Enter The Ninja

I was contemplating the ninja last night, the 14th century Japanese assassins popularized in the 1980s by a string of cheesy martial arts films. I loved the ninja phenomenon of the 80s. Enter the Ninja, Revenge of the Ninja, Ninja III: The Domination–ninja flicks were the best. I think Ninja III was my favourite–that’s the one where a gym bunny in her 80s workout attire (complete with leg warmers!) gets possessed by the spirit of the ninja. Man, they just don’t make movies like that anymore...

I don’t think I knew a single boy who didn’t want to be a ninja. It was all about trying to score "authentic" ninja stars or trying to learn to walk without making sound (I can still kinda do this). Unfortunately, the ninja phenomenon eventually burned itself out. By the time we got to Ninja Turtles, the fad was tired (incidentally, the Ninja Turtles were pretty hardcore originally, before they became the pizza-eating, surfing-obsessed icons they are now).

However, I’m noticing a ninja renaissance lately. Run "ninja" through a search engine and see the myriad sites that come up (my favourite is www.ninjaburger.com). Ninjas are poised to make a big comeback.

We were discussing the word "ninja" last night. I was saying how I’ve heard the word used lately as a verb, to describe sneaking or hiding. For example: "I was late for the meeting, so I had to ninja in the back door." To be honest, I’ve been the one using it as a verb, but I think it’s catching on. I also have noticed other people (not me this time, I swear) using the word as a synonym for "friend" or "buddy" or "homie." For example: "Vic’s totally cool–he’s my ninja."

Based on this empirical evidence, I figure it’s only a matter of time before we see Ninja IV: Judgment Day.