People don’t take Ninjas seriously

That kinda pisses me off. If you practice Ninjutsu, then you are a Ninja, maybe not an assassin but you are one. The same way a practitioner of Karate would be a Karateka.

Why is it that when I talk to people about it in person that I’m taken seriously? But then when I’m on the internet I see people getting trolled? And when I had Ninjaology a while back I was actually taken kinda seriously, I had fans.

It’s pedantic… It’s like what happened to breakdancing, or dubstep. They just become such a big fad that they’re watered down and then not taken seriously.

How to Build a Treehouse or Tree Fort

The more you know.

My Apologies

I can’t change what’s happened, but I do apologize.

I can only choose what I do now. I don’t believe in “redemption” on a certain level… Once something’s happened, there’s no going back.

I’ll be using nicknames to retain privacy.

I apologize to C-Bear. I don’t know how to explain our recent falling out, but I do miss you. I don’t like you in the same way anymore (that wasn’t a lie), but you’re still fun, cute, and endlessly spontaneous.

I apologize to Saru Deli. We’re cool now, you’re my best friend, but I still feel bad for stabbing you in the back… It hurts me just as much every time I think about it. Thank you for sticking with me through my worst.

I apologize to Cakes (Box). I don’t want to see you… I don’t want to ever to meet your new boyfriend. But I mean that in a twisted, psychotic, flattering sort of way. I ache when I think about you because I’m still emotionally attached to you. I loved you more purely, and more deeply than that motherfucker is capable of – so fuck him. I guess in the end we just weren’t mature enough. I’m not always the smartest, most polite person, but I do care about people… Goodbye love love. (My Cakeys).

I apologize to everybody else. Sorry for attacking you, yelling at you, or just being rude or inconsiderate.

After writing this post I feel a lot better. The three bolded above are the ones that mean the most to me, but unfortunately 2 out of 3 may never know I wrote this since we’re not on any kind of speaking terms and this blog is pretty new.

I’ve also lost two meaningful people… :\

Lurking In The Darkness

There are actual methods for being sneaky… I don’t care enough to use them a lot of the time, but I do know them.

I remember when I went to Manning Park and I started eavesdropping on people. To be really silent, you’re gonna need a few things…

1. Black, blue, or purple clothing
2. - Thin, soft mittens
3. - Spandex or tights
4. - Shirt or sweater (obviously)
5. Socks or a cushiony pair of shoes

You just want to reduce noise as much as possible, while maintaining a certain level of flexibility. So no ruffling clothing, no jewelery, put your phone on silent and don’t check it if it’s gonna emit too much light (keep it in a pocket where it couldn’t possibly be noticed by anyone other than you). Or just don’t bring the damn phone… However, sometimes you’ll need to make a call or something. Your call.

Creaky Doors

Easy-peasy. This is child’s play.

• Open the door relatively quickly. It’ll creak less. (Just don’t hit anything, or create too much wind).
• Slowly turn the knob, then when you close it just slide the locking part back into the hole.

Creaky Floors

Same principle.

• Move quickly across them… This doesn’t always work though.
• Find the parts of the floor that don’t creak also.
• Jump across. (I’ll cover how to do this silently soon).

Creaky Stairs

Slightly different.

• Go slowly, use all fours to evenly distribute your weight.
• Find the creaks, and avoid them… This is easily done usually by stepping on the very edges of the stairs, or the parts by the wall.
• It helps to use your gloves to navigate you past any turns by sliding against the wall.

Blackout

I got this idea from “The Expendables”, actually.

• Turn out as many lights as you can.

Masks

Trial and error of being a ninja…

• Make sure the material is breathable. I tried making a t-shirt mask and it reeeaaalllyyy got in the way. Especially when I wore glasses also. It also got in the way of my hearing ability.

Rolls, Jumps, and General Movement

See, I told you I’d get here.

• Evenly distribute your weight.
• Bend your knees when you land.
• Learn to roll and somersault – it really does help.
• Use a rolling motion when you walk – don’t just step hard. Go from your heel to your toes. You don’t wanna walk like this in your regular life, though, it’s bad for you. It’s just for being silent.

The Art of Stillness

Inner and outer.

• One time I had to hide in a closet for 3 hours… No moving allowed. Do you know how difficult that is?? I felt like a fucking NAVY Seal or Army Ranger hiding in the bush so they wouldn’t get shot! (I could’ve gotten shot possibly… Not joking).
• Learn to be at peace with yourself – just focusing on your breath for a few minutes helps a lot
• Realize that if you do move, you’ll make sound, and possibly get caught – DO. NOT. MOVE.
• - The only time you move is if you are caught, or when you have a surefire way out, or you’re adjusting yourself to make the position you’re in more advantageous.

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That’s about all I have to share for now, I’m sure there’s more though. I just can’t remember right now.

Congratulations to Kyle for winning his match at Hurricane!! Proud of you, buddy.

How to Counter-Strike

If you watch this fight, you’ll see Manny Pacquiao’s latest fight against Antonio Margarito. Keep in mind that boxing doesn’t have blocks, they have ducks. Nevertheless, here’s what I want you to notice.

• Pacman intercepts, then follows up.
• He uses his range. (Good arm length for his size).
• Advances forward while striking.
• Also notice that distance gained is almost covered up by him moving forward.
• Keeps Margarito playing defensive.
• Excellent timing, accuracy,  speed, and sense of distance.

You need to intercept any strikes that come your way (or get out of the way)! And the part that sucks is that the harder the strike, the more effort and the more out of place your hand will be.

But you want to be able to dissolve strikes instead of just matching it with hard force, you’ll just be wasting energy. You need to work with your opponent. He’s just the other half of the puzzle. He does one movement – then you complete it by doing the next.

Things to consider:

• When you block, use your weight to turn as well as use your arms to move it.
• Any follow-ups to the block. (Natural and unexpected)
• The setup for your opponent(s).
• The landing points of the strike.
• Use your range – you can kick their knee, shin, and hip to get them away.
• Where you’ll end up.

Those are just a few things you could should think about. But you really need to cultivate an excellent sense of timing and distance. I could have all the speed and power I want, but if he just as emaculate timing then I’m not gonna be able to touch him.

But really – set your opponent up in a way that leaves him vulnerable… That sounded evil reading it back. Please act responsibly. For the love of God don’t interpret this in any malicious way. I know you’re a good person, and you’d never do anything to cause grief for others.

Pain

My friends Brian and Lonnie are two smart guys. On Thursday we had a discussion about how pain isn’t really real. It’s just a sensory reaction and those can be overcome. It’s not always easy, but it is possible.

Glen Levy, fellow ninja, talked about pain. He gets more science-y and stuff, but I’m honestly too tired for that right now. I’ve been up all night screwing around with this blog. And I need to train in 20 minutes.

It’s not a good or bad thing to feel pain… It hurts like hell, but at the same time it can be rewarding. Pain lets us know (literally) that we’re alive.

When you feel pain, experience it, then go beyond it. You aren’t the pain. Pain is a separate entity. When you choose to experience it fully then you are also able to create distance. I’m not telling you to sulk in it, I’m telling you to attack it head-on.

UFC

I never really liked the UFC that much until recently. Yesterday I thought of what it would be like to start my own fight club… Then I realized how illegal that would be. No prizes, it would be in a backyard or something, no belts, people would end up gambling, and the people who’d end up fighting are all a bunch of teenagers. It sounded like a good idea at first, though.

So when I heard about Jon Jones fighting Shogan I got really excited. In another blog of mine I talked about Jones being a personal hero, and he is. He’s never been fully traditionally trained like me, but he’s still considered one of the best light heavyweights in the world!

If I were to start a legit fight club or tournament, then it would’ve been the UFC. I have a lot of respect for them now, and for all other competition fights. I don’t necessarily think they’re the best at learning self-defense, but they’re pretty damn tough guys.

UFC In The Moment: Jon Jones

The Near Life Experience (Feeling Okay)

Have you ever had a near-life experience? Really all it is is when you feel like you’re not quite living… Most of the time we just walk around in a daze, not really enjoying ourselves. When’s the last time you’ve really lived? Like seriously lived?

I had a mild version of it like a half an hour ago writing my last blog post then editing my Twitter profile. I actually really enjoyed that, it was sort of refreshing.

But besides that the last time was when I went on a 4 day snowboarding trip to Manning Park. Since then I’ve come kind of close to it, but now it being Spring Break and it’s definitely time to have another one… My St. Patrick’s Day sucked. It’s supposed to be a day of getting drunk and I spent it largely alone, plotting an evil scheme. I did like my outfit that day though.

I’m going back to going out everyday again. I miss that. I’ll try and do it for like a month, then see where it goes from there. I’ve had the will power to wake up every early every morning and exercise and take pills. Going out isn’t that hard.

Plus I’m also planning on re-claiming my balls. They were in a vice grip because of a girl… So fuck the vice grip. I’m taking back my pride.

Fighting also makes me feel alive… But it’s more or less been taken away from me. My hand is damaged (along with a lot of the right side of my body). I can still use them, but not fully, or without bursts of pain. Grr. Guess it’s time to use my hand wrap.

Comparing Martial Arts

I may talk a lot of smack about Karate sometimes, but it really does no good. It’s not about the art, it’s about the person. But not even just that… It’s just useless. People all fight the same. Unless we’re literally a tiger or a bear then we’d be fighting differently. Otherwise we’re all subject to the same motions because of anatomy.

A punch is a punch… You can put a million labels on it depending on the angle, amount of bending in the elbow and wrist, shape of your hand, stance, and starting and ending positions.

Any way you put it you’re still hitting somebody with your hand.

It’s okay to a certain point… But saying one is better than the other is inaccurate. Certain “styles” of fighting are just fractions of the universal fighting style.