Iran training thousands of women as ninjas

[A'isha]

No, really.

Okay, so it's mostly an article about the long struggle that female athletes (including martial artists who have competed in the Olympics) have faced in the oppressive Islamic Republic of Iran, and some of their hard-fought victories.

Still, as the article notes, "There are 3,500 women in Iran officially registered as training to become ninjas, according to state-run Press TV." IE, they're just regular martial artists practicing one of the modern forms of ninjutsu. And you have to admit that it makes for a pretty eye-catching headline. I can't wait until Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer hear about this...

There's even video of these female Iranian ninjas (though I guess technically they ought to be called "kunoichi"), which as the article also notes, is "exceptionally campy".

 

[Wolfman]

I just looked around my office, to see if there were any Iranian female ninjas, and I didn't see a single one...

...which proves they must be here!!!

 

[Darth Rotor]

No, really.

Okay, so it's mostly an article about the long struggle that female athletes (including martial artists who have competed in the Olympics) have faced in the oppressive Islamic Republic of Iran, and some of their hard-fought victories.

Still, as the article notes, "There are 3,500 women in Iran officially registered as training to become ninjas, according to state-run Press TV." IE, they're just regular martial artists practicing one of the modern forms of ninjutsu. And you have to admit that it makes for a pretty eye-catching headline. I can't wait until Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer hear about this...

There's even video of these female Iranian ninjas (though I guess technically they ought to be called "kunoichi"), which as the article also notes, is "exceptionally campy".

Are they hot?

 

[Puppycow]

Mr. President, we cannot allow a ninja gap!

 

[Border Reiver]

Are they hot?

To have some sort of proficiency at this martial art would entail an above average flexibility and good physical condition - I'll go with yes.

 

[Seismosaurus]

I suppose the traditional Ninja outfit goes well with the whole religion thing, too.

 

[Border Reiver]

Not the images that showed up with a simple google search - even with the filters on!

 

[Sledge]

I wonder if we can convince Iran to unleash their ninjas on the Somali pirates.

 

[Manger Douse]

I wonder if we can convince Iran to unleash their ninjas on the Somali pirates.

You fool! - What if they mated?

 

[Virus]

They come out with fake weapons all the time. Now they have fake super-soldiers. It looks ridiculous to us but the intended audience are the 20% of poor, illiterate and fanatical Iranians that are the base of support for the regime. They need this stuff to boost morale because in reality the Iranian military is feeble, pathetic and not worth anything.

 

[commandlinegamer]

I wonder if we can convince Iran to unleash their ninjas on the Somali pirates.

I'd pay to see that movie.

 

[Ryokan]

They come out with fake weapons all the time. Now they have fake super-soldiers. It looks ridiculous to us but the intended audience are the 20% of poor, illiterate and fanatical Iranians that are the base of support for the regime. They need this stuff to boost morale because in reality the Iranian military is feeble, pathetic and not worth anything.

You didn't read the article, did you?

 

[Bikewer]

They were playing the video on CNN and it was quite amusing. What the women were doing had as much relation to ninjutsu as lingerie football does to a sporting event.

 

[Sam.I.Am]

They were Ninja-ing in lingerie?

 

[BStrong]

No, really.

Okay, so it's mostly an article about the long struggle that female athletes (including martial artists who have competed in the Olympics) have faced in the oppressive Islamic Republic of Iran, and some of their hard-fought victories.

Still, as the article notes, "There are 3,500 women in Iran officially registered as training to become ninjas, according to state-run Press TV." IE, they're just regular martial artists practicing one of the modern forms of ninjutsu. And you have to admit that it makes for a pretty eye-catching headline. I can't wait until Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer hear about this...

There's even video of these female Iranian ninjas (though I guess technically they ought to be called "kunoichi"), which as the article also notes, is "exceptionally campy".

How do you know she's a Iranian Ninja?

She's the one with a sharp knife.

Since the primary Iranian battle tactic is the human wave attack, I'll worry about something else.

 

[respect]

I suppose the traditional Ninja outfit goes well with the whole religion thing, too.

That is nonsense, largely popularized by Hollywood. In reality, an official uniform for spies would be a horrible idea. Real ninjas dressed in what they needed to to blend in where they were working. If I recall correctly, the concept of the "traditional" uniform, usually black, was used centuries later in artwork and plays to symbolize the invisibility of ninja spies, and then popularized in movies.

 

[A'isha]

That is nonsense, largely popularized by Hollywood. In reality, an official uniform for spies would be a horrible idea. Real ninjas dressed in what they needed to to blend in where they were working. If I recall correctly, the concept of the "traditional" uniform, usually black, was used centuries later in artwork and plays to symbolize the invisibility of ninja spies, and then popularized in movies.

Kuroko, the stagehands in productions of traditional Japanese plays. The Wiki article credits the idea that the outfits the kuroko wore evolved into the steretypical "ninja" costume to Stephen Turnbull, one of the most popular historians of Japanese military history.

 

[WildCat]

Are they hot?

According to every martial arts and James Bond movie ever, yes!

 

[Darth Rotor]

Good. Bring them on.

 

[Bikewer]

Slightly OT I suppose, but Turnbull's book on the ninja (with a forward by M. Harsumi) dispelled much of the nonsense we have now in popular culture about these irregular warriors.
They were essentially guerillas or as they say now, "asymmetrical" warfare practitioners, opposed to the big, organized Samurai armies seeking to dominate their provinces.