Entries from May 2009 ↓

In our previous post we looked a bit on exercising endurance and speed well; before starting to include some parkour to the training.

These are all good options to keep the body in good shape. The next think we should start looking at are exercises that could be done in darkness.

In these elements we should also start use elements as trying to move silently, and to move unseen. Many believe the best color for dressing is black; but they are wrong; black can easily be seen in darkness. You should instead focus on a dark reddish color, or a dark bluish color to better avoid being seen. You could also think about using some shoes that give little sounds when hitting the ground; these are often more uncomfortable than other normal running shoes.

If you look around on the internet you might also find ninja shoes; I haven’t tried those yet; but they might be efficient to cover sound; and still be somehow silent.

The exercise you are going to do is relatively simple; you should find a target; it might be a local shop or somewhere close to where you live. During daytime you should familiarize yourself of where you are going to run, what obstacles you might find during the track, and of course; to look find out where there are security cameras. Remember; you are going to get there unnoticed by anyone; including any cameras.

To make it a bit more difficult for yourself you could look for a target that is a bit more unknown for you; maybe a location in different direction of where you normally go. You might even use Google earth to find the target close by for you.

After learning and studying the path you are going to take (you might even include parkour, but this might be hard since you should ideally be moving in darkness and being completely unnoticed). The first targets might be fairly simple to reach; and increasing the difficulties as you is getting better at moving silently through the night. And please keep in mind to avoid light sources to better be covered by the darkness of the night.

When you get to the target you leave some kind of mark; maybe a sticker or some kind of yellow note it; the point it to leave something there (keep in mind tagging and other illegal ways of marking the target should not be used).

I think it would be say this is exercise 1; it would be more accurate to say a series of exercises you could start.

The first you could start with is endurance training. Endurance training could be hard if you aren’t used to jogging or something. The first few weeks could be used by combining walking and running. Just make sure you don’t get tired of running; feeling it too hard to achieve endurance. There is no shame walking 5 minutes, running 5 minutes, walking 5 minutes and again running 5 minutes. The most important is to make routines to your exercises and not get bored or finding it too hard.

After some weeks of running/walking you should be able to run at least some kilometers/miles nonstop. When this is achieved you could start exercising a bit with interval exercises; to run as fast as possible; paused by a small break to gain normal heart beat and normal breathing again. After you are bit rested you again run for full speed. This will help both endurance, and exercise for speed. Another exercise that could be used alternated by interval is hill running; this mean to find a nice hill that is not too large, nor to small. Your run up the hill as fast as possible and walk down again. This will again help you exercise speed and endurance; but also exercise the stomach muscles well.

Please make a good exercise program to exercise endurance and speed as they are important skills for the urban ninja.

After having a somehow fluent endurance you could start thinking about learning parkour; parkour is a French word for free running. I am not sure if you could properly define it as there are no particular rules to it. It might be more a philosophy or art form where you try to use all of your body while running, and always finding the most efficient way. If you live in a city it might consist of jumping over and balancing on benches etc. The point is to not run around objects as much as you previously have done; but instead try to make use of the objects to pass them efficiently using only your fantasy. It will for sure make your running a lot more fun; and you will make more use of all your body while running. There is no one saying the most efficient way to pass an object, may it be bench or can or whatever, is to run around it.

In the previous post we looked at basic knowledge you should educate yourself in to become an urban ninja.  We looked briefly on learning basic martial arts; and some basic human anatomy. Lastly we looked a bit on learning magic tricks and illusion to better understand the human mind.

After understanding deception and the human mind you might start to practice on moving in darkness. This is difficult skill to acquire as the sight is significantly reduced in darkness. It could however be improved by eating minerals and vitamins, and practicing movements in darkness.

You should also educate yourself within colors and how certain colors is less visible in darkness; and some colors camouflage better with wood or grass. Some colors better used in cities etc. But to successfully move unnoticed you should educate yourself in color perception, and visual perception. This is also how illusionist gives impression of floating in the air or when using boxes people are not really inside, but behind it.

There could also be some physical exercises you could start doing; both endurance and speed can be achieved by running longer distances mixed with hill training and interval training. There are important features to anything you do. You could also practice flexibility training, and jumping exercises. The body should be well exercised, to become a tool well suited for good endurance and speed for good movements; and might be slightly more important than strength. Strength might of course also be practiced, and maybe in good combination with climbing. The point is to improve your body to be suitable for movements.

Another natural exercise could be to practice moving with as little sounds as possible to avoid being caught by others. No one can be completely silent; but you can hide some of the sounds you make through moving in particular ways, and by clothing and shoes you wear.

Meditation is another exercise often used to calm your mind, and to be better to focus and concentrate while doing tasks.

Remember; the most important tools you always will have available are your mind and you body. You might in many situations be unequipped with no tools, but you will always have your mind and body ready; and that’s why these are the tools that needs the most exercise to become an urban ninja in these days. In most situations you have nothing but yourself to depend upon.