Each week's Black Belt Watchlist is free to watch on Pluto TV! It’s the primordial ooze from which all ninja movies sprang—the Mike Stone...

Before ninjas were everywhere—from cartoons and video games to Halloween costumes—there was Sho Kosugi, the man who helped introduce the mysterious, masked martial artist to Western audiences and turned ninja films into a full-blown pop culture phenomenon. In the 1980s, if there was a ninja on screen, chances are it was Kosugi—silent, swift, and deadly. Born in Tokyo in 1948, Sho Kosugi began martial arts training at age 5, eventually earning black belts in karate and kendo,

Behind every great martial artist, there’s often a teacher. And sometimes, just sometimes, that teacher is also Dad. This Father’s Day, we’re kicking some love toward the martial arts fathers who trained, mentored, inspired, or passed down their legacy to the next generation of legends.

Ninja have become a staple of action-packed entertainment, offering a unique blend of stealth, deadly combat skills, and mystery. Over...

BY JASON WILLIAM MCNEIL The year was 2006, and it was my first visit to Hollywood. Whom did I choose to meet first on that day? The...