An excerpt from The Dark Angel.

Page 83.."The tip of a gun nestled itself in the back of his neck. Jason gently clicked off the camera, raised his hands and stood up. His hands were high in the air when he dropped his head, spun around and swept the legs out from the attacker. The man hit the floor and Jason clamped a hand over his mouth. He hit him in the neck with a shuto strike and the man’s eyes rolled back to their whites."

Page 171.."He saw Rich on his knees, more scared than he had ever seen someone look. His eyes looked like he had already died, but was just waiting for the final act to make it real. A skinny kid was standing over him and Moody recognized him from the back, he didn’t need to see a face to know it was Ty Dummich. He ran closer and started to shout Ty’s name, but neither of them acknowledged him. Ty raised the gun up to his own temple and as Moody watched, reality blurred with fantasy."

Welcome to the Shimada dojo!

They were legendary; they were amazing. A family lodged into the annals of American history--- the Shimadas.

When Commodore Perry first saw Japan, the destiny of this family was written. They explored the world, seeing the best in people from every part of the globe. This conflicted with the traditional Japanese thinking to stay away from places they did not know. There was one clan in particular that did not agree with this: the Koshimoto clan.  While the Shimadas were looking to see what America was like, the Koshimotos allied themselves with the Samurai, and resisted the modernization of Japan.

The roots of the Shimada family changed from being Occidental, to being Continental. They settled in northern California. The two clans who had allied themselves with Hattori Hanzo and helped unify Japan became enemies. Many battles happened, in many places, across many cultures.

During the Second World War, while Hideki Tojo preached the message of Japanese superiority over other cultures, the Shimada family could not embrace this and became expatriates. Thus the legend began. Nestled in the Sonoma Valley, resisted the internment camps and worked for the OSS and helped defeat the imperialism they had seen blossom in Japan, and along the way helped build the foundation of America culture. The newest generation has now taken over the fight.  

Some would call him ninja, others would call him a student of Bujinkan,  he walks in darkness, hunted by the FBI and trying to avenge the death of  his Master and searching for peace.

His story is called The Dark Angel.

A Lesson From History

The most famous book on espionage is, of course, The Art of War. This 2,500 year old treatise on the strategy of using deception to weaken your enemies is still as relevant today as it was in the time of Sun Tzu. As countries grew, the need for espionage systems grew with them, often helping to provide a military and economic advantage as nations began connecting with each other.

In Japan, it was the ninja that provided the intelligence data to whatever employer they worked for. The original ninja families were oriented toward allegiance to certain shogun depending upon their region or connections with them. When  Tokogawa Ieasyu came to power in Japan, with the help of the Iga ninja, he rewarded their leader, Hatori Hanzo with the job of guarding the south gate to Edo Castle. We found it amusing that actor Sonny Chiba was named Hatori Hanzo in the Quentin Tarantino epic, Kill Bill. We were not aware of his history of playing this character  for years in a television series called Hattori Hanzo: Kage no Gundan, also known as Shadow Warriors.  It appears the most unique film-maker in the last twenty years is one step ahead of us again!

     The United States focused very little on spying, even when it became hip-deep in World War One and World War Two. The Office of Strategic Services was founded in 1942, by General William Donovan, a veteran of World  War One, and the only American to receive our nation's four highest awards: The Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Distinguished Service Medal and the National Security Medal. Later, the OSS became the CIA, and began to partner with other Intelligence agencies such as the British MI-6 to counter the KGB during the Cold War. While the United States focused on the concept of utilizing technology to increase their intelligence of Soviet Union, also known as SIGINT, the Russians aggressively recruited agents (HUMINT) to provide them with on the ground information of Western activities. The most famous cases of espionage  in American History are  Nathan Hale, Benedict Arnold, and the Rosenbergs. As American technology advanced, the need to have assets on the ground in hot spots like the Middle East decreased, leaving us vulnerable to attacks, such as the bombing of the Marine Barracks in Beirut on October 23, 1983 and Sept. 11th. The backstory behind the Marine Barracks bombing appeared in the biography of Seal Team Six Captain, Richard Marcinko, Rogue Warrior. Obviously, we weren't there, but his point of view on the events surrounding the bombing is very interesting and worth a good read, just like the rest of the book is. We recommend it highly. Next time, we'll talk about the use of technology in espionage. We hope you find it interesting!

  We find it interesting...

that people on the far left consider enforcement of the nation's immigration laws as racism or hate, and people on the far  right consider immigrants as interlopers who should go back to their home country. Interesting how Indians ("Native Americans") never had that high moral ground like we think white people think they do.  We see both sides of the issue, we see the cheap labor that certain ethnicities provide, but the challenge for us as human beings is to consider not what a person's heritage is, but to consider the person individually. Most serial killers in United States history are white, such as John Wayne Gacy, the Zodiac and  Ed Gein.  Does this mean that every person who is white is a serial killer? If you said "No", then think about how you look at people who are different than you. My Mom always told me when growing up, "Treat others like you want to be treated." That's simplistic, but maybe those words apply. Every time you judge someone for how they look and not for the content of their character, you close your mind to the idea that maybe that person can teach you something you never would have known. Knowledge is power, and ignorance is a prison.

           Just some ideas for you to consider.           

  Contact: ChrisH@shimadadojo.com