Reality Check: Kacem Zoughari Rates Ninja Movies

PUBLISHED 14 JAN 2026

Ninja Historian Separates Shinobi Fact from Hollywood Fantasy

What happens when one of the world’s leading ninja historians sits down with YouTube’s most curious karate nerd to binge-watch ninja movies? A lot of myths get demolished—swiftly and mercilessly.

In a new, entertaining video, historian, martial artist, and author Kacem Zoughari joins Jessie Enkamp (aka The Karate Nerd™) to rate the realism of scenes from eight popular ninja films and series. The result is part film critique, part history lesson, and part comedy roast.

A Scholar Meets Pop Culture

Zoughari is uniquely qualified for the task. Known for his academic research into historical shinobi traditions as well as his decades of martial arts training, he approaches ninja cinema with a sharp eye for detail—and little patience for lazy stereotypes.

Host Jessie Enkamp presents Kacem with a series of clips from martial arts cinema, ranging from 1980s “Cannon fodder” classics like Enter the Ninja and American Ninja, to modern productions such as Ninja Assassin, G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013), and the contemporary series House of Ninjas. After each clip, Zoughari delivers a verdict, explaining what the films get wrong—and, occasionally, what they get right.

Throughout the video, Zoughari breaks down the real historical truths behind how shinobi actually moved, the tools they used, and the clothes they wore, revealing just how far removed Hollywood ninjas are from their real-world counterparts.

The Costume Problem

One of the most memorable moments comes when Kacem reacts to a scene from American Ninja featuring trainees practicing in brightly colored uniforms.

“Ninja in red, ninja in yellow? I don’t think it exists at all,” Zoughari scoffs. “They will always wear the costumes of the place they’re gonna infiltrate. So they need to blend.”

It’s a classic example of cinema choosing visual flair over historical plausibility. Real shinobi, Zoughari explains, avoided standing out at all costs. Disguise, camouflage, and adaptation—not theatrical uniforms—were key to survival.

Weapons Myths, Debunked

Zoughari also takes aim at one of the most persistent ninja-movie clichés: the sai.

While watching G.I. Joe: Retaliation, he questions why the weapon continues to appear in ninja films despite having no real historical connection to shinobi.

“Now I don’t understand why in every ninja movie, they have sai. I mean, I love the sai,” he says. “We have jutte, which is a little bit more shorter. So this would be more accurate.”

The distinction may seem minor to casual viewers, but for historians and practitioners, it highlights how often ninja lore is mashed together with unrelated Okinawan and samurai traditions.

From Zero to Ten

Not all films fare equally under Zoughari’s scrutiny.

The ultra-violent Ninja Assassin ranks at the very bottom, earning a brutal 0/10 for accuracy and authenticity. Stylized action, implausible movement, and fantasy-level abilities leave little room for historical merit.

At the other end of the spectrum, Zoughari is surprisingly generous toward the Disney series Shogun, awarding it a perfect 10/10. While not strictly a “ninja show,” its attention to period detail, atmosphere, and cultural realism earns his highest praise.

Education Through Entertainment

What makes the video especially engaging is the dynamic between Zoughari and Enkamp. Jessie Enkamp—Amazon best-selling author, national team athlete, and entrepreneur — acts as the enthusiastic stand-in for the audience, asking questions and steering the conversation with curiosity and humour.

Together, they manage to turn movie critique into an accessible history lesson, making the realities of ninjutsu more compelling than the myths.