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:

Introduction: Ninja and Ninjutsu

Path of Endurance

  '忍者' is the Kanji used for 'Ninja' or 'Shinobi'. 'Ninja' is an Onyomi reading of this Kanji while 'Shinobi-mono' is its Kunyomi reading and is the more appropriate one. Although most people think that 'Ninja' is a newer term than 'Shinobi' and that it is something that people from the 20th century have came up with, it is only true to some extent. The truth is that Ninja is an older term; the first word used was simply 'Kan' (chinese: observer /spy). It transformed through many words such as 'Kansai' to 'Kanja' to finally become 'Ninja' upon its introduction to Japan. Though as the art developed in Japan, the term 'Shinobi' came to be used in common; 'Ninja' too was used but not in common. It again became commonly known as 'Ninja' in 20th century, used by Seiko Fujita who introduced most of the dying art to 20th century. This was easy for the Newer Outer World to adapt with and thus now you see 'Shinobi' rarely used.

   If you ask me how do I feel about the term '忍', I will say 'very wisely chosen by a person of High Enlightenment'. The ideogram '忍' (Nin or Shinobi: 'to Hide' or 'persevere') consists of '刃' (yaiba: blade) and '心' (kokoro: heart) and thus form several meanings:

Introduction: Bujinkan

Enlightenment Way of Warrior

   Bujinkan Budō Taijutsu (also commonly called as Ninjutsu or Ninpō Taijutsu) meaning "Divine Warrior Hall Martial Way of Free-body Techniques", is the ultimate art of self-defence in daily-life and war periods, developed by Hatsumi Masaaki Sōke (34th Grandmaster Tōgakure-Ryū Ninpō) by combining the essence of nine schools of Budo and Ninpō, which He has inherited from his great master who was once famed as Mongolian Tiger named Takamatsu Toshitsugu, who was the grandson of 32nd grandmaster of Togakure Toda Shinryūken.


   The nine schools (ryū-ha) consist of: