Ninja Videos

Like many other bloggers, I have been enthralled by the Urban Ninja videos from youtube.com, which you can see below:

Here is a link to another great video featuring two martial artists having the BEST light saber fight I have ever seen!:

http://spikedhumor.com/articles/23299/Star_Wars_Duel.html

Okay, I know that such videos have really been doing he rounds on Blogger, but they are really appropriate for my site, and anyone who hasn't seen them yet really should!

PS: My search for a cool Kunoichi video has yet been unsuccessful, so if anyone has one, I would love to post it in this blog!

The new UK Kunoichi Blog

So…

Readers of my older blog, Memoirs of an Urban Kunoichi, you may realise now that I have decided to split my content with this newer blog. From now on, I will use this blog to post the "hands on" kunoichi articles, things you may find useful in your personal quests for urban espionage and information gathering. Memoirs will be solely that, my own recollections, opinions and thoughts… my adventures in becoming…

It seems to me to be the logical step forward. I am interested to know what you think…

Technorati tags:
kunoichi,ninjutsu,urban ninja,urban espionage,espionage,information

What does it mean to be “Kunoichi” (Part 2)

I call myself "kunoichi" because it best embodies what I do and who I am. But I consider identity as a process of evolution. I will never be complete, and so I continue to learn.

It might be suggested that modern espionage evolved from traditional ninjutsu practices. Contrary to popular belief, ninja were employed to infiltrate the enemy, to discover their secrets and not merely to assasinate. For many reasons in my own life, I have felt it nescesary (and often desirable) to employ my own means of espionage and counter espionage too.

These days, keeping personal information a secret is much harder than it seems. Most people don't realise how their details are used and distributed, and how the average person can find out just about anything they might want to know about you just by looking in the right places.

When I left my abusive ex, I knew he would try to find me. And I had to make sure that he didn't, especially for the sake of my baby son. My ex had threatened all sorts, to kill me, to kidnap our baby, to hurt my family if they didn't tell him where I was… The list goes on. I was beaten up by his family when I tried to collect my belongings from our old home; my mum was repeatedly followed and threatened. Even my friends weren't safe. In the end, we had to live in a safe house monitored by the Police. And even there, I didn't feel safe.

From then, until now, I had to ensure that my details were kept out of any and all registers which could detail my whereabouts. And in doing so, I soon discovered the means to keeping track of where he was, what he was doing, and who with. It was (and to a degree, still is) a nescessary precaution. As you will undoubtedly discover from what I shal write of later, my situation is far different (and much safer) now, but I keep track for my own sanity. I ensure that I am prepared.

My role as an urban kunoichi is a mostly passive one. I am the one my friends and family call upon when they need to find information, for that's probably the thing I am best at: problem solving, sourcing knowledge. My life blood as a modern kunoichi. I try to ensure I am knowledgable in all things which have significance for myself and my family. I know how to protect them, and if I need to find a recipe for that special anniversary dinner with my husband-I look it up!

And yet, I still manage to keep this role under a self imposed veil of secrecy. Most people would be threatened if they knew what I could do or what I know.

But there's power in that, and I like it…

What does it mean to be “Kunoichi”?

The term Kunoichi is ninja slang for “female”. Historically, Kunoichi were female ninja, trained in the sui (water) traditions of ninjutsu; typically skilled manipulators and seducers of men. Well, that’s the shortened storybook version. To explain the full concept of the kunoichi in history would require a rather long essay, and that’s not what I want to do here…

No. Instead, I want to explain what it means to be kunoichi in the modern world. Or, at least, what it means to me.

Let me tell you a little story…

Eight years ago, I was a broken woman. Homeless, with a one year old son. We had nothing, except the clothes we wore and a few coins in my pocket that only just covered the bus fare to my mum’s. I can hardly begin to explain how I ended up that way. “Abusive relationship” is the cliche which comes to mind. But that’s another story…

The day we left him was the tenth of February. I remember the date exactly.

It took me a long time to recover, even longer for my son. I was scared of everything: of being alone, becoming a single mum, going back to work. Even of my own shadow. Gradually, things started to get better, but still I felt vulnerable.

Then I met the man who was to help change everything. I can’t truly say he was the love of my life, but for a while, he was my best friend. Fumitsu Shinkai, you know who you are… He introduced me to the concepts of ninjutsu, taught me how to use nunchaku, meditate and fight. In return, I taught him patience, honesty and pride. We taught each other many things, developed our skills, ideas and thoughts. Yet, like all good things which must eventually end, we slowly drifted apart.

Fumitsu became a true ninja, though I don’t think he realised at first. And once I began to realise my own potential: that I was my own woman; that I didn’t need a man to make me complete; that I was truly strong, body and soul; that I could use knowledge to achieve what I wanted of life… Then, I realised that I could become The Urban Kunoichi…

Then, my life truly began…