Ashida Kim, «Ninja Mind Control»

From Amazon.com:
When this was first published in the mid 1980s, Ashida Kim was one of the few ninja authors to be found in mainstream American bookstores. Further, his books actually demonstrated techniques with descriptions and photos, while the Hayes titles available at that time largely did not.

Yes, he spells ninjitsu with an "i". That's just the "old school" method of spelling, ala jiu-jitsu, which used to be common practice. Of course, as we all know, the "modified Hepburn" system of transliteration would spell it "ninjutsu". BFD.

Yes, he's white and he uses a fake name. So what? "Bruce Lee" was a stage name, too.

To be sure, there's an element of "cheese" in his books, with the frequent use of Chinese technique names and the often trashy, drugged-looking opponents. But, that's consistent with other titles published by Paladin Press at the time – same goes with Ohara and Unique.

On the downside, the kuji kiri given here differs from that shown in "Secrets of the Ninja". Pick & choose, I guess. At least this one is Japanese.

Did he have a teacher? He's often mentioned "Shendai the Silent" from Hawaii.

Regarding authenticity, let's keep in mind that the majority of the "real" ninja were killed off by Oda Nobunaga's forces in the 1500s. Thus, any latter-day ninja is bound to be more of a historian than a lineaged practitioner.

So Stephen K. Hayes spent a week and then a year in Japan with Hatsumi. Does that make him an expert? In what other martial art does one year of experience qualify you to open a franchise of schools and write books?

And while Hatsumi is a respectable and accomplished martial artist, how much actual ninjutsu did he study with Takamatsu? Case in point, his "Stick Fighting" book is clearly Aikido.

Note that as of 2006, none of the books carried by the ninja yashiki museum at Iga Ueno were written by either Hatsumi or Hayes.

If ninjutsu were truly the "ultimate fighting art", then the ninja would have been the ones that ruled Japan after the Sengoku jidai (warring states period), not the successive regimes of Oda, Toyotomi, and Tokugawa. Certainly, if ninja were truly "all that", then they would have started their own country, as opposed to whoring themselves out as mercenaries. And wouldn't they be the ones winning UFC tournaments today?

Thus, treat this book as you would any other throwback to the `80s: an interesting read, perhaps one giving you a few ideas or showing you a few techniques, but not the ultimate answer.