Ninjas in the news

Like this Far Side cartoon come to life, but arguably better, "ninjas" in Sydney came to the rescue of a mugging victim.  I kid you not:

Ninjas rescue Sydney mugging victim

A German exchange student was reportedly rescued from a violent assault in western Sydney after a group of men dressed as ninjas confronted his attackers.

Two teens and a 20-year-old allegedly initially approached the 27-year-old medical student while he was on a train on Tuesday night and demanded he hand over his wallet.

When the student refused and got off the train the three allegedly followed him.

But the trio allegedly chose to launch their assault on the man in the most inopportune spot — outside the Ninja Senshi Ryu martial arts school in Penrith at around 10:10pm.

As they allegedly grabbed the student's iPod and phone and kicked him to the ground, one of the ninjas raised the alarm with his teacher Kaylan Soto and fellow ninjas, all of whom came rushing out to help.

"The first thing we saw was three guys on top of him, so we ran towards them," Mr Soto told ninemsn.

"The look on their faces — they would have seen five guys in ninja costumes running towards them."

more...

I also cannot recommend the Algorithm March (with Ninjas!) highly enough:

Heard around the dojo

In my previous post my mentioned that Goldilocks principle: "Not too little, not too much, just right".  Here are other memorable expressions that I have heard from my instructors (plus the occasional fellow student) that I like to pass on:

1. The Fonzie principle: We like to do the first armlock (juji gatame) with uke's thumb pointing up (like Fonzie from the TV show Happy Days) because it makes it more difficult for uke to resist the lock by flexing his or her bicep.
   Fonzie or "The Fonz"
   
2. "Elb-b-bow": Used to emphasize certain painful locks of the elbow.  Try saying it that way; it's fun.
3. "It's the way it shatters that matters": Said immediately prior to slamming uke's elb-b-bow into the mat, during self-defence practice.
4. "Hiza guruma - and he certainly is!": Said while performing -- you guessed it -- hiza guruma (our 3rd leg throw), pronounced "he's a guruma ...".
5. "Funny leg": A reminder for the unusual first step that we practice for the fifth leg throw (o uchi gari) in tori steps forward and turns the left foot 90 degrees away from the center line, to allow the hips to pivot.
6. "Death throw": Our "final" shoulder throw.   It is only practiced to the point-of-throw because -- if completed -- uke would land vertically head-first, with likely permanent consequences.
7. "Who's buying the drinks?": A question to ask your partner while applying a painful joint-lock.

What are some of the catch-phrases from your place of training?

The ancient art of Ti Kwan Leap: Boot to the Head!

A very nice re-enactment of the classic "Ti Kwan Leap" sketch -- the original soundtrack is by the Canadian comedy troupe The Frantics -- that I spotted on Wim de Meere's blog:

And if you think that "too much ti kwan leap is barely enough", here's a realization of the catchy follow-up song, "Boot to the Head":

Now, "Let us meditate..."