What do you know about the ninja?

Pretty much all I know is from what I’ve seen in movies and TV.

I would parallel them to modern era black-op forces. High caliber warriors trained and controlled by very wealthy special interest groups.

I’m sure on some level they are still active….whether that be on an imitation basis or the real deal I haven’t the slightest clue.

They were practically the equivalent of special forces or CIA covert ops of their time, although at times they did fight alongside others in open battle as mercs. Of course they did not have so called mystical skills but were skilled in the art of remaining undetected.

There were to major clans that produced professional ninjas which were the Iga and the Koga until the Iga were all but wiped out.

Ninjas were also commonly simple commoners or samurai hired as mercs for some specific purpose normally ranging from gathering intel to arson (most common form of sabotage) to actual assassination.

That’s all I can think of now.

@tapestryofregret I’m not sure who trained the ninja, but they did have specific arts to learn, usually revolving around stealth. But as for them being trained by wealthy and special interest groups, I think that was reserved for the samurai. Not sure, really, Wiki is kinda bullshit at times lol.

Ninjutsu is not a combat style. Ninjas have their own combat style to be sure, but that is Taijutsu. Now, Ninjutsu is the entire body of what it means to be a Ninja; stealth, evasion, disguise, combat (Taijutsu, and at least one weapon style)… the whole deal.

Ninjas rarely (if ever) wore the black costumes that pop culture associates with them. That costume is worn by Kabuki stage hands and the proper etiquette is to act as if those black-clad individuals on the stage moving stuff are invisible, so somebody came up with the idea of Ninjas wearing the same thing as they too are invisible.
The truth is that Ninjas were into disguise, and that means blending into a crowd, (not* standing out. Additionally, black is actually quite visible in most shadows; if you want to sneak around in the dark, wear dark grey.

@jerv I knew the white ninja in GIJoe or however you spell that was bullshit. XD
Interesting though…that guy crossdressing as a Geisha in Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman may have been much more of a ninja than most I’ve seen on the screen?

@Symbeline They had no problems dressing up as the opposite gender, so most likely, yes!

@jerv Have you seen that movie? From what you say about ninjas, it’s a lot more accurate on the Edos period than a lot of movies are, so I’d be interested in your opinion. (Besides the over the top Aikido lol.) I really have no idea though.

These ninja’s make like kittens fighting over a ball of wool

Ninjas are cool. I want to be Ninja_Zen next reincarnation.

I am a NinjaTeacher in the public school classroom – does that count?

I remember my grandfather in Yokohama telling me that Ninjas were highly skilled at what they did, and that they weren’t as common as soon as Japan started industrializing and becoming modern. My grandfather was much more knowledgeable about the Samurai than Ninjas.

My Japanese friend likes to point out that the Ninjas were the scum of the earth. From her description, I would liken them to be back alley thugs, rather than the elegant warrior they are portrayed.

@rowenaz Are you really?

@filmfann What does she describe them like?

@Symbeline Oh Yes – I come into the classrooms using stealth and get these inner city kids excited about anything I can!! Of course, caring and trying to find out what excites them is my own special espionage – and if that doesn’t work, I use my clandestine powers to bend them to my will and make them think it’s their own will… I’‘m a cross between Roseanne Barr and a Jack Black Ninja – but fatter – and deadlier. WAY DEADLIER.

Yes, a properly dressed historical ninja would probably be dressed like a farm hand and would fight with a set of shears or something. There was a “ninja” dressed in the black outfit weilding nunchukas (sure I misspelled that…) and stuff that was breaking into people’s homes in Staten Island last year and the year before. The media nicknamed him the “Staten Island Ninja” and I always wished they would catch him just so I could send him a letter explaining how horrible his ninja-history was…

And yes, Ninjas were and are considered dirty bastards. In a society that was largely defined by honor, sneaking around, dressing like a woman and poisoning people was not exactly smiled upon…

@Winters has it right. In feudal Japan, they operated under a different code than the the battefield samurai. They were spies and saboteurs, not unlike the CIA, Mossad, etc.

@crazyivan oh come on, are you saying that Ninjas were eunuchs? lol jk

@josie thanks

@jerv Taijutsu is just a collective term for the art of body movement it is not a martial art. a person can have good taijutsu, which means they a very good at moving from stance to stance, good rolls, dodging etc. The martial art the ninja used was Jujutsu (not jujitsu which is the modern sports equivilent) for unarmed combat, Kenjutsu for sword combat, naginatajutsu for halberd fighting etc. etc. etc. most ninja were in fact exiled samurai who moved to the mountains. normally a defeated samurai was obligated to commit suicide but not all shared this view. these samurai who moved to the mountains were then hunted by other samurai as they were dishonorable. because of this, these samurai developed new techniques of hiding, intelligence gathering etc. which were called shinobinojutsu. the practicioners of shinobinojutsu were called shinobi no mono. which much later became known as ninja. Nin or shinobi (they have the same kanji) means patience or stealth (among other things). Ja means man. so the ninja can be seen as men of patience or stealth. one famous ninja is Hattori Hanzou (not the kill bill guy).