Japan mistake.

Being that Jean Claude Van Damme WAS the director in this movie, also. being an avid practitioner of martial arts, he DOES know of Ninjitsu. Just because he doesn't practice it doesn't mean he doesn't know of it. Keep in mind, this tournament takes place in the 1920's, and Japan's oldest sport is Sumo Wrestling. Ninjitsu or its variables were not yet techniques developed skillfully. In fact, Ninjitsu hadn't even been introduced by that name. All the disciplines at that time were not as modern and today's. And also Ninjitsu was developed by special clans throughout Japan, it was a discipline that was taught to those who belonged in those groups. Not that they did not like to participate but rather that it wasn't yet a mastered technique by the 20's

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ahhahahahhahaha ninjitsu...hahahahahah

go back to watching anime.

There are many factors that go into the decision-making process of a movie, and anyone who concludes that one particular type of martial arts was not chosen over Sumo would be making the actual "mistake." Does anyone believe that the ridiculous "Flamenco dancer" that represented Spain in THE QUEST was chosen because such an absurdity meant to depict a real fighter from Spain? Of course not. Similarly, what Scottish fighter would fight in a kilt? The reason why these decisions were made was to add national color, in an effort to make the film more interesting.

THE QUEST already had martial arts in the form of Cbina and Siam, if not a South American version with Brazil. To have the Japanese fighter engage in any of the various forms of martial arts Japan is famous for would have been redundant, regardless of how an expert in martial arts could passionately argue how different, say, Karate is from Judo. The reason why a Sumo wrestler was chosen was, besides the fact that Sumo happens to be intrinsically Japanese, because it was far more interesting to have a "lumbering giant" in the proceedings, to go up against other fighters with different bodily shapes, as well as the film's other "lumbering giant," the villainous Mongolian.

If you think about it, the art of Sumo is in a whole different league, where body mass plays a strong role, and the idea, after all, is wrestling. A wrestler would have no chance in a fighting contest as fantasized in THE QUEST, where anything goes. The idea in a film such as this has nothing to do with realism.
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Calling that a mistake is a bit far fetched, but throwing in a Sumo fighter mixed with any other kind of martial art is indeed dumb..

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I see dumb people everywhere, and sometimes, they don't even know they're dumb!

IMHO it is all about impressing the audience and being fresh. There has been countless Nija Movies, VanDamme himself plays a Ninjitsu in Bloodsport (I don't remember if it whas that movie or another but you get the point). A summo wrestler is something new and more impressive to the audience.


Chinese have many different and effective martial arts, but when it comes to movies producers and choreographers choose Wushu which is a performance sport and not a martial art. There where many different fighting styles from each country that they could have choose but they choose them based on how they looked and how they matched the other styles. Some examples:

Brazil: Capoeira, Brazilian jui-jitsu

Japan: Karate, Jui Jitsu, Summo, Ken-Jutsu, etc.

China: Wushu, Shaolin, Wing Chun, Tai-Chi, etc.

USA: Boxing, Wrestling

A wrestler would have no chance in a fighting contest as fantasized in THE QUEST, where anything goes. The idea in a film such as this has nothing to do with realism.

UFC 10... Mark Coleman...

you are mistaken Ninjutsu isn't a real martial arts its a modern invention the ninja did exist but they didn't practice some super secret system of martial arts they practiced basic jui jitsu and aki jutsu like systems they also were former samurai and knew everything that a samurai would have known but what you see in movies as Ninjutsu is NOT a historical artform but a system of martial arts made up for tourists to learn the individuals claiming to be masters in an ancient history are either lying or had been lied to