Was Sho Kosugi Really A Ninja?
Although Sho Kosugi is well known as a ninja on the silver screen, he in real life is ranked in shindo-jinsen-ryu karate. It has been rumored by his publicist that he did indeed study Ninjutsu but, this has never been confirmed. You can read more about Sho here. This guy was cool in the 80s. America had a ninja craze during the 1980s. Honestly, I’m a victim of its spell and practice martial arts to this day because of this cultural craze. You had the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow, and every other ninja warrior featured in every martial art related movie of the day. Black clad warriors were everywhere in the martial arts world, on every magazine, and in every cartoon. On screen, Kosugi fit the part. He was Japanese and a great martial artist.
What Ninjutsu Really Looks Like
Reading up on the real art of Japanese Ninjutsu will teach you that they were highly trained and skilled in hand-to-hand combat, weaponry, stealth, espionage, and mysticism. Along with this idea of mysticism comes magic. Ninja were feared in ancient Japan and considered to be sorcerers, able to walk through walls, walk on water, disappear, turn into animals, etc. While none of this was true, they used trickery such as fireworks and foot boats to accomplish some of these tricks. They were magicians in a sense. A good read on this art is the Ninjutsu “bible” or Ninjutsu in History and Tradition by Masaaki Hatsumi who is the current Grandmaster (34th Soke) of the Togakure-Ryu ninja school. YouTube hosts a ton of good footage too. One good demonstration can be seen here. All these skills are on cinematic display in Ninja III: The Domination.
Ninja III's Ninja Moves
Kosugi, Lucinda Dickey, and David Chung’s (these three play the ninjas) characters use these skills in various scenes in the film. The opening scene and final fight scene are the most spectacular though. Opening scene has a masked warrior defeating an army of people on the golf course using different ninja weapons and hand-to-hand fighting. Most is launched from a hidden position too in classic Shinobi fashion. The psychical capabilities are then seen with a climax disappearing scene. Magic allows the ninja to become a tornado and disappear into the sand below him. The character then emerges from the sand revealing that it was a trick. Of course, his pursuers had moved. The final scenes are very similar. An added tree scaling event using hand and feet claws is added as I remember.
Ninja III The Story, A Wild One
On to this movie, Ninja III: The Domination, though and enough with history. First, I didn’t realize there was a Ninja trilogy. Why was this “Part III” and where were the others? Turns out that the first movie was called Enter the Ninja (1981), followed by Revenge of the Ninja (1983), and finally Ninja III: The Domination (1984). Revenge of the Ninja is already in my collection and deserves a blog at some point. Enter the Ninja is now on my watch list as a must. I’ve watched the middle film several times and, I’m interested to see how the three tie together.
Ninja III’s plot is simple. An evil ninja is on the rampage and after killing several people on a golf course, he is chased by police. He gets injured in the fight but, he escapes. A lady, played by Lucinda Dickey, finds the injured man and when she accepts the sword he’s offering, she gets possessed by his spirit. When the ninja’s spirit possesses her, she has all his abilities and powers. The mission of the evil ninja is picked up by Lucinda’s character. “Only a ninja can defeat a ninja” is a catch line in this movie, and the main turn in the plot. Sho Kosugi’s character is brought in to stop the evil ninja, which he does using the art against him.
Snapshot Of The 80s Ninja Style
1980 got a great snapshot in this movie. Aerobics are a big thing, and the female ninja is an aerobics instructor. Plenty of aerobic classes take place in this movie. Possession scenes are incredibly cheesy. Arcade cabinets come alive, shoot lasers into the eyes of Lucinda’s character, and the cabinet shakes and rolls around in one of these scenes. Fight scenes are terribly choregraphed and unacceptable at best regarding accuracy. Big hair, tight neon clothes, and crazy eye makeup (especially for the ninjas) are just some of the 80s captured in this movie. Plywood seems to be the construction material of the “Ninja Temple” in which Kosugi must defeat the evil ninja in combat. Said ninja temple has monks practicing what seem to be Chinese martial arts in it too.
Closing Out My Thoughts on Ninja III
Generally, I enjoy ninja themed movies from the 80s. One, it reminds me of being a kid then. Two, I am a fan of the ninja and their art. If I ever have the chance to study it, I am going to. I’m looking forward to watching Enter the Ninja and I really enjoy Revenge of the Ninja but, I don’t think I’m going to watch Nina III: The Domination again anytime soon. Another good Kosugi ninja film is one called Pray For Death. Fans of the 80s ninja craze should see all three of these movies but, just know the last one in the ninja trilogy is by far not the best.
I’d love for you to follow me on all social media platforms, read more of my blogs, check out my art, my photography and more. You can do all of this here.