I think the term “mall ninja” is actually a dated term and doesn’t fit the modern tacticool movement. I guess because I came up as a teenager in the 80’s, we were born into a Post Vietnam/Pre War on Terror time in the final days of the Cold War. It was a time of peace but with the threat of war. Thanks to movies like Red Dawn we were convinced the commies were going to come parachuting out of the sky’s at any time and nukes would be flying. We grew up watching “Kung Fu Theater” on Sunday afternoons. Rambo, Chuck Norris, Bruce Lee, and Ninja movies were as mainstream as Superhero movies now. We were all convinced we needed to be prepared to take on the commies/bad guys at any moment, and ordered Ninja books and books on improvised weapons from Paladin press, were we learned just enough to endanger ourselves
we bought ninja swords, nunchucks, throwing stars, big wicked looking knives, balisongs, etc. but didn’t have any of the real training and such to actually use them effectively. It was a time of fantasy, we were fascinated by it all and it made us feel really prepared and ready for whatever may come. But the only thing we ever really did was go circle the mall without meaning and ultimately end up dropping money on arcade games which is the closest thing to combat many of us would see. Now I am 52 years old and wish I had bought more Old Timers and Case knives instead of that stupid stuff.
Gone are the days of Kung Fu Theater and American Ninja, and enter the age of YouTube. So the modern equivalent in my mind is all the tacticool gear junkies and “Bushcraft Boys” who are only impressed by beating their knives through a whole tree.
Perhaps it is time to coin a new phrase for a new age? Central Park Tarzan? Amazon Commando? Walmart Warrior? YouTube hero? Coffee Shop Spetsnaz? Any other ideas?
Beautiful Manix there.
