Off Topic "Mall Ninja" : Is just mere ownership of certain types of blade enough to earn the title ?

I'd think more coffee shop commando or Amazon Arnold but as you said that might not work because kids these days haven't watched the classics because they are to "old". Had a kid tell me that he won't watch predator or alien movies because they are to old. Damn kids these days....
 
There is a saying by the poet Archilochus:
"We don't rise to the level of our expectations; we fall to the level of our training.

A trained person knows his strength and weakness and also his weapon's and system's strength and weakness

Mall Ninja's believe the complete opposite
They live in a fantasy world believing they will rise to the level of their expectations with all the gear they carry without requiring any training with them

They also tend to create elaborite stories of their "greatness and lethality" with the the gear they carry to not only try to fool and convince others but also themselves
 
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One would also need to be trained in the martial arts. Obviously ninjitsu would qualify. But because of the difficulty in finding a true ninjitsu master, karate, jujitsu, or akido are all acceptable nowadays. Most people forget that the "ninja" isn't necessarily trained in specific weapons or techniques. A ninja will do whatever it takes to get the job done.
 
chevyrulez1 said:
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? 😂
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You hit the nail on the head here.
 
I assuredly did not read this whole thread, but - it's not just owning a certain type of blade, it's thinking that owning a certain type of blade endows the buyer with some sort of skill to use it. So there are bushcraft ninjas too, and gun range ninjas, etc etc
 
chevyrulez1 said:
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? 😂
Click to expand...
There's certainly something to this. In the city I see people driving jacked up pickup trucks whose owners would have panic attacks if they got any dirt on them. I call them artisanal rednecks. In that sense there's likely a lot of artisanal EDC knives out there: "Put that down! It's CPM S110V steel! Do you have any idea how hard that would be to sharpen if you used that thing?"
 
Rooster81 said:
One would also need to be trained in the martial arts. Obviously ninjitsu would qualify. But because of the difficulty in finding a true ninjitsu master, karate, jujitsu, or akido are all acceptable nowadays. Most people forget that the "ninja" isn't necessarily trained in specific weapons or techniques. A ninja will do whatever it takes to get the job done.
Click to expand...
I‘ve trained for years in martial arts and that has included some exposure to traditional weapons including nunchaku, sai, tonfa, bo (staff), and even katana. Those weapons are included for a number of reasons, but actual use in an altercation with another person is not one of them. No serious practitioner is going to walk around with a sword at their side or a pair of “nunchucks“ in their back pocket.
 
I think it is more to the mall ninja than just thinking the equipment makes them capable. Even if you are skilled with said equipment, the true essence of a mall ninja is relying on a ridiculous concept for self defense or combat effectiveness because they think it is cool or to mimic something they saw in a movie, etc.
As an example, telling on myself again, when I was young and the movie Raiders of the lost ark came out I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Wanted a fedora and a bullwhip. I found and ordered a bullwhip from the Johnson Smith company. It was the coolest thing ever, and I went out in the yard to learn how to snap it. Managed to lay an impressive whelp on my shoulder once that brought tears to my eyes 😂
Eventually through messing around with it over time I got really good, and could snap clothespins off the line consistently with it. It was a lot of fun, but if I had decided to coil it up and walk around in public with it on my hip thinking I could use it for self defense, to snap a gun out of a bad guys hand Indiana Jones style? 🙄 mall ninja extraordinaire. As ridiculous as that sounds there are people out there who are still relying on ineffective methods for self defense, survival, preparedness, etc. because they are mimicking something they saw somewhere that they thought was cool.
 
I think the term someone coined here “YouTube hero” would be best to describe the happenings nowadays. I’ll watch knife reviews where people talk about using a pocket knife or “bushcraft” knife in a self defense scenario. If it’s absolutely all I had I guess I would use it but I would hate to use a knife in a fight because you will get stabbed your self also. People buy these TOPS knifes because they are “tactical” as well as bushcrafty.
 
Blue Serge said:
I‘ve trained for years in martial arts and that has included some exposure to traditional weapons including nunchaku, sai, tonfa, bo (staff), and even katana. Those weapons are included for a number of reasons, but actual use in an altercation with another person is not one of them. No serious practitioner is going to walk around with a sword at their side or a pair of “nunchucks“ in their back pocket.
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The history behind a lot of these weapons trace they're origins back to farming implements and, before that, basic items found in nature (the bo staff is a big stick).

The point is this; a true ninja does not need to carry nunchaku in their back pocket, for everything in their environment is a weapon. The ninja themselves are the weapon.


However, a ninja will do whatever is most effective and efficient to accomplish their goals. It is documented they were early adopters of firearms, used to assassinate targets at a distance.
 
BlindMouse2of3 said:
I'd think more coffee shop commando or Amazon Arnold but as you said that might not work because kids these days haven't watched the classics because they are to "old". Had a kid tell me that he won't watch predator or alien movies because they are to old. Damn kids these days....
Click to expand...
Wh-what? Predator, Aliens, and T2 still hold up extremely well today. 😅 They are missing out.
 
Both of the malls I used to hang out at as a kid/teen in the '80s are gone. One has been demolished and the other has sat abandoned for the past 5 years. The same is happening around the country, so the bigger question is: what is going to happen to all the mall cops and mall ninjas now that malls are becoming a thing of the past in America? Will we see roving bands of mall cops and mall ninjas wandering the post-mallocalyptic hinterlands of America, fighting it out over resources (Cheetos, sodas, even perhaps the last functioning Atari 2600 joystick) in epic and stylishly dystopian Mad Max style battles?

As to the topic at hand: I don't consider merely owning ridiculous and impractical edged tools to be a sign of true mall ninjatude. As someone said earlier, mall ninjaness is a lifestyle. I have a fairly decent sized Box o' Shame in my closet, full of implements that would make a true mall ninja weep with awe, but I've never left the house with a UC Black Ronin Wakizashi strapped over a trench coat and MOLLE plate carrier, nor would I, as I don't want to be accused of stealing a real mall ninja's already stolen valor, so I don't think I've truly earned the title of mall ninja. YMMV.
 
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