Running over the roofs in a black costume is the ‘image’
of the ninja that most people have in their mind.
This is actually equivalent as telling everybody ‘Hi, I am a ninja’.
Again, the image of the Kunoichi (female ninja) running with a short sword
hanging on her back would be likeadvertising ‘Attention, there is
a ninja there!’.Moving undetected and unnoticed is a primary necessity
for a real ninja and these stereotyped images havereally little to do with
reality.One more example are the shurikens (throwing blades), in the TV
programs and movies the ninja carries a lot ofthose ready to storm the enemies.
In reality, if one shuriken was found on the enemy’s ground, the ninja
wouldhave had big chances to get caught and killed.If the plan was to use
the shuriken, the ninja had to make sure to deliver death at once and only
a few shurikenor even one would have been carried along.
The image that the media has created about ninja is mainly fiction, coming
from the Heiwa’s period TV programs,comics and movies. This has contributed
to make the ninja so popular in Japan and in the rest of the world,but also
making it hard to change into something more realistic.
Often, I have people asking to teach them Ninjutsu and they show me their
knuckles:“My hands’ shape has changed this way due to assiduous
karate training, please teach me Ninjutsu”.
There is nothing wrong in karate training but if the shape of the hands
changes, it shows immediately that a person istrained in martial arts. For
this reason, ninja used to hide a ‘tekken’ or the iron fist
in their hands. The ninja could impress the enemy in this way, giving the
idea of being exceptionally strong. The first condition for success was
to live in the society without being noticed for anything special.
Ninjutsu is the art and skills of the ninja, which exist where nobody knows.It
is something like magic, if the trick is revealed it is not magic anymore.In
order to ‘train’ the mind to make full use of flexibility and
therefore employ all possibilities and potentiality.NinJutsu can’t
fit into rules or ‘kata’ like other martial arts.
It is a world in which there are ‘duties’ and ‘missions’,
and failures are not accepted.Based on the mission, the best strategy is
searched, the most appropriate tools built, making the whole process simple
and natural.Of course, the ‘process’ may include lock picking,
infiltration, stealing, and killing if necessary.
The difference between doing it for a ‘good cause’ or ‘bad
cause’ lies in the spirit of who actually does it. The Japanese character
of ‘nin’ is the ‘blade’ on the top of the ‘heart’.
Whether this blade is a ‘sword of justice’ or a ‘sword
of evil depends’ on the heart below.
This is the way of the ninja, which doesn’t change depending on the
period or trend,only people with a very strong will power can be ninja.Ninjutsu
is inherited from old Japanese strategy, influenced from Chinese exiled
politicians and warriors.These skills went all the way through from the
great ability shown during the warring states period tothe Edo period where
the ninja were involved with many of the Shogun’s activities in the
shadow.NinJutsu is not only jumping and crossing the roofs, but several
skills developed through correct heart values,military strategies, application
of the yin-yang concepts and getting the most out of the technology and
science of the period.
The basic concept of mind flexibility, exploring possibilities and potentialities
it is very valuable even in today’s society.The training in Ninjustu
involves a continuos refinement of the body skills, mind and the spirit.Nevertheless,
if the nature of a person is bad even the best training effort would hardly
change it, but Ninjutsuaims to find and get the best out of one person.There
is a famous story about Ishikawa Goemon who at the beginning was accepted
to study NinJutsu and later on,stole the Ninjutsu secret manual and used
the knowledge to become a very skilled thief.
This story tells how dangerous Ninjutsu could be and the reason why people
who are not strongly determine will never be able to became a real ninja.People
who want to study Ninjutsu for fame and success like in the movies, would
better become an actor instead, a real ninja will never be in the spotlights.The
fundamental concept of ninja is ‘Empty Hand’, which means that
even without a weapon or shield it must be found the way to defeat the enemy.
Practicing to throw shuriken, or throwing blades of different shapes and
weights is to be able at the end to use in a effective way anything available
like chopsticks, spoons etc. Therefore it is not necessary to always walk
carrying a blade along. Ninja lived in close contact with nature. Observing
and assimilating the natural events, ninja were able to live completely
hidden from their enemies.
Moreover, living with nature means to learn the plants, which is good to
eat and which is poisonous, to learn the direction of the wind, the orientation
and time by looking at the stars.
By observing the human being from a 'natural' perspective, humans are much
more systematic in their behaviors then animals,this is men’s weakness.
Observation of the behavioral patterns means to be able to identify those
weak points, those ‘cracks’ into our shields,in Japanese are
called ‘Kyo’, and the art of attacking those points by entering
those cracks is called ‘NyuKyoJutsu’, the ‘art of penetrating
the weakness’. The ‘duties’ and ‘missions ‘of
ninja are also known as ‘The Truth’ and ‘The Grass’.
‘Truth’ is in the immediate actions, ‘Grass’ may
take years of preparation beforehand,
maybe 1 year, 10 years or 20 years settling in some place ‘developing
roots’ like the grass.
Based on a fake life, ninja could get a new identity living inside the enemy’s
ground even having family and descendants, waiting for the mission that
would have made the difference for the ultimate victory.
But no matter how big and important the success could be, the name of who
made it possible would have never being revealed.
GM S.Yunoki