Evaluation of Ashida Kim's video, "Ninja Sentry Removal Techniques - 2 of 5"

Today, we’ll look at Ashida Kim’s “Ninja Sentry Removal Techniques”, section 2 of 5.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCaZmajZ_g4

The clip begins showing Ashida Kim with his back against the outside wall of what looks like an abandoned home. Ashida peeks around a corner, staying low and “observing at an unusual angle”. The narrator, for dramatic effect, uses the words “enemy castle” to describe the location - instead of “ghetto house”. After this, the narrator notes that, to avoid detection, a shinobi should not pass in front of open windows. As he says this, Mr. Kim ducks underneath two windows with the blinds closed, then rises his body high enough to be seen from the window to the left of the door - the one with the blinds pulled up.

Ashida then pretends to pick the lock, and enters through the door sneakily. The narrator uses the dramatic line, “once inside, the ninja becomes a living shadow”. After this, the scene cuts to what looks like a biker thug in a cheap hakama and dogi top, who is wielding a broom handle, presumably using it as a makeshift rokushaku bo. This individual’s martial skills are even more of a nightmare than Ashida Kim’s, which is saying a lot. He appears to be proficient in baton-spinning, but if he is trying to learn how to fight with a staff, I wish him all the luck in the world - he needs it. He has no control over the staff. He is leaving many open spots that are vulnerable to attack, and he seems to think that spinning a staff is just to make it look impressive, because the way he spins it is not tactical at all. Take a look at 2:42 - the staff slips from his hands and he clumsily flails out to grab it. If I were him, I would have cut that part out. Whatever. This scene cuts in and out throughout the video, and I’m not sure why. It has no relevance to the rest of the film whatsoever, or even to any of Ashida Kim‘s material outside of these videos.

The scene shows Ashida inside the house (with the lights conveniently turned off so it is dark), peeking through a door throughout several seconds, and finally doing a little bunny hop to get past the door. He then sneaks into an overweight person’s bedroom while they are sleeping. He eyeballs their cheaply-made ninjato and katana on display, then runs over and “hides” in front of, and then behind, the curtain. This is wasting time - a well-done mission would be done as quickly as possible. That doesn’t involve playing hide-and-seek with the curtains in the enemy’s bedroom. The narrator even goes on to mention, “it is this ability to hide one‘s self completely, that gives rise to the legend that the ninja can become invisible at will.” As he says that, Ashida’s legs stick out from behind the curtain, and the rest of his body can be seen as a large clump of mass behind the curtain. I’m not sure what the connection is between legends of ninja disappearing at will, and a grown man in a black costume and ski mask playing with an old man’s curtains.

Next is one of the most amusing parts of the video. Ashida takes out a flashlight and shine’s it in the sleeping enemy’s face to, as the narrator says, “observe the depth of his slumber.” While it is possible to do this by paying attention to the pupil dilation, it is simply foolish to do this to someone when the consequences of waking them up could mean death. What is the use of risking waking them up just to find out how deeply asleep they were? It doesn’t make any sense at all. The narrator also makes note that if a ninja needed to cover any sounds he might make, he would imitate the sound of a cat or other small animal. This is practical outdoors, as animals could be anywhere there. However, doing it in a man’s bedroom might arouse even more suspicion than a small noise a shinobi might make - what if the man did not own a cat? It is too risky and is not even needed, providing the shinobi is skilled enough to not make any noise to start with. Besides, the enemy is asleep, so making extra noise might wake him up.

After this, Ashida Kim takes the ninjato on display, and begins to perform a ceremony he calls “The Ceremony of the Secret Sword”. The narrator notes that the ceremony must be performed in exactly the manner shown. I’m not sure how specific he’s being - does “exactly the same way” include having to do it in front of an overweight person’s bed? The ceremony involves sitting in seiza and drawing the sword, while “inspecting” the edge for flaws. I’m not sure what an individual performing this would do if the blade weren’t satisfactory - wake up the sleeping man and tell him to buy you a new sword? At any rate, the narrator begins using lines that sound like they’re straight out of a low-budget Kung-Fu film from Hong Kong, such as “I conjure thee, O Sword of Swords! Be thou, my fortress and defense!” Ashida Kim then bows respectfully to the sleeping fat man, strikes a stealthy pose, and the video ends soon after.

This concludes part two.

Now that I’m finished describing the video, let’s talk about Ashida Kim’s strategies so far and how they could be improved.

To explain things, think about a modern agency that commonly sends field agents to infiltrate criminal groups such as gangs, terrorists, drug dealers, etc - the FBI. Their field agents are trained in methods that could be considered a modern counterpart to the shinobi. If you know anything about them, you will know that a common strategy involves the agents disguising themselves as new members being recruited to the criminal group. I can attest to the fact that they do not send their agents into the homes of the criminals in black suits and ski masks, hiding behind curtains trying to not be seen. They use disguises. Ashida Kim, as usual, is stuck in the idea of wearing his cute ninja costume and refuses to use profile shifting. A 100% better strategy Ashida could have done would be to move into the target’s area as a new resident, get to know the resident, befriend them, and visit their home as a friend. This way, you can get to know what your surroundings will be when you begin your task. You can move freely about the house without arousing suspicion. This is likely one option the FBI would consider. Using Ashida Kim’s method, all someone has to do is see you and you’ll probably end up looking down the barrel of a 12-gauge. And judging by the weapons Ashida has used so far, he will be carrying a Neanderthal’s club instead of a silenced 9mm to fight the person with the shotgun.

The Shoninki, in the fourth chapter of the first scroll, notes “When an opportune moment arises, the shinobi will feign an illness in front of the gate of the house he wishes to sneak into. He will lie down pretending to be too weak to move, and ask for medicine or for hot or cold water to drink… after having obtained water and pretending that you feel better, you should seize this opportunity to be taken inside the house and make the acquaintance of the master of the household while presenting a respectful attitude, and then leave the house.”
We should keep in mind that this book was written in the 1600s, when culture was much different. You obviously wouldn’t follow this instruction word-for-word, but the concept of befriending someone to gain entrance to their house still applies.
You would think, with all of the secret ninja training Ashida Kim has had, that he would know something about disguises. However, I have looked through many of his books (many of which contain duplicate content), and not one of them has ever even remotely mentioned disguises. Even his books that plagiari- er... I mean, borrow from Stephen K. Hayes’ (an early personal student of Soke Hatsumi) material don’t mention it. This puzzles me greatly.

To put it bluntly, Ashida Kim’s entire strategy is atrocious. Sneaking around a neighborhood and then into a house - I mean, “enemy castle” in a ski mask is a sure-fire way to get killed.

I would give part two of his “Sentry Removal Techniques” a 1 out of 10. Ashida’s urban stealth methods are even less practical than his rural stealth methods. On a humorous note, Ashida Kim doesn’t "remove" a single sentry in part two of his “Sentry Removal Techniques” video.

Stay tuned! An evaluation of part 3 is on the way.

Works cited


Masazumi, Natori. Shoninki. Iga region, Japan:
Destiny Books, originally written in the 17^th century.
Modern translation published in 2010.
P. 57. Print.





The Truthful Warrior