Game
Ninja
Myself
Nashville, TN
Around 2010 or 2011
Informant Data:
C. D. was born in New Haven, CT in 2000. He moved to Nashville, TN in 2002. C. ’s parents are from Western Massachusetts and are of British, German, Polish, and Lithuanian heritage. C. attended public schools during his childhood and is currently a junior at Dartmouth College.
Contextual Data:
C. Learned this game in 5th grade while attending a public magnet middle school that drew students from across the school district. This game was played at recess, usually by boys. At the time that C. learned this game, many of his friends were very enthusiastic about ninjas.
Item:
This game can be played by 2 players or more. At the beginning of the game, all the players stand in a circle, press their hands together in front of them as if they are praying, and bow to the “geographic center of the earth”, which is the middle of the circle. Each player then takes a position they feel is good for attacking other players or defending themselves and remains still in that position. Throughout the game, every player has to keep their hands straight and rigid with their fingers pressed together, similar to a karate chop. The game starts with one player moving to a new position and freezing while attempting to hit another player’s hand in the process. Ideally, a player is only supposed to move one limb during their turn, but more complicated motions are allowed as long as no more than one step is taken and the player does not move their arms or torso in multiple directions. The next person in the circle does the same thing, and game play follows the order of people in the circle, even if the players are no longer standing in a circle. When one player hits another player’s hand, the touched player puts that hand behind their back and is no longer allowed to use it. However, if a player is about to be hit, they can move their hand out of the way; this is the only time a player can move if it is not their turn. When a player has had both of their hands hit, they are out of the game. The last player remaining wins. A variation of this game existed where players essentially ran around trying to hit each other’s hands. I think this was called “Extreme Ninja”.
C. D.
Dartmouth College
Russian 13
Fall 2020