Ninja Night Friday

[Truestar]

The idea has been making a funny video, so it's not like activities would go past 8 at night.

If it wasn't for so many crimes in today's world, ninja night would probably be more doable.

[joesteph]

The idea has been making a funny video, so it's not like activities would go past 8 at night.

Truestar . . . Get an adult to be there with you, and have it on private property. If it ends that early (and since it's winter, it'll be dark early, so who'll know if it's not a video shot at midnight?), you might be able to get more support than you realize. If not a park, then what private location can you get hold of?

I'm trying to remember . . . What was the horror movie that was shot in a large backyard and made a fortune, even though it was really an amateur production and cost practically nothing to make? If they could do it, so can you--and maybe be up on YouTube.

Good luck with the enterprise.

[Wa-No-Michi]

Well, I don't know about where you live, but where I live, if cops see a bunch of people running around in ninja uniforms and it ain't Halloween, I can bet you they're going to stop you.

The trick is to not get caught!

And Halloween is only a few days away so maybe combine the two.

[tallgeese]

Yeah, but Halloween just gets us all on higher alert. With the increase of crimes and juvenile problems that start occurring this time of year we all start growing an extra set of eyes about this stuff. We also start putting up with less garbage from people and get less inclined to put up with excuses. Parents get called alot.

I'd say wait until after the holiday to start the ninja antics.

[The BB of C]

Some friends and I are thinking about having a Ninja Night Friday everytime we get a free friday to mess around. We plan on all ordering ninja uniforms and running around town doing all sorts of whacky stuff.

It would sure be a funny high school experience, but would a bunch of teenagers in ninja uniforms doing shoulder rolls through the park constitute being arrested? What do you guys think.

I don't think so. Sometimes things get ridiculous though. I was almost arrested recently for making a movie. Even though the lights and multitude of cameras were obvious, the security guard was thrown off simply because we were doing martial arts stunts. It sounds like fun but like the ninja, be ready for anything.

[Ozpunker]

Truestar, my advice.... DO IT!!

I did the exact same things with a couple of friends and it was one of the most fun things that we have ever done. It started one night as a joke, One mate bought a couple of old karate gi's from the local thrift shop, we tore the sleeves off, put bandanas on and went down to the pub drinking. We got a laugh from everyone.... We called ourselves the Lambton Ninjas (Lambton being the town we were at). It's been a bit of an ongoing tradition now.. We still call ourselves the Lambton ninjas whenever we get the chance to catch up. I think our myspace still exists... try searching lambton ninjas.

Actually, It was partly from this that I decided to take up martial arts.

Just a side note, I don't think I have to mention as long as you don't get up to any mischief you shouldn't get in any trouble... What we were doing was obviously a joke and for fun and that's exactly how people saw it.

[JohnC]

Wa-no-Michi's profile doesn't list location so maybe one issue is that we live in different countries. Since 9/11 in America, most folks have no sense of humor about such behavior and I'd seriously counsel against it. Not only would it be dangerous but in several locales you might be breaking the law. Perhaps attitudes are different where you are. However, "the trick is not getting caught" is cold comfort if you DO get caught.

[Daisho]

coming from the same home-town as joesteph, I too am aware of anti-loitering laws in parks at night.

Back in high school me and another student from my dojo took our bokkens to Hudson County park at night, and were trying to make a video with the river in the background.

Police came down and really got on us for trespassing, including throwing both of our brand new bokkens into the river. It was completely uncalled for, as we were being very respectful... yet being in the park after hours gave them an excuse to act like a jerk.

2 funny points from that incident:

number 1, the night before we were in the park and stopped a group of skater kids from accosting 2 drunk girls that were walking home after drinking at the park with friends. After repeatedly warning the other kids to knock it off, one of them lifted his board to us, and we squared up with our bokkens. At that they made some ninja jokes, but didn't have the nerve to test out our ninja skills, lol.

Secondly the cop that threw both bokkens into the river came into our dojo about 8 years later to try a free class. I reminded him of the event in jest, and instead of laughing about it, he made a comment about that we were asking for trouble, and too bad for us we'd found it.

At that I offered him to be his sparring partner, whenever he wanted one. He never bothered coming back to train.

[vashogun]

You also have to be aware that many states have laws making it a felony to wear a mask in public if your over a certain age. I know it sucks. When I was a couple years younger I loved to do stuff like this to.

There was a game we played though that circumvented this urge a little, if your in a place where you can do it.

We called it "insertion". Basically one person was an "operative" and there was a set number of guards depending on the size of the house we were using. (always our own house, mind you!)

The operative had to sneak into the house from a "drop point" and collect a "data disk" (usally an old floppy disk that we wrote "data disk" on and put in a preselected room in plain view.)

The guard or guards would have to do regular continuos patrols of the entire house, never spending more than a minute in one room. This made the game possible. The other rule was windows and doors were unlocked. The operative and guards had nerf guns to. Your job was to sneak in, and grab the data disk and get out without being detected. Then the positions would switch. The winner was based on points.

5 points for getting into the house from the drop point.

5 points for recovering the data disk

5 points for getting out of the house with the data disk.

If you assasinated the guard you got 2 points.

But if you did everything without having to assasinate anyone you got a 5 point bonus, plus a 5 point bonus for not getting detected.

If you were shot, your turn as operative ended.

Our game was based on our fanboy love of the Metal Gear Solid series but we did play a ninja version a couple of times with foam katana.

I am not responsible for what happens if you play this game. This is just what we used to do. It is somewhat dangerous, as any physical game is, but it was our house and legal and we didn't disturb the peace, and no one rained on our parade. Its basically a complex version of tag.

[bushido_man96]

That sounds like a fun game. I think it would be worth a shot.