The History Behind The Ninja


by Craig Lightner

Quick as the wind and silent as shadow, masked figures dressed in black garb flow across a courtyard and over a wall like liquid. Ninja's were adept at killing samurai and their body guards. The bedroom door opens up quietly, a blade rises up in the moonlight, in the ninja world of films and comic strips. The stealthy killed dressed in black, with magical skills in the dark arts of hiding and... murder!

Wraiths can be very interesting, yet one has to wonder why the Ninja has become a force behind popular culture? Partly because civilizations throughout history have made use of spies and assassins, it is quite difficult to pin down the first appearance of the shinobi, commonly known as the ninja. According to legend, the ninja's ancestor was a demon that was half man and half crow. It may appear a lot more likely that the ninja emerged as a huge opposing force in the eyes of their contemporaries, the samurai, dating back to feudal Japan.

Ninjitsu is a ninja's stealth ability, and was developed as an art under Prince Shotoku; Otomono Sahito used this art when he was a shinobi spy.

China's Tang Dynasty was already declining by the middle of the ninth century. China descends into half a century of unrest after its fall in 907, which forces several Tang generals to flee across the sea to Japan. The commanders brought along their own schools of battle tactics, while chinese monks began pouring in with medicines and battle tactics of their own. Most of the concepts came from India first, then move to Tibet and China before ending up in Japan. The monks in Japan taught the yamabushi, or the warrior monks and also the first ninja clans members.

Chinese and natives are available with counter-culture options for a hundred years as relates to ninjitsu. Daisuke Togakure and Kain Doshi the samurai created the first one. Daisuke, whose samurai title had been revoked and his hands lost, encountered Kain Doshi the Chinese warrior-monk as he was traveling around the southwest Honshu mountains in 1162. Daisuke renounced the bushido code and created "ninjitsu;" the first ninja school was then set up by his descendents.

Ninjutsu formed into a a person against bushido, samurai code. To the samurai, loyalty and honor was more important than anything else. As such, Samurai would challenge a single opponent in battle with an announcement and a statement of family pedigree before even beginning the attack. Brilliant colors were worn by the Samurai as part of their armor so that others would know their clan. Although adhering to Bushido was ideal, at times the ninjutsu philosophy was more practical; ninjas were free to complete their objectives by the most expedient method. Shame was brought to the samurai for using sneak attacks, poison, spying and seduction; the only acceptable methods for ninja are only those that would be considered as fair play..

About the Author

My name is Craig Lightner and I am a contributing editor of several martial arts websites.  If you enjoyed this please check out more of my writing at http://www.themmazone.net ...

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