All about ninjas

by **Bibarel** Sun Apr 19, 2009 6:28 pm

What is a ninja? A true ninja is not just someone who wears black, drops down from the ceiling and slices everyone to pieces. Ninja have been around since at least the 15th century, when guerilla warfare in feudal Japan called for espionage and assassination--activities which Samurai would not perform because they were forbidden by Bushido, the Samurai Code.Ninja were called on to be master spies, assassins and specialist warriors, both for and against the government. While some aspects of the ninja way may be outdated, the principles and techniques remain valuable for anyone who wants to learn from and emulate the ninja way.
1. Decide upon a series of ideas, morals and philosophies that you truly can live by. Contrary to popular belief, ninja weren't always cold-blooded killers that did things that samurai refused to do. In most cases rogue/masterless samurai (Ronin) were the ones that caused most of the crimes in feudal Japan. Ninja came from all walks of life. Most ninja used their skills mainly to keep themselves alive to come home to see their families every night. Some ninja families however came under the service of a lord, or kept themselves isolated within their own clan. Decide on what you want to do first.
2. Never publicize that you are a ninja. A ninja must be able to function as a spy, which means that you cannot reveal your status as an aspiring ninja, or else no one will trust you. Do not dress like the stereotypical ninja. The black outfits that most people associate with ninja are a construct of Kabuki theater, in which ninja characters were disguised as prop handlers (who always wore black to minimize their presence while moving props on stage).When you do wear ninja clothes, the idea is to never let anyone see you in them.
3. Learn how to move stealthily. Become adept at social and physical invisibility and silence. Walk silently. Learn the appropriate clothes for the appropriate times. Do not stand out or draw attention to yourself in any way. Sometimes that may mean being sociable and friendly because in the modern world, a person who sits quietly in the corner arouses suspicion and is carefully watched.
4. Get and maintain a ninja body. This does not necessarily mean becoming lean and muscular; it means building endurance, agility, strength and flexibility. Your body is a tool--as long as it can perform the functions of a ninja, it is a valuable tool. In fact, becoming too fit may be counterproductive, especially if you stand out as being the only slim or muscular person in the room.
5. Know how to escape. No matter where you are, know how to get out of the situation as quickly and as anonymously as possible. This is a critical skill for a ninja, especially when performing missions. Historically, smoke bombs and firecrackers were used to create diversions, but you will have to devise more subtle techniques. When you enter a room, always be aware of every potential exit, and have several plans in place for how you can create a diversion if necessary. As you escape, strive to leave no evidence behind. One way that ninja accomplished this in the past was with ashiaro, or wooden pads worn on their bottom of their footwear and carved to look like an animal's paw or a child's foot so that the ninja's footprints would not be noticed.
6. Study ninjutsu. Ninjutsu isn't just a martial art but a skill set that is meant to provide the necessary skills to complete missions of espionage and assassination in a feudal setting. There are 18 different disciplines (note that samurai and shinobi (ninja) use the same techniques sometimes):

* Seishin-teki kyōyō (spiritual refinement)
* Taijutsu (unarmed combat, using one's body as the only weapon)
* Kenjutsu (sword fighting)
* Bōjutsu (stick and staff fighting)
* Shurikenjutsu (throwing blades)
* Sōjutsu (spear fighting)
* Naginatajutsu (naginata fighting)
* Sui-ren (water training)
* Bōryaku (tactic)
* Chōhō (espionage)
* Intonjutsu (escaping and concealment)
* Tenmon (meteorology)
* Kusarigamajutsu (chain and sickle weapon)
* Kayakujutsu (pyrotechnics and explosives)
* Hensōjutsu (disguise & impersonation)
* Chi-mon (geography)
* Shinobi-iri (stealth and entering methods)
* Bajutsu (horsemanship)
7. Learn to control people and manipulate events not by force, but by words and actions. As a modern ninja, you should be able to obtain a goal without having to resort to any manner of violence. Use people's desires, needs and wants against them. Humans need security, wealth, pride, strength and to have their wants and needs satisfied. This is a key ability in most if not all events.
8. Feed your mind. Ninja were often very knowledgeable. With knowledge comes power and this can help you become more resourceful and also help you blend in more easily.
9. Master self control A true Ninja is a master of his/her enviroment, which consequently requires one to be in control of one's self. To master one's self, learn to: Cut emotions out of the desicion making, engage in rational and logical thinking no matter what the situation is, make tactical desicions that may upset one's ego, finding the flow of situations/problems and one's place with in them, make desisions for one's own situations as if giving someone else advice... Applying this to every day life is a must, as it stand in the way of the mastery of one's self. If one cannot master self, one cannot master others, and their soroundings. Example: Engaging in physical combat due to probacation knowing one can defeat the threat may not be the best of interests for the big picture. Walking away while ridicule may hurt one's ego, but will keep one in the clear of the public's eye from things to come.
10. Silence is Golden One's desicion to live by ninjutsu disiplines is not and should not be public knowledge. One's first responsibility is to learn and practice ninjutsu in secrecy, and privately. After all, one cannot be a master spy if one cannot keep something as simple as one's hidden identity a secret from those that surround us (Even if One lives with them.) Do not lead others as to what you may or may not know, or what you may be up to.
* Ninjutsu is a lifelong pursuit. You can never fully master something. There is always room for improvement. Don't expect to become a true ninja in a week. Shinobi usually start at the age of 5 or 6 until they are about 20 and keep on going to become better. It's like in school, we start at 5 and finish high school and you have a option to go on further.
* Women ninja are called kunoichi and historically, were trained differently because they had different tools of disguise at their disposal. Aside from the stereotypical view that they seduced men in order to get close to them, they were more likely to be disguised as a household servant, which allowed them to overhear conversations and get close to the target individual as well. A modern female ninja should use people's perception about women to her advantage--generally, people are less suspicious of women than they are of men.
* Parkour or free running is compatible with being a ninja because it not only allows you to escape and hide easily, but it also builds strength and agility. Parkour will be more useful than freerunning as it concentrates on effectiveness and speed more than showing off and is used for personal development.
* Look into Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu. It is the real ninja martial art.
* Don't use your ninja skills for senseless violence!
* If one's motivations to be a ninja involve any of the following: to provoke and engage in open physical confrontations, for notoriety, to show off, or solely for revenge and inflict harm(self absorbed reasons) then thou shall never be ninja... just an angry individual in dark clothing covering its face. There is a big and clear distinction.
* During training there is nothing better than trial by fire, however, if one tries to evade, confront, and/or combat local law enforcement or engage in any other criminal activity to test ninjutsu skills: one must be truly ready to accept the consequences one's actions will bring. (You might be a Ninja but cops are like Batman)
* Most ninja weapons are defined as illegal, be ready to discard them quickly. Never carry anything you aren't prepared to leave behind for the success of the mission, or when caught to avoid trouble. Dressing all in black with one's face covered will raise alarm if spotted.
* Never use your ninja skills to harm animals, or to break in peoples houses.
* Use your skills, but don't forget your natural talents as well. When able to use peace as a cunning weapon against the task ahead, it is most wise over violence.
Any other guide u want ill give it to ya kay?