Ashida Kim became famous in the 1980s by being the ONLY anonymous masked Ninja in the martial arts marketplace. All the others were too proud of their faces. But, Kim knew the reason for the mask was not to hide your identity, rather to let it be known that anyone could be under that hood. And so strike fear in the hearts of evil-doers that they might encounter the wrath of the mystic-warriors of the night, the ghost soldiers, the NINJA! Looked for cannot be seen; listened for, cannot be heard; felt for cannot be touched. Men who can fight like ten tigers, or vanish in a puff of smoke.

 Since that time, Master Ashida Kim has written more than fifty books on the subject of martial arts, distributed worldwide and in nine different translations by a dozen or more publishers who have stolen his intellectual property for their own profit. He has toured on the international circuit to South Africa, where he appeared on SABC's "Late Night Live" with Kevin Savage. And, to the Land of Oz to be on Good Morning Australia, teach Qi Gong and be written up in People magazine. As well as to Germany and Italy in his role as an International Ambassador of the Shinja Martial Arts University. In 2009 he was inducted into the USKA Martial Arts Hall of Fame as Grandmaster of the Year. He has travelled the world, appeared on television and radio programs, in magazines and book signings, met and trained with the finest martial artists on the planet who represent all styles and systems, modern and traditional, and taught hundreds of seminars on Ninjitsu; and always with the same message:

 “Fighting is not the answer. You can impose your will by strength of arms for only as long as you are strong. Eventually you grow old and die and the empire is lost. The only real and lasting change can be made through love, helping each other, setting a good example for all…”

 Ashida Kim has been trained to do things and seen things that other men can only dream of. His knowledge and insight into the human mind and world affairs make even the most complicated issue a simple matter. He could easily rip off your head and spit in your neck, if he wanted to. He could creep up on you and knock you out with a stranglehold and bring you back as a Japanese zombie. He can break bricks with his bare hand. But, he chooses not to. Because the same energy that can break a brick or a bone or burst an internal organ, can be used to heal. Every martial art has healing techniques at the advanced levels of training, so that the masters, who are responsible for the welfare of their students, will be able to deal appropriately with any injuries they might encounter and teach them to heal others. This is the highest level of martial art, reserved only for the Meijin, the great teachers. And, in keeping with this tradition, Ashida Kim has chosen to turn the arts of destruction he once learned into ways to help his fellow man. In this way, good deeds spread out like the ripples on a pond and cover the whole earth.

 That is why he has been awarded the 10th Degree Black Belt, the highest level given, in Black Dragon Ninjitsu and named as the founder of his personal system of fighting and invisibility known as Mugei-Mumei no Jitsu, which means, “no name, no art.” Because the first rule of the Silent Way is you don’t talk about Fight Club. Ninja in feudal Japan were sworn to an oath of absolute secrecy, forbidden under pain of death even to tell their own family they were trained to be both warriors and spies.

 “No name, no art” is not a martial arts style. Not any more than Ninjitsu or Ninjutsu is. In fact, it is based on only one technique from the deadly Ninja arsenal. Throwing sand in the opponent’s face to make him blink so you can duck out of sight or hide. Everything else works from that single principle. This may sound unfair, sort of a “dirty tricks” method of fighting. That is because it is not about fighting it is about running away. Every real martial arts class begins with the admonition that you are about to learn how break bones, choke out and kill, cripple or maim. That this art is so deadly that you must only use it in self defense, which means after you have exhausted every avenue of escape. So the first rule is run away. The ancestors who developed this system of fighting without fighting where healers and physicians of their age. They didn’t want to hurt anyone. They wanted the help their people and teach them how to live a long and healthy life through nutrition and exercise. This came from the origin of their philosophy, the Pole Star School, thousands of years before. So, when faced with the siege of the Shogun’s genocidal attacks, they developed the only non-violent martial art known to man. Because it takes two to make a fight. If you refuse to participate, then the aggressor suddenly realizes he is being a bully. That doesn’t mean you let him beat you up. You just vanish. That makes him think you have magic powers. And, may give him pause about attacking you again. Using this principle the teachers were able to quickly empower their people to defend themselves. After all, how long does it take to learn how to throw a handful of sand? And so, some of them survived. There are no specific kata in Ninjitsu. Some sensei select kata from other systems as practice drills. But, because Koga prefecture Ninjitsu does not rely on kata as a method of transmitting its teachings, because there is no codified syllabus, according to Japanese doctrine, it cannot be officially considered a martial arts “do,” or style. This is true of many systems. After all, there was a war going on. There really wasn’t time to teach anyone a set of kata composed of vanishing techniques, all that came later as the teachers shared the history and principles with their students. “No name (secret identity to avoid the Shogun’s unwarranted wrath), and No art (style).”

 Ashida Kim has been awarded a host of honors and awards, far too many to list here. In addition to teaching, both at his own Dojo and on contract to other schools, he sometimes accepts private students pro bono, yet is virtually unknown to any but his closest allies. Simply because he does not boast nor brag of these accomplishments. He is much to busy participating in the glorious adventure that is his life.

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