Work Ninja-do

Pub Date: 24/07/2006 Pub: ST Page: 4
Supplement: IN
Headline: Ninja see, Ninjado
By: Fern Deng
Page Heading: In The Game
Picture Caption:
In the foreground, Brandon Chew (left) holds up his kama (sickle) to meet Max
Lim's attack with his shinobikatana (ninja sword). In the background, Raphael
Tan (left) uses his ninja sword to counter Charles Ng's escrima sticks.
Notes:
Pictures

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DON'T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF

FERN DENG LEARNS MORE ABOUT THE WAYS OF THE NINJA FROM TEENS WHO
ARE PRACTISING THE JAPANESE MARTIAL ART CALLED NINJADO.

Last week, Charles Ng was walking home when he was attacked by three hooligans
who punched him in the head.
That was when the Ninjado skills he has picked were put to good use - the
hooligans fled after being pushed down to the floor.
Charles, a 17-year-old Holy Innocents' High School student, later filed a
police report.
He said: 'I'm glad I could use the Ninjado techniques I learnt to get myself
out of such a hostile situation. It saved me from getting hurt.'
Ninjado is a Japanese martial art which focuses on self-defence and
attacking moves involving mainly handlocks and grapples.
Students are trained to detect footsteps and soft sounds so that they can
react faster to attacks.
They also learn to spar with weapons such as the tanto (rubber dagger),
escrima stick (baton), bokken (Japanese samurai sword) and shuriken
(star-shaped blades).
Carrying these weapons to classes, however, is not easy when riding on
public transport.
Julia Lin, from Republic Polytechnic, gets her fair share of unwanted public
attention and says she has now 'grown used to it'.
The petite 17-year-old spars with a 1.6m-long pole.
She laughs: 'Sometimes, when I'm holding up the stick on the train, aunties
and small children mistake it for a train pole and hold on to it!'
Max Lim, 19, from Temasek Polytechnic, agrees that the public gets alarmed
sometimes by the weapons - despite them being wrapped in cloth.
Said Max: 'I was carrying two Samurai swords once and this burly man was so
startled that he jumped a distance away.'
The 'blade' of the swords that he uses are made of oak wood, but they can
kill if one knows the right moves.
Raphael Tan, 17, from Montfort Secondary School, has learnt the art for a
year and a half. He thinks that Ninjado has 'boosted his confidence'.
'I used to be scared of ah bengs loitering around the HDB void decks. Not
any more,' he beams.


Reflection:Well it certainly is heartwarming sight to see the youth of today gearing up for protection and such, so long as they do not harm others I feel that even if the nation's youth acquires in potentially dangerous fighting skills, the effect is positive. Not only does karate, ninja-do, wushu etc protects oneself, it also helps in contributing to the nation. If we are at war, I am certain everyone will be willing to take up arms to fight and defend our sacred motherland. As of today, the government has made the population safe, so much so that we are afraid of death and injury. The mere sight of a weapon cause public uproar. But then again, personally I value freedom above everything else, and with that freedom, comes the responsibility of safeguarding it. It is of course natural for people to be afraid of weapons, but when one has mastered the weapon, when everyone is fully trained in the art of fighting, who would be scared of a mere piece of steel? Who would be scared of war? It might be another teenage trend, but this one is highly sugested to be encouraged by me as it seems to have great uses, what the government could do is not only encourage it but to glamourise it as well. An additional benefit could be to reduce all those obese and overweight students singapore, to keep fit and be strong. In conclusion, I strongly recommend everyone take up a form of martial art.