Ashida Kim: Self Proclaimed “Ninja”

Ashida Kim has been the butt of many jokes within martial arts communities for the last forty years. In all of this time, the self-proclaimed ninja has never wavered in his claims of being a ninjitsu master.

Here is the funny story of self-proclaimed ninja master, Ashida Kim. Going over how he started his scam in the 1980s and has continued pushing his delusions till this day.

Ashida Kim’s Origins

The origins of Ashida Kim are shrouded in mystery. Mostly because he has kept quiet about his upbringing to continue his grift that nobody believes.

What we know about the real Kim is that his real name is Radford W. Davis. Born in Florida sometime in 1948 and that’s just about all we know about him other than his proclaimed origins.

He has also gone by the name Christopher Hunter and also Dr. Ha-Ha Lung before later settling on Ashida Kim. 

Of course, the name is absolutely ridiculous as Ashida is a Japanese name whilst Kim is a very common Korean name. But logic has no place in the story of a self-proclaimed ninja master.

Ashida Kim’s Story of Learning Ninjutsu

As you would expect from a crazy person like Kim. He created his own elaborate story of how he came to be a ninjutsu master.

His journey to become a ninja in the late 1960s. Davis would travel to Chicago, Illinois of all places to learn from a ninja master.

Kim claimed to have been an affiliate of the infamous Black Dragon Society that was founded by Count Dante. One of the very first fake martial artists that we talked about before.

The Black Dragon group had no experience with ninjutsu, but that hasn’t stopped Kim from claiming it. Ashda claimed his teacher was a ninja master that simply went by the name Shendi.

He has also claimed that the Black Dragon Society doesn’t date back to the early 1960s, but 6000 years ago. In the ancient city of… Atlantis.

We weren’t aware of Atlantis being the birthplace of ninjas, but it’s his story.

Ashida Kim Ninja Manuals

Ashida Kim claims to be the highest selling author of martial arts books of all time. There’s nothing to back up this claim, but it’s just something he believes to be true.

He has written and released numerous ninja manuals to help you become a deadly martial arts master.

• The Secrets Of The Ninja(His First Book)
• Ninja Death Touch
• Ninja Secrets of Invisibility
• Ninja: Hands of Death
• Forbidden Fighting Techniques of The Ninja
• The Invisible Fist: Methods of Vanquishing an Enemy Without a Trace
• Iron Body Ninja: The Secrets of Superior Strength
• Deadly Grip of the Ninja
• The Making Of A Ninja: Ashida Kim’s Training Camp
• Ninja Cloak And Dagger: Espionage and Weapon Techniques
• Ninjutsu for Women 
• Dance of Death
• Ninja Training Manual 
• Book of the Ninja
• Way of the Mind Gate
• The Invisible Ninja: Ancient Secrets of Surprise
• Invisible Fist of the Ninja

Ashida Kim’s Erotic Fiction Novels

On top of writing various ninja training manuals, Kim has written numerous erotic fiction novels. Of course, centering around him and using his ninja skills to vanquish evil and have sex with lots of women.

One of the most absurd sex novels that Ashida wrote was The Amorous Adventures of Ashida Kim A “true story” of how Kim was hired to be a bodyguard at a South African brothel.

After saving the prostitutes, they make Kim their white god-savior. He then proceeds to kill all of the men in the village and then begins impregnating all of the women.

A gross and quite racist story of a delusional man.

Ashida Kim’s Ninja Instructional Videos

The internet is littered with clips of Kim’s old instructional videos. Many of which are filmed with a handheld camera and look like funny homemade video skits. 

He’s made videos on teaching everything from

Ninja Sentry Removal:

Invisibility:

Small Fist Techniques:

Sword Kata

Ninja Levitation:

Ashida Kim’s $10,000 Challenge

To attempt and silence his critics(which is basically anyone with a brain), Kim created the $10,000 challenge. Anyone that doubts his abilities can take up his challenge to face him in combat.

But this isn’t a challenge, where you’re given $10,000 for defeating him in combat. Instead, you have to give him $10,000 and agree to a number of rules that Kim makes up. On top of giving him $10,000, he also charges a $25,000 appearance fee. 

The rules of the fight may include something like:

• No Holds Barred Rules
• But Kim Can Win By Pinfall
• Physical From Challenger
• Athletic Commission Present
• Demonstration Of Skills

We could go on listing the various rules, but they honestly change by the day. Depending on how Kim is feeling that day.

People have actually come to him with money to fight him, but Kim ignores them and continues his fantasies.

Ashida Kim Selling Fake Black Belts

For a time, Kim was actually selling fake black belts on his site. Ninjutsu has no belt system, but that hasn’t stopped Kim from trying to make a buck.

It doesn’t even matter for which martial art. If you sent Kim money, he would give you a black belt.

The Black Dragon Society Sues Kim

For years, Kim has claimed to be part of Count Dante’s Black Dragon Society. Going so far as to claim that he was a champion fighter of the group.

But the heads of Black Dragon Society had enough of Kim making these claims. The group would file a lawsuit against Kim for a laundry list of reasons.

A former student of Count Dante claimed that Kim was illegally teaching his master’s style Dante-se. Also illegally selling memberships to the Black Dragon Society on his website.

Even a group of charlatans founded by one of the original martial arts scam artists had enough of Kim’s game. But a judge dismissed the lawsuit and probably wanted to get as far as he could from these idiots.

A Legendary Fake Martial Artist

Ashida Kim has been a joke for almost fifty years, but being a laughing stock for so long hasn’t stopped him. Even in his seventies, Kim is still pushing his various scams and delusions. He’s a charlatan of the highest order, but at least he’s something we can all laugh at.