Ninjutsu is a systemized Japanese martial art used for the specific purpose of espionage. The art was practiced by the shinobi or ninja that rose to prominence during Japan’s Sengoku period (1467-1573; aka Warring States period). However, the origin of ninjutsu is just as secretive as the men who practiced the art.
One version theorizes that the ninja started via the Chinese Tang dynasty (618-907); the first recorded sect of assassins practiced their secret arts in the forests of northern China. It was during Korea’s Three Kingdoms period (circa A.D. 663, Koguryo, Paechta and Silla kingdoms) that the Tang-backed Silla used Chinese assassins to defeat the Japanese-back Paechta. This gave rise to the Korean sulsa assassins that possibly influenced the rise of the ninja.
Most people are familiar with the romanticized image of a ninja: people running around in face-covered black attire. However, the most effective ninja are the ones sitting next to you in math class, blending into their surroundings. Ninjutsu encompasses kicking, grappling and taijustsu (linear and circular empty-hand skills). It also emphasizes the use of traditional weapons such as the sword, dagger, dart, weighted chain and shurikens (ninja stars). Modern training forgoes past ninja skills like horsemanship, explosives and poisons.
– May 16, 2012
Jack Hoban is one of the founding fathers of American ninjutsu. He rode the wave of ninja-mania that struck during the 1980s, and he weathered the drought that moved in when the popularity of ninjutsu training plunged. Other fads have come and gone, but still Jack Hoban is there, steadfast
Read More »
– December 23, 2011
The ninja called it ongyo-jutsu, the art of escape. It gave them an unrivaled command of trickery and stealth and earned them a reputation for being superhuman. They were said to be able to disappear through walls, turn themselves into trees or rocks, and even live underwater like a fish.
All
Read More »
– November 11, 2011
Back in 1983, I heeded the call of Uncle Sam and joined the U.S. Army. Basic training at Fort Bliss, Texas, was easy enough and mostly fun, what with the M16 rifles, M60 machine guns, hand grenades, Claymore mines and LAWs (light anti-tank weapons). A martial artist interested in state-of-the-art
Read More »
– June 27, 2011
Since authentic ninjutsu training was introduced to the Western world in the late 1970s, many false notions and erroneous impressions have grown up around the legendary shadow warriors known as the ninja. Many of these misconceptions have roots in fact but have developed as falsehoods over the centuries of secrecy
Read More »
– June 16, 2011
Centuries ago, ninjutsu training was born into a world enveloped in war. That one fact makes it vastly different from styles like aikido and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which were founded during peacetime. Because of its violent childhood, ninjutsu techniques focused on fighting methods that worked on the battlefield, behind enemy lines
Read More »
– June 7, 2011
It’s a testimonial to the ninja that Japan’s 1964 Olympic team seriously considered using a number of ninjutsu training methods. Yoshiaki Hatsumi, one of Japan’s few remaining ninja practitioners, describes the ninja of old as the perfect all-around athletes of their day—expert in running, jumping, swimming, climbing walls, long-distance hiking,
Read More »
– June 7, 2011
Like the Green Berets, the ninja operated in small bands in which each man was a specialist in some form of ninjutsu training. They had such a huge assortment of ninja weapons they were expected to master that it was only natural that some men became more adept at specific
Read More »
– June 7, 2011
The ninja were accomplished pharmacists, skilled in preparing different poisons and special powders and compounds. Ninjutsu training in yogen (pharmacy) also allowed them to prepare gunpowder and explosives, medicines and even concentrated foods as part of their ninja gear.
Ninja Gear #1: Poisons
Poisons were made from mineral, plant and animal sources.
Read More »
– June 7, 2011
As Heichichiro Okuse says, it was cunning and deception that gave the ninja the edge over their enemies. These traits were emphasized and sharpened during ninjutsu training. The ninja raised espionage to a highly developed art centuries before such training was given to cloak-and-dagger agents in Western countries.
There were three
Read More »
– June 1, 2011
Welcome to Ninja History 101. During today’s lesson, we’ll be examining Spies and Assassins, Ninja Gear, Ninjutsu Weapons and Ninjutsu Training. But first, a brief introduction.
