- 24 Aug 2003
- 26
- 0
- 11
(..........................should anyone be interested...........................)
In '83 (I think it was) I saw the movie "The Karate Kid" (remember that one?). Started studying karate.
A couple of years later I saw a movie called "Revenge of the Ninja ," starring Shou Kosugi (his son, Ken, is popular in Japan now... has a kids' show).
I decided to become a Ninja.
Some people want to be doctors, lawyers....... I wanted to be a Ninja. I wasn't sure how much it paid, but that didn't matter.
One problem- there weren't any Ninja schools in New Zealand.
So, I worked and saved my money for a year and went to Japan, October 1988 (I wasn't there long when the Emperor Hirohito died, I remember black sun flags everywhere).
Within a few days I was in Noda City, Chiba Prefecture, at the Togakure-Ryu Ninjutsu head school.
Now- believe it or not- what you see in the movies isn't exactly correct.
I'd half been expecting a temple in a forest next to a waterfall. Nope. Noda is an industrial town- in fact, it makes soya sauce (the whole place smells like soya!).
And, I was hoping to be the sole gaijin there. Nah. There were students from America, Israel and.... yep, another Kiwi.
Anyway, the Grandmaster of Togakure-Ryu Ninjutsu, Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi, was very impressive. Saw him fight off four guys using an orange once. Yes, an orange.
I lived and studied in Chiba for a couple of years, then- due to moving around- I gave up Ninjutsu.
Of course, I never really gave it up. Once a Ninja..................
Footnote: a Kiwi friend who I'd been teaching Ninjutsu moved to Japan from New Zealand a few years ago, married a Japanese girl and now lives in Chiba and studies Ninjutsu!
In '83 (I think it was) I saw the movie "The Karate Kid" (remember that one?). Started studying karate.
A couple of years later I saw a movie called "Revenge of the Ninja ," starring Shou Kosugi (his son, Ken, is popular in Japan now... has a kids' show).
I decided to become a Ninja.
Some people want to be doctors, lawyers....... I wanted to be a Ninja. I wasn't sure how much it paid, but that didn't matter.
One problem- there weren't any Ninja schools in New Zealand.
So, I worked and saved my money for a year and went to Japan, October 1988 (I wasn't there long when the Emperor Hirohito died, I remember black sun flags everywhere).
Within a few days I was in Noda City, Chiba Prefecture, at the Togakure-Ryu Ninjutsu head school.
Now- believe it or not- what you see in the movies isn't exactly correct.
I'd half been expecting a temple in a forest next to a waterfall. Nope. Noda is an industrial town- in fact, it makes soya sauce (the whole place smells like soya!).
And, I was hoping to be the sole gaijin there. Nah. There were students from America, Israel and.... yep, another Kiwi.
Anyway, the Grandmaster of Togakure-Ryu Ninjutsu, Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi, was very impressive. Saw him fight off four guys using an orange once. Yes, an orange.
I lived and studied in Chiba for a couple of years, then- due to moving around- I gave up Ninjutsu.
Of course, I never really gave it up. Once a Ninja..................
Footnote: a Kiwi friend who I'd been teaching Ninjutsu moved to Japan from New Zealand a few years ago, married a Japanese girl and now lives in Chiba and studies Ninjutsu!