Some Famous People and Their Relation to Ninjutsu

Hōzōin of Spear Technique

   There have been numerous people throughout history who have made names for themselves through their skills, wisdom or leadership. Since, our subject is mainly about ninjutsu I am not here to discuss their accomplishments but to briefly discuss the relation of few of those people who were famous and are more or less thought to have some connection to ninjutsu. Some of these were ninjas but still got fame and some are by much far not seen to have any connection to ninjutsu but they do have some, directly or indirectly. I will not name any daimyō or a commander of forces (in Japan) who have made use of the shinobi in peace or war times because Shinobi have been extensively used by almost all lords and most commanders, even Oda Nobunaga who destroyed the villages of Iga and Koka used them -in the battle of Iga (Iga no Ran) and at other occasions. He had named his shinobi named as Kyodan. Currently, I can only think of these eight of the most famous people having some connections to ninja or ninjutsu. I will add more once I can think of others.

The 12 Misconceptions About Ninja & Ninjutsu

The popular representation of ninja has been vastly wrong, as in this example.

   Most people are probably unaware of most realities about Shinobi (a.k.a Ninja) and ninjutsu, probably because this art is so secretive and then distorted. By the popular portrayal, a ninja is shown as a creepy, heartless, shadowy figure that has no other purpose in life other than killing people for money or revenge, as mercilessly as could be. Some see ninjas as masters of several martial arts and call ninjutsu 'the mother of martial arts'. Using these misconceptions, many people are being mislead by self-proclaiming (fake) masters of ninjutsu, probably for private gains. This is a serious issue and hence in this post we point out those 12 greatest misconceptions which are commonly found against Ninja and then to defeat those claims or solve the misconceptions through evidence from history and the true teachings of the Shinobi.

Samurai vs Ninja

The Dragon Spirits

   This post is mostly about the relationship between the Samurai and Ninja, the two famous types of warriors in the history. In it we will also compare the path/ways or methods of the two, usually called Bushido and Shinobido, using references from the the books of Shoninki -one of the three great treasures on the knowledge of Shinobi by Natori Masazumi (Sok, and Hagakure -the book of Samurai by Yamamoto Tsunetomo. This post doesn't really discuss who is superior between Samurai and Ninja because that's a matter of situation.
   First let's give a short introduction of the two figures. Samurai, known more commonly in earlier Japan as Bushi or simply Bu, were the military officer class of warriors, known for their nobility, honor and bravery. They were strongly committed to their path of Samurai -Bushido which defined the basic principles of the way of samurai life. The spirit of a Bushi was like that of a pine tree -high, erect and strong, when it came to character. We can say that the spirit of a Samurai was like an Oni (demon) when it came to intention. They would get cut down rather than bend down before the will of an enemy, however they were readily available to submit their will before that of the person they were serving for. They were committed to their way of honor so much that they would commit seppuku (a ritual suicide) in case of a great loss rather than take the path of escape or imprisonment. Even if they were imprisoned during war or due to crime, the general path for them was to commit seppuku in order to release their soul from the strangles of worldly life.

12 Basic Shinobi Principles

Like the Spirit Hidden Within a Young Bamboo

    These are not those principles we often call 18 principles or 18 disciplines rather they are like a set of rules like the code of Bushido that I had personally compiled and written a few years back, based on my own understanding of the 'way of Shinobi' and have no historical basis (specifically in an arranged order), though they were followed in some way by Shinobi of the old days and I found them to have been the base of Shinobi teachings and what I thought a person must follow to be deemed as a true Shinobi. These are circumstantial, meaning that the meaning of these may change based on the situation at present or may not be followed at all. It also depend on the type of Shinobi you are working on. I have tried to explain somewhat but most meanings of these can only be understood through word of mouth or practice. Here they are for a public reading but understanding of a few. I am presenting them almost the same as I had written them earlier.

The 12 basic shinobi principles:
1. Stealth: Nin/Shinobi literally means 'to hide'; ja means 'people'. so Ninja means 'hidden people'. Stealth is the most essential to be a ninja. He must at least not show his true intentions.

2. Silence: Silence is Golden. A ninja must know how to work his out through silence. He must know when to speak, when to keep silent and make his move. Internal silence is also important.

History: Bujinkan part 2

Continued from the previous part...

3. Kumogakure-ryu Ninpō: Kumogakure: 'clouds-hidden village' is another school of ninpō. It is famous for its unique fiery masks and demon style techniques, used to scare the guts out of a person. The famous Sarutobi Sasuke is also said to be from this ryu. The Soké lineage is as:

Kumogakure-ryu Soké Lineage

   Source: http://www.ninjutsu.com/

4. Shinden Fudo-ryu Dakentaijutsu: Literally meaning "Immovable Spirit School of Striking Free-body Techniques". Founded by Izumo Kanja Yoshiteru and based upon the teachings of Chinese Kempo Boxing. The Soké lineage is as:

History: Bujinkan part 1

Koto-ryu Koppojutsu (Tiger knocking-down bone-breaking technique)

   Bujinkan is not a single form of martial art. Rather it's a whole system of martial traditions based on teachings from 9 ryu-ha of budo and ninpó. Bujinkan is a collection of techniques from all these schools in an organization. Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu is the complete name for the system. It was founded by Hatsumi Masaaki (birth name: Yoshiaki) Soké so its history is directly linked to the life of Soké. The ryu-ha (old schools) themselves each have a distinct long history which complexly overlaps somewhere, so I can not discuss them in detail and then my knowledge ends at just Togakure-ryu. But first I want to write something about the life of Hatsumi Masaaki Soké and how he came to found Bujinkan.

History: Ninjutsu

Himeji Castle, Hyogo Japan

   No one actually exactly knows about the true origin of Ninjutsu. There are several stories and folklores. Some say that Ninjutsu was taught to humans by a creature half human, half crow or goat like. Others relate similar stories. It is an art more than thousand years old to which very few written records exist; most of the art is transmitted orally. Then several things are lost and added through every transmission. Thus it's difficult to sail exactly over the true history of Ninja and Ninjutsu. The only way is to discover from whatever record exists. For this purpose, I will relate from several shinobi traditions here: