Boing Boing: Last ninja speaks: "Always be able to kill your students"

Friday, April 28, 2006

Last ninja speaks: "Always be able to kill your students"

Grand Master Masaaki Hatsumi is the last living apprentice of the last "fighting ninja," Toshitsugu Takamatsu. At 76, he continues to train would-be ninjas, and the AP's Hans Greimel spent a day at his studio, collecting ninja wisdom like "Always be able to kill your students."

In many ways, the curly-haired, wide-eyed Hatsumi has been a victim of success: He has helped make ninja an international household name by training followers from Chile to South Africa. But he also has watched his legacy co-opted by goofy caricatures such as "Mutant Ninja Turtles" and schlocky Hollywood send-ups like "Beverly Hills Ninja."
"I think it's pathetic," Hatsumi says of the ninja's modern image.

Link (via /.)

Update: M Otis Beard sez, "Did you know there is a documentary film about Toshitsugu Takamatsu, with Masaaki Hatsumi in it as well? It's a Japanese film, the title in English is "Takamatsu Toshitsugu, the Last Real Ninja". It's based upon a black-and-white movie filmed in the '60s that shows Takamatsu Sensei teaching Hatsumi Sensei in a park. Takamatsu Sensei demonstrates unarmed techniques and weapon techniques from the nine schools, with comments in Japanese (subtitled in English) by Hatsumi Sensei. "

posted by Cory Doctorow at 10:22:07 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments

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