SewerBushido

One of the big reasons I ended up training in Ninpo when I got older was the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie from 1990. I was already into martial arts like all the other kids at the time, but TMNT really changed things for me in what exactly martial arts can be. I was really young, so this movie's opening scene where the Turtles rescue April from the muggers by taking out the lights and fighting unseen changed everything for me!

Of course, later in the movie we learn that the final and greatest truth of the ninja comes not from the body, but from the mind! That's sort of how it is in real Ninpo training, too! Especially in the cut bits where the Turtles learn to fight while blindfolded. It's like a fantasy version of a real type of body awareness I'm developing!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is far from my only inspiration as far as Ninjutsu or martial arts in general goes, but it is a foundational one from my youth and I'll always appreciate it for that.