Ninjutsu

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Ninjutsu

sometimes used interchangeably with the term is the martial art, strategy

Strategy

A strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve a particular Objective .Strategy is different from Tactic . In military terms, tactics is concerned with the conduct of an engagement while strategy is concerned with how different engagements are linked....
, and tactics of unconventional warfare

Unconventional warfare

Unconventional warfare is the opposite of conventional warfare. Where conventional warfare is used to reduce an opponent's military capability, unconventional warfare is an attempt to achieve military victory through acquiescence, capitulation, or clandestine support for one side of an existing conflict....
and guerrilla warfare

Guerrilla warfare

Guerrilla warfare is the Irregular warfare warfare and combat with which a small group of combatants use mobile Military tactics to combat a larger and less mobile formal army....
practiced by the shinobi (commonly known outside of Japan as ninja
Ninja

In history of Japan, a is a warrior specially trained in a variety of unorthodox arts of war. These include assassination, espionage, and various martial arts....
). A female ninja is called a Kunoichi

Kunoichi

Kunoichi is the term for a female ninjaor practitioner of Ninpo....
.

While there are several styles of modern ninjutsu, not all can be related to the historic practice of ninjutsu in Japan so as to be considered a koryu
Koryu

is a Japanese language word that is used in association with the ancient Japanese martial arts. This word literally translates as ":wikt:? :wikt:?" or "traditional school." Koryu is a general term for Japanese schools of martial arts that predate the Meiji Restoration ....
.

main character is composed of two greater characters.

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Encyclopedia

sometimes used interchangeably with the term is the martial art, strategy

Strategy

Unconventional warfare

Guerrilla warfare

Kunoichi

Etymology

The main character is composed of two greater characters. The upper character means "edge of the sword", and the lower character means "heart" or "soul". The character ? means "sword" or "blade," the character ? means "edge of the sword." Together they mean "stealth", "secretness", "endurance", and "perseverance". means "art" or "technique". meaning "knowledge", "principle" when found with the prefix "nin" carries the meaning of ninja arts, higher order of ninjutsu. The popular view is that ninjutsu is only about secrecy and stealth. However, practitioners of this knowledge utilize it to endure all of life's hardships.

History

Ninjutsu was developed by groups of people mainly from the Iga Province

Iga Province

was an old provinces of Japan of Japan in the area that is today western Mie Prefecture. Iga bordered on Ise Province, Omi Province, Yamato Province, and Yamashiro Province provinces....
and Koka, Shiga

Koka, Shiga

is a Cities of Japan located in the southern part of Shiga Prefecture, Japan. As of April 2008, the city has an estimated population of 93,882 and a population density of 195 persons per km?....
of Japan

Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
. Throughout history the shinobi have been seen as assassins, scouts and spies. They are mainly noted for their use of stealth and deception. They have been associated in the public imagination with activities that are considered criminal by modern standards. Throughout history many different schools (ryu
Ryu (school)

A Ryu , or ryuha , is a Japanese word referring to a school of thought in any discipline. In English, the word is frequently used to refer to schools of Japanese martial art, although it can also be found used in other disciplines ....
) have taught their unique versions of ninjutsu. An example of these is the Togakure-ryu. This ryu was developed after a defeated samurai warrior called Daisuke Togakure escaped to the region of Iga. Later he came in contact with the warrior-monk Kain Doshi who taught him a new way of viewing life and the means of survival (ninjutsu).

Ninjutsu was developed as a collection of fundamental survivalist techniques in the warring state of feudal Japan. The ninja used their art to ensure their survival in a time of violent political turmoil. Ninjutsu included methods of gathering information, and techniques of non-detection, avoidance, and misdirection. Ninjutsu can also involve training in disguise, escape

Escape

Escape may refer to:* Escapism, mental diversion by means of entertainment or recreation* Escapology, the study and practice of escaping from physical restraints...
, concealment

Concealment

Concealment is obscuring something from view or rendering it inconspicuous, the opposite of exposure. A military term is CCD: camouflage, concealment and deception ; in a wider sense the other two are also forms of hiding....
, archery

Archery

Archery is the art, practice or skill of shooting with Bow and arrow. Archery has historically been used in hunting and combat and has become a precision sport....
, medicine

Medicine

Medicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, explosives, and poisons.

Skills relating to espionage and assassination were highly useful to warring factions in feudal Japan. Because these activities were seen as dishonorable, Japanese warriors hired people who existed below Japan's social classes

Four divisions of society

The four divisions of society refers to the model of Japanese society during the Edo period. The names of the four castes; samurai, farmers, artisans, and merchants; were abbreviated to form the term ....
to perform these tasks. These persons were literally called . At some point the skills of espionage became known collectively as ninjutsu, and the people who specialized in these tasks were called shinobi no mono.

18 Skills

In Japanese "Ninja Juhakkei" that according to Bujinkan

Bujinkan

The Bujinkan is an international martial arts organization based in Japan and headed by Masaaki Hatsumi, it is best known for its association with ninjutsu....
members the eighteen disciplines (juhakkei < juhachi-kei) were first stated in the scrolls of Togakure-ryu

Togakure Ryu

According to Togakure ryu Ninjutsu Hidensho According to the Bujinkan , the school contained Yon-po Hiden : Senban Shuriken , Shuko and sokko , Shinodake and Kyoketsu shoge, an unusual blade attached to cord which is in turn attached to a heavy ring, and taijutsu or arts of the whole body....
. Subsequently they became definitive for all ninjutsu schools by providing total training of the warrior in various fighting arts and disciplines.

Ninja juhakkei was often studied along with Bugei Juhappan
Bugei Juhappan

Bugei Juhappan refers to 18 martial skills to be learnt by the common Japanese warrior . Ninjutsu practitioners also study Bugei Juhappan alongside with Ninja Juhakkei ....
(the "18 samurai

Samurai

is the term for the military nobility of Pre-industrial society Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character ? was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau....
fighting art skills"). Though some are used in the same way by both samurai and ninja, other techniques were used differently by the two groups.

The 18 disciplines are:

Seishin-teki kyoko
Seishin Teki Kyoko

Seishin-teki kyoyo is a spiritual refinement technique in ninjutsu....
(spiritual refinement)
Taijutsu
Taijutsu

, literally meaning "body skill" or "body art", is a term for Japanese martial arts techniques that rely on a science of body movements. Historically, the word taijutsu was often used interchangeably with jujutsu to refer to a range of grappling skills....
(unarmed combat, using one's body as the only weapon)
Kenjutsu
Kenjutsu

, meaning "the art of the sword", is a term for classical Japanese sword arts , in particular those which predate the Meiji Restoration. It is sometimes used more generally to describe any martial art which makes use of the Japanese sword....
(sword
Sword

A sword is a long, edged piece of metal, used as a cutting, thrusting, and clubbing weapon in many civilizations throughout the world. The word sword comes from the Old English language wikt:sweord, cognate to Old High German swert, Middle Dutch swaert, Old Norse sver? Old Frisian and Old Saxon swerd and Dutch langua...
fighting)
Bojutsu
Bojutsu

, translated from Japanese language as "staff technique", is the martial art of using a staff weapon called bo which simply means "staff". Staffs are perhaps one of the earliest weapons used by man....
(stick
Stick

A stick generally refers to a long, slender piece of wood, usually a branch from a tree without the leaves that may be refined.Stick may refer to:...
and staff
Staff (stick)

A staff is a large, thick stick or stick-shaped object used to help with walking, as a status symbol, as a component of traditional cooper , or as a weapon....
fighting)
Shurikenjutsu
Shurikenjutsu

is a general term describing the traditional Japanese martial arts of throwing shuriken, which are small, hand-held weapons used primarily by the Shinobi or "Ninja" in Feudal Japan, such as metal spikes bo shuriken, circular plates of metal known as hira shuriken, and knives ....
(throwing shuriken
Shuriken

Shuriken is a traditional Japanese concealed weapon that were generally for throwing, and sometimes stabbing or slashing. They are sharpened hand-held blades made from a variety of everyday items such as needles, nails, and knives, as well as coins, washers, and other flat plates of metal....
)
Sojutsu
Sojutsu

, meaning "art of the spear" is the Japanese martial art of fighting with the Japanese ....
(spear
Spear

A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a sharpened head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with bamboo spears, or it may be of another material fastened to the shaft, such as obsidian, iron or bronze....
fighting)
Naginatajutsu
Naginatajutsu

is the Japanese martial art of wielding the naginata.This is a weapon resembling the medieval European glaive. Most naginatajutsu practiced today is in a modernized form, a gendai budo, , in which competitions also are held....
(naginata
Naginata

Naginata is a pole weapon that was traditionally used in Japan by members of the samurai class. It has become associated with women and in modern Japan it is studied by women more than men; whereas in Europe and Australia Naginata is practiced predominantly by men - this is however only simply a refection of the martial arts de...
fighting)
Kusarigamajutsu
Kusarigamajutsu

is the art of using the Japanese weapon Kusarigama. Kusarigamajutsu is featured in several separate martial arts such as Bujinkan and Shinto Muso-ryu....
(kusarigama
Kusarigama

The is a traditional Japanese weapon that consists of Kama on a metal chain with a heavy iron weight at the end. Though the kusarigama is derived from a farmer's scythe, and though the sickle was often carried as a weapon by farmers during the feudal era of Japan, these farmers did not carry kusarigama....
fighting)
Kayakujutsu (pyrotechnics
Pyrotechnics

Pyrotechnics is the science of materials capable of undergoing self-contained and self-sustained exothermic chemical reactions for the production of heat, light, gas, smoke and/or sound....
and explosives)
Hensojutsu
Hensojutsu

was a Japanese martial art skill involving disguise, impersonation, and infiltration.In some ninja clans it was known as the or, "seven ways of going" ....
(disguise and impersonation)
Shinobi-iri
Shinobi-iri

Shinobi-iri are techniques for silent movement and climbing, combined with a range of specialized tools stood the agents in good stead when the time came for them to effect entry into the enemy camp....
(stealth and entering methods)
Bajutsu (horsemanship
Equestrianism

Equestrianism refers to the skill of riding or driving horses. This broad description includes both use of horses for practical, working animal purposes as well as recreational activities and animals in sport....
)
Sui-ren
Sui-ren

was the training that ninja underwent for techniques involving water. Some ninja were tasked to either deal with opponents in the water, disguise themselves in it, or to cross it....
(water training)
Boryaku
Boryaku

is one of the 18 fundamental skills of the Togakure Ryu school of ninjutsu.Alongside more orthodox and mainstream measures, Boryaku includes use of unorthodox military strategy and military tactic, as well as manipulation of politics and exploitation of other current events to assist in subtle influence of the opponent....
(tactic)
Choho
Choho

, literally meaning "secret information" or "intelligence ", is the art of espionage, and one of the 18 fundamental skills of the Togakure-ryu school of ninjutsu....
(espionage
Espionage

Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secrecy or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information....
)
Intonjutsu (escaping and concealment)
Tenmon
Tenmon

is the ninja art of understanding and using meteorology as a strategic weapon. It allowed ninja to foresee weather changes and to use them as an advantage....
(meteorology
Meteorology

Meteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere that focuses on weather processes and forecasting . Studies in the field stretch back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not occur until the eighteenth century....
)
Chi-mon
Chi-mon

is the Ninja discipline of geography.The ninja of medieval Japan would spend many days in classrooms learning the geography of Japan and memorizing its major rivers and their tributaries....
(geography
Geography

Geography is the study of the Earth and its lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth"....
)

Today the main focus of ninjutsu deals with the techniques relevant to armed and unarmed combat.

Schools

While other traditional martial arts such as the Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu

Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu

is one of the oldest extant Japanese martial arts, and an exemplar of koryu bujutsu. The Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu was founded by Iizasa Ienao, born 1387 in Iizasa village , who was living near Katori Shrine at the time....
contain some ninjutsu in their curriculum, they are not solely ninjutsu schools. Many schools of ninjutsu purportedly exist, some of which claim to be traced back to Japanese origins though this assertion is controversial.

Ninjutsu

Etymology

History

18 Skills

Schools

See also

External links