Day Of The Ninja 2006

I woke this morning to discover that today is the official Day Of The Ninja. I'm limited to my clever "office worker" disguise at the moment, of course, but I'm still more ninja than my co-worker in the canary yellow golf shirt.

I have two things for this auspicious day, other than the above link which will take you to useful ninja-related information regarding impromptu masks and throwing stars.*

First, a picture of something I found at the Freer Gallery in D.C. this past weekend: Sparkle Ninja chewing gum.

With a blurb on the retail box billing him as "The deadly assassin with a keen sense of fashion," well, one can only (carefully!) point out that he does not have an equally keen sense of stealth. The chewing gum itself is unremarkable; coated tablets like elongated Chiclets, with an unmistakeable but unoffensive Artifical Strawberry flavor, the recommended serving of two tablets stands up to about four minutes of steady chewing before losing its flavor. At which point I'm sure you could use it as part of a ninja booby-trap if necessary.

But, you know? It's not about the gum, dammit. It's about ninja, more specifically one so secure in his ninja-ness that he wears a sparkly hot pink bodysuit (rhinestones, perhaps?), and is ready and willing to wonk you with his nunchaku if you give him any shit about it.

Second, about a year and a half ago, I went to Knoxville Aikikai for a seminar; one of the guest instructors was the widow of the late, great Akira Tohei shihan. At one point, while we were resting after a couple of hours of practice, she started talking about some of the old martial arts traditions; stuff you don't really see much of anymore. She talked about how a lot of the old martial artists would avoid sitting or lingering on the lines between the tatami, as, back in the old days when Japanese homes were built on raised platforms with space under the floor, someone could crawl under there ("Like a ninja," she said. "You know ninja?") and stab through a gap with a sword.

So, yeah. Day Of The Ninja.

*(I used to make those in elementary school; it's a wonder I didn't put someone's eye out.)