Page 18 of 21 FirstFirst ... 81617181920 ... LastLast
Results 256 to 270 of 308

Thread: Ninjas!

  1. #256

  2. #257

    Ninja stealth training

    Name:  Skärmavbild 2018-01-20 kl. 08.46.45.jpg
Views: 719
Size:  31.3 KB
    ..........

  3. #258
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,946

    Ninja valentines

    Sort of on topic...

    From a Ninja with love: Swarthmore College students deliver Valentines for charity
    Updated: FEBRUARY 13, 2018 — 10:18 AM EST

    [IMG]http://media.philly.com/images/1200*800/dixon-375477-f-wp-content-uploads-2018-02-1026929_7dbdeeba008d930-e1518468534170-1200x801.jpg[/IMG]
    SUSAN SNYDER
    Ninja Valentine deliverers close in on a classroom at Swarthmore College.

    by Susan Snyder, Staff Writer @ssnyderinq | ssnyder@phillynews.com

    Who are those stealthily clad Ninjas creeping around one of the nation’s most prestigious college campuses?

    Swarthmore College students, that’s who.

    Their mission? Deliver Valentine’s cards, affectionately known as Ninja Grams, sent by Swarthmore students and staff to students and staff.

    Their work comes with a price. Order just a card, it’s $3. Want to add a truffle? Add a dollar. Oh, and if you’d like your Ninja deliverers to faux fight, that will be another $3.

    “There’s also a discount for bulk,” said Julia Morriss, 20, a chemistry and biology major, who was manning the “Ninja Central” desk on the 1,620-student campus in Delaware County last week.

    It’s all for a good cause. This year, proceeds will be donated to Engineers Without Borders, which aids developing countries.

    Ninja-grams have been delivered at least since 2010 when more than $1,000 was raised for Haiti Community Support after a devastating earthquake. Among other efforts supported in past years were Animal Coalition of Delaware County and Hurricane Katrina Relief.

    Morris and her sidekick — who would identify herself only by the sign she carried, “Just a Potted Plant” — were among the Ninja deliverers sneaking around the campus on Friday in their black garb and balaclavas, toting colorful swords. They hand-carried red cards with a Ninja heart inked in black, burst into classrooms where heady subjects were being debated and delivered the goods to unsuspecting recipients.

    [IMG]http://media.philly.com/images/600*450/dixon-375477-e-wp-content-uploads-2018-02-1026926_5e25f971b7a96ec.jpg[/IMG]
    SUSAN SNYDER
    Anonymous Ninja deliverer, “Just a Potted Plant.” awaits her next assignment at Ninja Central.

    Sometimes they would prance and leap upon a fixture before laying down the card.

    “We’re stealthy,” explained Morriss, who is from Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y. “Most people think it’s pretty fun. Most professors are pretty good about having us in there. We try not to be too disruptive, in and out in two minutes or less.”

    A white board at Ninja Central noted classrooms where deliveries were not welcomed – Bio 2, French 14, Physics 4 and Econ 21 — largely because quizzes were scheduled, Morriss said. Academics still trump sweet nothings on a campus where only 10 percent of applicants are admitted.

    [IMG]http://media.philly.com/images/1200*900/dixon-375477-e-wp-content-uploads-2018-02-1026930_279a204b054de84.jpg[/IMG]
    SUSAN SNYDER
    Ninjas present a card in an Arabic class.

    Ziv Stern, 20, a sop****re linguistics major from the Bronx, who was helping at Ninja Central, said students send the cards to friends or someone they want to embarrass a little bit.

    “I sent one to my roommate. She sent one to me,” Morriss said.

    In a class on Arabic, recipient Coleman Powell, 20, a sop****re from Lowell, KY., smiled.

    “It’s very heartfelt,” Powell said.

    [IMG]http://media.philly.com/images/1200*900/dixon-375477-e-wp-content-uploads-2018-02-1026932_11cbaf248ab1159.jpg[/IMG]
    SUSAN SNYDER
    Student Coleman Powell receives “heartfelt” card in a class on Arabic.

    In another class, the female recipient looked less than pleased.

    “Some people think we’re kind of annoying,” Morriss acknowledged.

    Deliveries concluded on Friday; no more Ninjas on campus until next year.
    Thread: Valentine's Day, Harlequin's Day
    Thread: Ninjas!
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  4. #259
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,946

    International Ninja Research Association

    'ninja researchers are scattered around the world'...but if they're good ninjas, they're hidden!

    International Ninja Research Association set to launch in Iga
    By KAZUHIRO NAKATA/ Staff Writer
    February 13, 2018 at 09:30 JST

    IGA, Mie Prefecture--The elusive talents of ninja researchers from various countries and fields are to be brought together in February with the establishment of the International Ninja Research Association.

    The news was announced by Mie University’s international ninja research center based in the city’s Ueno-Marunouchi district, which will manage the secretariat for the association.

    According to research center officials, ninja researchers are scattered around the world and conduct research and present their findings on an individual basis.

    The new association will play the central role in connecting researchers with a global network to provide forums for academic discussions and research presentations.

    A general meeting for the preparation of the new association will be held at the Sunpia Iga hotel in the city’s Saimyoji district on Feb. 17 to determine its bylaws and chairperson before launching the organization.

    Afterward, a meeting will be held at 1:30 p.m. to celebrate its establishment.

    Seoul National University professor Kim Shi-duck will give a commemorative lecture on ninja novels written by Toru Arayama. Yamanashi Gakuin University professor William Reed and Makoto Hisamatsu, a specially appointed professor at Mie University, will host a symposium to present their research findings about feudal-era secret agents from the perspectives of history and literature. A reception will be held at 6 p.m., with a city tour offered the following day on Feb. 18.

    After being made official, the association will host a research presentation meeting each year, as well as publishing and translating papers, the officials said.

    Mie University started making efforts for research on ninja and their techniques when it founded a satellite campus facility called the Iga Cooperation Field (ICF) in the city in 2012. The university leads ninja research with the research center set up at the ICF in July 2017.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  5. #260
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,946

    Japan Ninja Council appears before the Diet

    Ninja to officially appear before Japanese parliament to outline goals and perform “other activities”
    Casey Baseel 14 hours ago



    Japan Ninja Council sending delegation to speak, show their shinobi skills at National Diet House of Representatives session.

    Officially, Japan is governed by a bicameral legislature called the Diet, with their members chosen by public election. Deep down, though, you and I know the truth: it’s really the ninja who’re running the country.

    In 2015, a federation of politicians, tourism professionals, and historians formed the Japan Ninja Council, dedicated to preserving and disseminating ninja knowledge (and also selling gold throwing stars for fancy shinobi). This week, representatives of the council will appear before the members of the Diet for a presentation on their activities and vision for the future.

    The ninja advocates will be speaking at a meeting of the Diet’s lower house, the House of Representatives, on the morning of February 22. The eight-point presentation will consist of:
    ● Greeting from the Japan Ninja Council founders
    ● Introduction of JNC officers
    ● Mission statement and future goals
    ● Demonstration of ninjutsu by Iga Ninja Group Ashura
    ● Report on recent JNC activities
    ● Discussion of overseas interest in ninja
    ● Lecture on ninja history by Jinichi Kawakami, “the last ninja” and head of the Banke Shinobinoden ninjutsu school
    ● Other activities

    The expressed purpose of the one-hour presentation is to enhance understanding of the Ninja Council’s purpose and the benefits of promoting ninja history as an aspect of Japanese culture to attract domestic and overseas travelers to parts of Japan with a connection to the country’s shadow warrior heritage, especially in light of the influx of foreign visitors Japan will have during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. However, ninja are masters of subterfuge, and we can’t entirely rule out the possibility that this is all a ruse as the JNC flexes its muscles as the true governing body of Japan and delivers its demands to the Diet for codified legislative implementation, especially since the visit will include a demonstration of ninja prowess before its ominously open-ended conclusion with “other activities.”

    Of course, maybe the whole thing is completely benign, and we’re worrying too much. Still, we’re keeping our eyes on you, ninja, and if your visit turns out to be a cover to slip your operatives into the National Diet Building so you can pull off a ruthless coup coup d’état, you can rest assured that we’ll be telling all our SoraNews24 readers about it…unless you’ve already got ways of silencing us permanently, which you almost certainly do.

    Source: Japan Ninja Council
    Top image: Gatag/Vectorartbox

    Get your ninja gear here.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  6. #261
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,946

    Happy NINJA DAY 2018!

    I posted about this on our Ninjas! thread yesterday, but now see the relevance, given that today is Ninja Day in Japan. Shame they missed that point in their coverage. We didn't. We're good ninjas.


    A group of lawmakers from ruling Liberal Democratic Party pose for a photo, after a meeting to promote ninja-related culture and tourism in Japan on Wednesday at the Diet building in Tokyo. | KYODO
    NATIONAL

    Lawmakers from Japan’s ruling LDP form ninja promotion group

    JIJI

    FEB 22, 2018

    Lawmakers of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party held a meeting Thursday to mark the establishment of a group aimed at promoting the glamour of ninjas around the world.

    The lawmakers’ group will support the Japan Ninja Council, which includes municipalities with ninja links such as the city of Iga in Mie Prefecture and the city of Koka in the neighboring prefecture of Shiga. The group intends to promote ninja-related tourism and regional revitalization.

    To establish the ninja brand, the group is considering popularizing ninja movies and manga as well as opening a ninja museum. Through these efforts, the group hopes to boost the number of foreign tourists visiting Japan toward the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

    Keiji Furuya, chairman of the House of Representatives Rules and Administration Committee and head of the lawmakers’ group, told attendees at the meeting on Thursday that ninja and manga are very popular among foreigners.

    “We hope to spread the amazing (ninja) culture and want people in the world to enjoy it,” he said.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  7. #262
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,946

    Seeking Ninjas for hire

    We had an earlier post about recruiting more professional ninjas. There may have been more of those. Maybe 'pro ninjas' needs its own indie thread? I could never imagine actually earning a living as a ninja, but then again, I never could've imagined earning a living like I do now.

    Ninja wanted: Good salary, bonus, insurance (death unlikely)
    By CHIEKO HARA/ Staff Writer
    February 28, 2018 at 08:30 JST


    Hattori Hanzo and the Ninjas ((C) aichi-ninja)

    NAGOYA--It's tough being a ninja these days. There are just not enough of them.

    So a ninja group here in this city in the middle of Japan wants you!

    Successful applicants will be paid 180,000 yen ($1,600) monthly as well as a bonus and even a commuting allowance. Social insurance is another benefit.

    “Ninja, globally popular agents, are greatly sought after across Japan, partly because an increasing number of overseas tourists visit the country,” said Yumi Dohara, who mans the ninja office.

    She said there is a vacancy for either a man or a women so the troupe can visit more sites to perform.

    Hattori Hanzo and the Ninjas, a tourism promotion group based in Aichi Prefecture, is accepting applications up to March 13.

    The ninja performance team was established by the Aichi prefectural government in summer 2015 to bolster tourism.

    The five ninja, clad in black, of course, and including one named after Hattori Hanzo, a true-life historical covert agent, welcome visitors and perform for sightseers on the Nagoya Castle grounds and elsewhere.

    Applicants must be able to speak Japanese, but non-Japanese can apply for the position. The new member will be selected after screening and an audition.

    Although ninja are typically expected to pull off acrobatic feats, Dohara said there is a more important element for modern ninja.

    “Skills and experience are actually significant, but they are not essential factors,” she said. “We are seeking a person who has a passion for promoting ninja.”

    For details on how to apply, check the team’s English website at (http://ninja-japan.com/bosyu/index_en.html).
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  8. #263
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,946

    Ninja Bikini

    Should MartialArtsMart.com add these to the ninja section?

    Cosplay as a sexy shadow warrior with the new Ninja Bikini from Japan
    Oona McGee 4 days ago



    One of Japan’s top cosplayers introduces us to the hidden wonders of the two-piece bathing suit.

    Japanese company Mocolle, which takes its name from the words mousou (“fantasy” or “delusion” in Japanese) and “collection”, has been proudly living up to its moniker over the years, making all our fantasies a reality with crowd-pleasers like kimono-style roomwear and shrine maiden swimsuits.

    Now the company is taking its design cues from another chapter of Japan’s fashionable history, this time with the Kunoichi Mizugi, or Female Ninja Bathing Suit.



    Ninja costumes have been known to typically cover most of the body, to help stealth assassins blend into the shadows during their secret missions, but female ninja are often depicted in period dramas, movies, anime, and games with a lot more skin on display. Mocolle is running with this idea and turning things up a notch with this new five-piece set, modelled for the company by popular Japanese cosplayer Ryo Yamabuki.



    The bikini top is styled on the crossover-style top worn by traditional ninja, with multiple colours on the neck area creating the appearance of a multi-layered top.



    The mesh insert offers some coverage over the deep plunging neckline, while adding a chain mail element to the design.



    ▼ Ninja-esque armbands get a mesh makeover to match the top of the bathing suit.



    The bikini bottoms feature short leggings with a skirt, using the same red, blue and black colour scheme. The skirt comes with a high slit for ease of movement while swimming. After all, not all shinobi can walk on water.



    The pretty ribbon ties on the back of the halter-neck bikini top will help cover up your identity as a ninja without covering up your skin.



    Mocolle is currently working to raise funds to produce the ninja bikini commercially, with a crowdfunding campaign on Campfire. Considering the overwhelming popularity of their past crowdfunding missions, the Ninja Bikini looks set to follow in the successful footsteps of their past garments, especially since they’re offering it at a 15-percent discount, for 6,885 yen (US$60.41), to a limited number of supporters.



    To help support the campaign, head over to the official campaign page here, and to see more of the Japanese cosplayer, who’s also a guitarist in a rock band, give her a follow on Twitter or Instagram. With her many talents, she might be the next cosplayer to create her own collaborative design with the brand, like Senki did with her eye-popping bunny lingerie!

    Source: Campfire/mocolle via Net Lab
    Images: Campfire/mocolle
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  9. #264
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,946

    Ninja diet

    I've trained with plenty of classmates who could've used this advice. I'm sure we all have.

    The ‘Ninja Diet’ Prioritized Fortitude, Stealth, and Eliminating Body Odor
    Understanding what shinobi ate, amid a stew of myths and misconceptions.
    BY NATASHA FROST MAY 16, 2018


    Iga Province, where ninjas are said to have originated, was mountainous and hilly—perfect for hiding in wait. PUBLIC DOMAIN

    THE TRUTH ABOUT NINJAS IS as slippery as its subject. These mysterious assassins, sometimes referred to as shinobi, lived lives so inscrutable that the line between history and the fiction they inspire is irremediably blurred.

    Though the specifics sometimes differ, ninja experts usually agree on a few common facts: Secretive guerrilla fighters are said to have lived in Japan’s mountainous Mie Prefecture between about 1487 and 1603. During a century of considerable military strife, they are believed to have been for-hire killers who used highly specialized, secretive techniques. Yet even these details, writes scholar and military historian Stephen Turnbull, who has published extensively on ninja culture and history, are hard to prove. Still, he doesn’t believe they are a total fabrication. “All invented traditions have a basis in fact,” he writes, “no matter how tenuously the links may be made between the developed tradition and recorded history.”

    A few decades after ninjas are said to have lived, historians and storytellers began writing extensively about them—who they were, what they did, and how they ate. Various accounts describe how they avoided smelly foods (to better sneak up on enemies), restricted their diet to remain agile, or even used food to send secret messages. A vivid picture emerges of ninjas and their diets—though how much of it is based on the real medieval fighters is near-impossible to say, if they existed at all. (Turnbull, for his part, believes that even the earliest conceptions of ninjas are an amalgamation of “genuine belief in a unique local expertise that was bolstered by folk memories and old soldiers’ tales,” as well as an active desire to believe in an appealing military fantasy.)


    A 19th-century woodblock shows a ninja as we often conceive of them today. PUBLIC DOMAIN

    Modern depictions of ninjas usually portray them as mythic, pyjama-clad figures, scurrying around in the shadows. Yet the earliest accounts, which are most likely to approximate the truth, suggest they were essentially farmers—a half-agricultural worker, half-samurai, who ate like his rural peers. “Many ninja [are said to have had] their origins in the lower social classes,” Turnbull wrote, in an earlier book. “Their secretive and underhand methods were the exact opposite of the ideals of noble samurai.” Accounts describe them hiding in wait for days, infiltrating enemy territory, or serving as spies or assassins.

    If they ate like other farmers, says researcher Makato Hisamatsu, from Mie University’s recently opened ninja research center, they might have had two meals a day, mostly made up of millet, rice bran, miso, and wild vegetables and plants. “They’re thought to have eaten grasshoppers, snakes, and frogs, too,” he told the Japanese magazine Aera. “It was a more balanced diet than today.” Certainly, the nutritional advantages of brown rice are well documented—though insects, reptiles, and amphibians seldom appear in today’s many ninja-inspired healthy eating manuals.

    But source texts dating from the late 17th and 18th centuries suggest several distinctions between their diet and that of their farmer peers. Ninjas are said to have avoided particularly pungent foods, for fear of being sniffed out by the enemy, Hisamatsu told the Japanese Health Press. Garlic, leeks, and other members of the allium family were all off the menu. (Red meat was too, though most people living in medieval Japan were Buddhist or Shinto, and therefore mostly vegetarian.) There’s a scientific basis for this concern: Recent research shows marked changes in body odor for men who adopt a vegetarian diet, while at least one study linked increased garlic consumption with a more pleasant, but perhaps more pungent, personal musk.


    Recipes for “thirst balls” often include umeboshi, or pickled plums, and ground up rice. JREIKA/SHUTTERSTOCK

    There were other differences. Ninjas are said to have kept an eye on their waistline to remain agile, Hisamatsu said. He described a commonly cited “iron-clad rule,” which stipulated that they should not weigh more than 60kg, or about 130lb: the then-standard weight of a bag of rice. In practice, this meant observing a simple, nutritious regime, so that when they needed to “be a stealthy ninja” (and hang from ceilings or scale walls), they’d be light enough to do so with ease.

    The famous Bansenshukai is one of the best-known source texts about ninjas, though it dates to 1676, long after their supposed heyday. It’s a hodgepodge of documents, many of which draw extensively from Chinese military philosophy, and reads almost like a manual—a how-to guide that claims to be the ultimate accumulation of Ninjutsu knowledge, and in the process, helped lay the foundation for the ninja mystique. It includes instructions for how to make so-called “hunger pills” that can fuel long, secretive journeys when food might be scarce.

    One recipe combines Japanese yams, cinnamon, glutinous rice, and lotus pips. Another instructed ninjas “on the go” who lacked adequate rations to make a powder out of pine bark, ginseng, and white rice, and then steam balls of the mixture in a basket. “Divide this between 15 people and they will not starve, even if they eat nothing else for up to three days.” Modern calculations suggest that each ball had about 300 calories—not enough for a meal, perhaps, but a decent, nutrient-dense snack for the long road ahead.


    Detail from a 19th-century woodblock depicting Iga Province, where ninjas are said to have once lived. PUBLIC DOMAIN

    The Ninja Museum of Iga-ryu, a Japanese museum dedicated to ninjas and their history, describes a similar “thirst ball,” which helped ninjas avoid dehydration. They were made with crushed umeboshi pulp, rye ergot fungus, and crystallized sugar—a potent, electrolyte-rich combination of foods often used today as hangover cures. Such pills would have been crucial for these “long-distance scouts,” writes Antony Cummins in Samurai and Ninja: The Real Story Behind the Japanese Warrior Myth. “They were expected to be in the field for extended periods of time with little or no food, and their health was expected to decline.”

    Texts by the 18th-century Japanese military writer Chikamatsu Shigenori describes another use for food in ninja culture—as a way to send secret messages. To communicate a date, ninjas could send pieces of fish, with the size and number of pieces corresponding to the month and day. “To promise to [carry out] treachery, you should send salted fish,” writes Shigenori. “When you are going to commit arson, you should send dried fish.” Sweet cakes meant a call for reinforcements; bread rolls were a call for forces to attack the enemy from the rear. Rice cakes indicated a request for provisions—though presumably ninjas wouldn’t send them unless they were quite sure they’d be resupplied. The fighters apparently sent an anodyne letter along too, to protect the messenger if their bounty fell into the wrong hands.

    All of this, however, should be taken with at least a sprinkle of salt. There’s a textual basis for these dietary innovations, and many have a scientific basis to boot. But experts still question to what extent “ninjas” even existed and debate how much of our knowledge is centuries-old fabrication, founded on layer upon layer of legend. There’s only one contemporary source that describes ninjas—not much to base an entire military tradition on. While Turnbull accepts that some written records may have been destroyed, “the important point is that there are no authentic records after it.” Those we have are shaky, and date from long after the time ninjas allegedly roamed Japan.

    Whether or not ninjas truly ate the way the texts describe is hard to say. But what these sources do reveal is the origins of a dearly-held national tradition, and where our modern conception of these fighters may come from. As early as the 1670s, people imagined ninjas as being like a deadly gas: lighter than air, capable of infiltrating impenetrable areas, and undetectable, even by smell.

    Gastro Obscura covers the world’s most wondrous food and drink.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  10. #265
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,946

    Ninja Ballet

    Because tutus and tabi go well together?

    NINJA BALLET Returns - A Fusion Of Martial Arts With Classical Ballet
    by BWW News Desk Jun. 5, 2018



    NINJA BALLET Returns - A Fusion Of Martial Arts With Classical BalletAward-winning ballerina, choreographer and Artistic Director Shoko Tamai returns with her company of five dancers and martial artists for the 2018 Season of NINJA BALLET at The Secret Theatre, 4402 23rd Street, Long Island City, NY. The company will present five performances, from Thursday, June 28 through Sunday, July 1. The company's new work, "MA," the Japanese word for negative space, will premiere. Live music.

    Founded in 2017, Ninja Ballet Dance Company fuses classical ballet with traditional martial arts, creating an immersive and interactive dance theater performance with original music, special effects and fight choreography. Performers blur the line between what is real and what is possible, using acrobatics, fire and weapons, with new technologies helping to facilitate an interactive theater experience. Ninja Ballet seeks to reconnect people with nature and to create a space where dance, music and visual arts merge as one. "We hope to inspire mindful awareness, forming a connection between nature and humanity," says Ms. Tamai.

    Live musical accompaniment for Ninja Ballet 2018 Summer Season will be provided by six artists: William Catanzaro on percussion (including Shiva Drum,) Alfonso Montiel on Singing Bowl and Gong, Michael Joseph Burdi on flute and Oud, Kento Iwasaki Watanabe on Koto (traditional Japanese stringed musical instrument,) Edwin Rodriguez (percussion, Indian Drum and Native American flute,) and Vladimir Demin on Handpan Drum.

    The production features dance choreography by Shoko Tamai, with dancers Rezy Pardito, Nellie Licul, Kirsten Reynolds, Pan Yu and Edward Reyes; fight choreography by martial arts expert Tony Ortiz.

    NINJA BALLET
    SUMMER 2018 SEASON
    THE SECRET THEATRE
    4402 23RD STREET
    LONG ISLAND CITY, NY 11101

    TICKETS - https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3394261
    $30 online $35 at door
    Phone: (718) 392-0722

    PERFORMANCE DATES & TIMES:

    June 28: 7:30pm
    June 29: 7:30pm
    June 30: 2:30pm
    June 30: 7:30pm
    July 1: 7:30pm

    * ABOUT "MA":

    'MA', a Japanese word for Negative Space, or the space between time, occurring in the moment of "Now," and in the imagination of the human being who experiences these elements. Ninja Ballet Dance Company will explore the concept of 'MA' and how it relates to the ancient Mayan legend of Zopilote, a Vulture God who feasts on the newborn.

    Zopilote lives in balance between life and death, consuming the dead and giving birth to new life. When Zopilote devours the child of Subaru, a female Ninja, she creates a mortal enemy: a broken-hearted mother who will do anything to exact her revenge. Subaru makes it her mission to find and kill Zopilote, but at the same moment, in the Negative Space, she herself is being hunted by Scorpion, a Ninja assassin set on finding and killing her in retribution for her clan's murder of his own parents.

    The cycle of revenge will unfold and blood will be spilled. Will Subaru find peace in her vengeance? Will Scorpion finally get retribution for the crimes of Subaru's clan against his own? Will Zopilote, the ancient and powerful Vulture God of the Mayans, allow the balance of life and death to be broken, or will they all learn the power of forgiveness and finally bury their hatred in the past? All will be answered in the space between time, the moment of Now, the Negative Space!

    ABOUT SHOKO TAMAI:

    Shoko Tamai has performed in leading venues and dance companies around the world, including the Royal Opera House in London, Lincoln Center, and Jacob's Pillow. She received the Solo Seal award from the Royal Academy of Dance in London and was a finalist in the World Ballet Competition. She studied with Jamie HJ Guan, martial arts trainer from Beijing Opera. Ms. Tamai performed with Dance Theater of Harlem, and with Cirque du Soleil at its inception.

    Shoko Tamai has been endorsed by world leading artists, including Arthur Mitchell, Founder of Dance Theatre of Harlem and Keith Saunders (Artistic Director, Dance Theatre of Harlem Touring Company), Guy Laliberté, founder of Cirque du Soleil and Abdel Salaam, choreographer at Forces of Nature Dance Theater.

    In addition to teaching ballet and other styles of dance from ages 2-86, Shoko Tamai serves as director of "Cosmic Dance Healing," the practice of exchanging negative energy to positive energy via movement and awareness. Her regular classes at the Montauk Salt Cave, Cosmic Arts in Brooklyn, Studio Oasis in Chinatown, The Chapel of Sacred Mirrors (CoSM) and the Brooklyn Academy Of Music satisfy her "sincerest intention to use dance to help heal the world and its people, one happy student at a time."[/QUOTE]

    THREADS:
    Martial Arts in Live Theater
    Ninjas!
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  11. #266

  12. #267
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,946

    Ninjas!

    Get your shuriken here. There's even a Master Kit.

    Ninja-star throwing contest now accepting applicants, grand champion gets a golden shuriken
    Koh Ruide 21 hours ago



    Have you got what it takes to be the deadliest shuriken slinger?

    Remember the younger days when folding your own origami throwing stars and planning an ambush on friends was a thing? We quickly learned that for all the coolness that came with throwing ninja stars, we could never come close to the fabled shadow warriors themselves.

    But for those who still hold a glimmer of hope of joining the shadow ranks, the 10th Igaryu shuriken-throwing contest might be just the thing for you. Preliminaries will be held at seven locations across Japan from September to December, culminating in an ultimate showdown of honed wits and skill in March next year.

    ▼ All compete to be the meanest slinger in the Old East.


    Participants are to hurl five shuriken at a target situated a fair distance away from them, six meters (19.7 feet) for men and five meters for women to be exact. Aside from accuracy, proper etiquette and conduct are also factored into the final score. So while loudly invoking the names of forbidden ninjutsu while throwing stars might sound cool and all, the silent dignity befitting a ninja will score contestants more points.

    An awesome shuriken made of solid gold will be bestowed on the grand champion, while the runner-up receives a silver star and third place gets a bronze one. And if you thought Japanese people have some kind of upper hand in throwing those stars, think again.

    ▼ Because last year’s competition saw a Brazilian beating 239 competitors to take home that sweet golden shuriken grand prize.


    Participants must be at least 15 years of age, and each preliminary location only accommodates 50 people. From the preliminaries, only the top 40 of all participants will proceed to the final round held at the Ninja Museum of Igaryu. The 1,000 yen (US$9.10) registration fee includes insurance, which comes in handy in the unlikely case someone cuts themselves with shuriken.

    The preliminaries will be held as follows:

    2 September – Abeno Harukas Kintetsu Main Store (Osaka-shi, Abeno-ku)
    9 September – Inuyama Ninjutsu Dojo (Aichi Prefecture, Inuyama-shi)
    14 October – Hizenyumekaido (Saga Prefecture, Ureshino-shi)
    4 November – Ueda Shiritsu Museum (Nagano Prefecture, Ueda-shi)
    2 December – Ninja Museum of Igaryu (Kyoto-shi, Shimogyo-ku)
    9 December – Uesen Hakuho Plaza (Iga-shi, Ueno Higashi-cho)
    16 December – Mie Terrace (Tokyo-to, Chuo-ku)

    Since each location only holds a limited amount of people, prospective ninja should quickly write in directly to the Ninja Museum of Igaryu here to reserve their spots.

    We foresee lots of candidates from Nara Prefecture’s awesome Ninja Academy taking part in this competition, but even if you aren’t a shadow warrior yet, why not give it a try? You might just unleash that inner ninja in you.

    Source: Livedoor News, Ninja Museum of Igaryu via Hachima Kiko
    Top image: Photo AC
    Insert images: Photo AC, Pakutaso
    褒美は純金の手裏剣じゃ! 伊賀流手裏剣打選手権 受け付けスタート 来年3月に本戦

    2018年6月3日 16時22分 産経新聞



    優勝者に贈られる純金製手裏剣(左)と2位の純銀製手裏剣=伊賀市
    THREADS:
    Igaryu shuriken-throwing contest
    Throwing weapons
    Ninjas!
    Ninja Museum
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  13. #268
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,946

    Ninja cab!

    Japanese taxis now being driven by ninja, bodyguards armed with concealed water pistols
    Casey Baseel 9 minutes ago



    Two awesome reasons to skip Japan’s train network and take a taxi instead.

    In Japan, the rail network is efficient enough that you really have to have a compelling reason to take a taxi over a train, so when does that choice make sense? If you’re headed to a destination that’s far away from the nearest station, obviously. Or if you’re travelling in a large group, splitting the cost of a cab can be more economical than each person buying a train ticket. Oh, and if you want a ninja to assist you in getting from Point A to Point B, once again, a taxi is the way to go, provided it’s operated by Sanwa Kotsu.

    Yes, the Yokohama-based taxi company is back again with a new set of themed cabs, one of which is the Ninja Taxi. While the vehicle itself is standard-spec, your driver will be dressed head to toe in the garb of Japan’s mythical shadow warriors, and will also pepper his speech with period appropriate classical Japanese vocabulary, making the ride a treat for history buffs and linguistics fans alike.



    On the other hand, if you prefer your personal protector to project a more contemporary, yet no less capable, aura, Sanwa is also offering what it calls an “SP-style Taxi.”



    In Japanese, “SP” is used as an abbreviation for “security police,” and refers to the security details that accompany high-ranking politicians and other VIPs on their way to and from meetings with other power brokers. The SP-style taxi driver, appropriately, is armed at all times, as underneath his suit is a shoulder holster with a concealed pistol. Granted it’s a water pistol, but should a squirt gun battle break out on the way to your destination, you’ll be in good hands (plus you’ll get to feel a little like the emperor of Japan).



    Both services launched on June 11, just in time for the start of the summer travel season, and serve as successors to Sanwa’s previous kabuki and horseback archery-themed taxis. However, even Sanwa isn’t quite playful enough to convert its entire fleet into ninja and SP cabs, so you’ll want to contact the company and request a pickup in one of the special taxis, which you can do through its website or with the help of your hotel’s front desk staff.

    Related: Sanwa Kotsu English website
    Source, images: Press release
    Get your ninja taxi driver gear here.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  14. #269
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,946

    Centuries-old book of ninja secrets discovered

    Centuries-old book of ninja secrets discovered at public library in Japan’s Aomori Prefecture
    Casey Baseel
    12 hours ago



    Shinobi training manual covers ingredients to make sleeping potions and smoke bombs, as well as magic incantations.

    In the amazing techno-age we currently live in, when there are so many fonts of knowledge that you can access online from the comfort of your home, you may wonder if there’re any remaining reasons to go to a library. There are, and perhaps the best is that some libraries hold important written records that predate the digital age and aren’t yet available in any digital form.

    For example, the Hirosaki Municipal Library, in Aomori Prefecture, recently discovered that hiding within its collection was a handwritten ninja training manual that’s over two centuries old, likely created before the U.S.A. was even an independent country.

    ▼ A slideshow presentation of a section of the manual


    View image on Twitter

    毎日新聞青森支局
    @aomori_mainichi
    乾燥させたヒキガエルなどを燃やして作る眠り薬。火薬とトリカブトを混ぜた目くらまし。弘前藩に仕えた忍者 集団のものとみられる忍術書が見つかりました。 #青森 #弘前 #忍者 #甲賀流 #早道之者
    https://mainichi.jp/articles/2018070...0m/040/034000c

    3:55 AM - Jul 4, 2018
    9
    See 毎日新聞青森支局's other Tweets
    Twitter Ads info and privacy
    Researchers believe the book of shinobi secrets was written by members of the Hayamichi no Mono, an organization of ninja trained in the ways of the Koga ninja clan who operated in Tsugaru domain (present-day Aomori) starting in the 17th century. Along with descriptions of how to craft ninja weaponry, the text contains incantations said to unleash mystical powers, as well as shadow warrior folk wisdom such as:
    ● Dry toads or ducks, then roast them to create the ingredients for a sleeping poison.
    ● Mix gunpowder and aconite (wolf’s bane) to make a smoke bomb.
    ● When travelling, select an inn with only one entrance/exit, and prop a tatami reed floor mat against the door to alert yourself to the presence of intruders.

    The 12-page training manual is believed to have been written in approximately 1756, over a hundred years before the end of Japan’s feudal, shogun-ruled period of history. As of this writing, there’s no word as to whether or not the information contained in the text will be covered in this year’s official Koga ninja proficiency exam, but as a wise man once said, “If you know everything, you don’t have to worry about what’s on the test,” so it’s probably worth committing to memory.

    Source: @nifty News/Mainichi Shimbun via Jin, N Code
    Top image ©SoraNews24
    That's amazing. I wonder what else is hidden in this library.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  15. #270
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Fremont, CA, U.S.A.
    Posts
    47,946

    NPR podcast

    Japan's Ninja Shortage
    9:39
    July 16, 2018 4:27 PM ET
    STACEY VANEK SMITH
    SALLY HERSHIPS


    Sally Herships

    THE INDICATOR FROM PLANET MONEY
    Japan's Ninja Shortage
    Iga, a small Japanese city and the birthplace of the ninja, is facing a serious problem — there aren't enough people training to be ninjas, not even for $85k a year. Today on the show, Sally Herships goes to Iga to discuss the city's plan to use ninjas to fight depopulation.

    Music: "Master Chi"

    Find us: Twitter/ Facebook
    continued next post
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •