront operation be counterproductive?
OR
Maybe they’re there and you don’t know it. Do you really think Edible Arrangementsmakes enough money to keep a storefront going throughout the year?
–G!
Muso Jikiden Eishin-Ryu Iai-jutsu
A swordsman sees with his eyes
A samurai sees with his heart
*There are those who refer to the same art as Batto-jutsu; there are those who consider Iaido/Iai-jutsu and Batto-jutsu to be completely different arts.
**The Japanese art of sword-making is limited to a select few artisans. They are limited to a small yearly quota of real steel blades, for the sake of preserving the art form. Such blades are extremely expensive. I think they’re typically sold to collectors outside of Japan.
or here.
Sorry. If you didn’t learn Shadow Clone jutsu it wasn’t real ninjutsu.
Huh. And here I always thought that’s how Radio Shack stayed in business.
I’m not very knowledgeable about the topic. My point was mainly that kenjutsu is not study of how to be a samurai, it is a martial art involving a simulated katana. Historical samurai training would involve sword training as well as training in other weapons and unarmed combat, in addition to dozens of other things including, very likely, tea ceremony.