Modern Ninjutsu

In modern Ninjutsu, do you guys learn the techniques of old? Such as hiding and concealment, you know, the assassin stuff.

 

in my dojo we're just learning hand to hand and weapons. obviously some of our techniques are lethal but we aren't taught specifically to assassinate
nor do we learn hiding and concealment but that might happen in other places?

 

LOL, i dont think you want to get everyone started on the 'Ninjas were assassins' thing...

 

No. You don't. Go through and read more of the posts in this topic. You should find some answers there.

 

Huh? I thought that was what Ninjutsu was originally designed for, stealthy assassinations during Japan's Medieval period I think. I thought they were like the anti-samurai, no code of honor or anything. I have heard of many thecniques they used, some obviously fake, some sounding very real. Well, I guess that's why I posted here, to find out the truth about Ninjutsu from actual practitioners of the art.

 

Ninjutsu was devised with the element of surprise in mind. Breaking and entering techniques, poisons, explosives, assassination skills and the like were prominent. Survival, camoflauge and stealth movement played a key part in the methods of the Ninja, and to a degree some of those skills exist today. The simple fact is nowadays that most of those skills are just plain illegal to teach. Ninja weren't necessarily assassins for hire, they didn't fight like the samurai or live by the sword, but they still had their own code of honour. Instead, they lived for the mission at hand, whether it be serving as bodyguards, spys and doing reconnaissance or acting as front line troops.

 

Twimyo, you can search the forum for posts by myself relating to people who thought that the Ninja were assassins, a samurai counter culture, poor, etc. There have been plenty of people before you who have been misinformed so no worries, just do some searching before asking questions that we have answered hundreds of times. Thanks a bunch.

 

Heres the modern equivelents:
Past / Present
Ninja - CIA
Samurai - Military/Bodyguard
Farmer - Farmer
Shogun - General
Emporer - President
Ronin - Mercinary
Village Idiot - People who think realultimatepower is fact


Were Ninja trained in assasination techniques? Probably.
Did Ninja ever assasinate anyone? Maybe.
Were Ninja specificly assasins with no honor and the enemis of Samurai? No, they all worked at Ninja Burger.

 

Please, please, please... Do not compare the Ninja to modern-day government agencies. There is very little to link the two other than "they both do stealth/espionage work."

 

What would you call them?

 

Crack troops. Existing to perform a multitude of tasks, depending on the requirements of the mission.

 

Illegal? Really? THink there's any chance that there could be secret schools or somethin' in Japan where they really do that though? (Not making fun!)

 

I'd say the ninja is more like the Navy Seal or Green Barrette (? is that the right word?).
Ninja's were originally people who kept the peace. Usually only in there own city/town but sometimes they were hired to protect other cities/towns. Of course, it was all hush-hush. No one knew who was protecting them. The people who hire the ninja just knew someone was. Protected the people from anyone who wanted to destory/ruin the city/town. Then latter on some clans began to work with the Tokugawa emperor, and they'd get info on things, help fight in battles, and other sneeky stuff. They did the stuff the samurai couldn't do because of their code of honor.
So, the major goal for the ninja is to defeat/destroy evil. They were protectors first and foremost. Of course, there were some lone ninja's who became assassins but so did some samurai.

To answer the first question: Some dojo's do. You usually start learning stealth and concealment around 2nd or 1st kyu; so near the end. Mostly it is just how to walk, climb, and to understand the environment around you. Assassin techniques? Um, I'd say anything could be an assassin technique. But if you mean the violent techniques like bone breaking, muscle damaging, etc techniques. I'd say all the dojo's would teach some if not all. Oh, and if it is really modern, like I want to do my own interpertation of it modern. Then I'd say they'd have more techniques than the regular ninja techniques.
And, um, none of this is illegal to my knowledge. Well, maybe some of the weapons but that's all to my knowledge.

 

you cant really compare any feudal institution to a modern day liberal democratic organisation. So i wouldnt suggest that kind of comparsion but as im no ninja historian i cant talk much. It might be easier to compare the ninjas to another feudal organisation of the time, cant suggest one as i dont know enough about them in the first place...... sorry

 

How about comparing the feudal Ninja to the modern-day ones? I think that is your best bet. Otherwise you just have a comparison between two groups that share a few similar skills but are otherwise unrelated.

 

there are modern day ninjas? i would have thought the eomployment prospects for a man clad in black and wielding a sword were pretty minimal! . Ive read about haasaki hatsumi sorry i think thats his name, but could you explain by what you mean by modern day ninjas? cheers

 

You are talking about Masaaki Hatsumi-sensei, Toby. He is the current Grandmaster of the Bujinkan organization of Ninjutsu. As far as what I meant in my last post, it is my belief that those who are alive today, practicing the art of Ninjutsu as taught by one of the X-kans abd living their life in accordance with the philosophy of the ancient Ninja, are worthy of being called the modern-day Ninja. As a side note, Ninja did not, historically wear black for stealth. Hopefully we don't need to go into that issue as well. Hope this helps. If not, feel free to ask for more clarification and specifics.

 

And as for employment toby, ninja are not the contract killers or what ever. They are the compassionate men and women who train in the art of Ninpo.

 

Alright guys, this again, eh?

A few things. Read these.....

Jigoku Dojo...................Click on "History Of The Koga Ryu"

Why the Ninja Night Suit is a myth.

They explain how the myths we're talking about are untrue.

Last thing...as far as comparisons, for those too lazy to read the Koga Ryu history, Donald Roley makes what I consider the best comparison yet. The Ninja (Iga and Koga) are best compared to the Medeival Swiss Pikemen. They both lived in a remote, relatively inhospitable region, both developed very valuable combative skills, and both worked as mercenaries when they needed/wanted to, and weren't busy defending their land. They weren't poor, and they weren't a counterculture. They were normal land-owning people who developed very effective martial skills that worked with the environment, and used it not only to defend their land, but for profit when required.

So, read the essays.

 

cheers thats cool, i think that the more i hear about ninja history the more i realise that yes, some ninjas may have worked in the military some wont have, its just we focus on that aspect in films etc because its cool... to be blunt.