Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Wisdom From The Last Ninja

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the real-ultimate-power dept.

I Could Tell You But... writes "The AP has a story about ninjutsu master Masaaki Hatsumi, last living student of Japan's last 'fighting ninja.' He offers advice from the heart of Ninjadom, like 'always be able to kill your students,' and describes the current popular ninja image as 'pathetic.' At age 76, students are speculating on his successor, who may for the first time be non-Japanese." From the article: "As I cautiously raise the sword with a taut two-handed samurai grip, my sparring partner gingerly points to Hatsumi. I avert my eyes for a split second - and WHAM! The next thing I know, I'm staring at the rafters. Keeping your focus is just one of the lessons thumped out on the mats of the Bujinkan Dojo, a cramped school outside Tokyo that is a pilgrimage site for 100,000 worldwide followers. They revere Hatsumi as the last living master of ninjutsu - the mysterious Japanese art of war practiced by black-masked assassins of yesteryear."

5 of 539 comments (clear)

  1. wow, ninjas by joe+155 · · Score: 5, Funny

    "always be able to kill you students" is brilliant advice... I know I'll be taking that one to heart when I'm lecturing... that'll show them for being late/taking phone calls/ talking over me. :)

    --
    *''I can't believe it's not a hyperlink.''
  2. Students? by daeg · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sure, he can beat his students, but what about pirates?

  3. Re:Ninja is replaced by Sniper by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    OK, you're right. Sniper rifles aren't very good in close combat unless your opponent is agreeable to the propostion of meeting you under a street light by the railroad near Queens Blvd. and 74th Street intersection, wearing a red coat with a green hat.

  4. To the death by Mashei · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hatsumi is the only living student of the last "fighting ninja," Toshitsugu Takamatsu, the so-called 33rd Grand Master who was a bodyguard to officials in Japanese-occupied Manchuria before World War II and fought - and won - 12 fights to the death.

    ...Rumors of Takamatsu's death still abound to this day, but scholars estimate it occurred sometime after, but before the end of, his thirteenth fight to the death.

  5. But what would really suck... by RoffleTheWaffle · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... is a ninja -with- a long range rifle. Or worse yet, a whole pirate ship full of them.

    Pirate sniper ninjas. Think about it.