Post by dain on Nov 29, 2006 19:56:23 GMT -5
Ninjutsu is a collection of techniques originally practiced for espionage purposes. It includes methods of gathering information, non-detection, avoidance, and misdirection techniques. Ninjutsu can also involve training in disguise, escape, concealment, archery, medicine, and explosives.
Practitioners of ninjutsu have been seen as assassins for hire, and have been associated in the public imagination with other activities which are considered criminal by modern standards. Even though it was influenced by Chinese spying techniques and the strategic principles of Sun Tzu, ninjutsu is believed by its adherents to be of Japanese origin. One version is that the basis of ninjutsu was taught to a Japanese household who fled to the mountains after losing a battle. There they mixed with a varied lot of people including the descendants of refugees who had fled China. Later, the skills were developed over 300 years to create ninjutsu.
Although the popular view is that ninjutsu is the art of secrecy or stealth, actual practitioners consider it to mean the art of enduring - enduring all of life's hardships. The character nin carries both these meanings, and others.
In the modern world the word ninjutsu usually refers to a certain system of self defense, and its offshoots. It is true that ninjutsu has a long and myth-filled history, but today almost anyone is allowed to practice modern ninjutsu. As one makes progress in ninjutsu the system gets more sophisticated, and one might realize that the system contains more than fighting skills. To avoid misunderstandings, "ninjutsu" should just refer to a specific branch of Japanese martial arts, unless it is being used in a historical sense.
The eighteen disciplines were first stated in the scrolls of Togakure-ryû, and they became definitive for all Ninjutsu schools, providing a complete training of the warrior in various fighting arts and complementary disciplines.
However, Ninja Juhakkei was often studied along with Bugei Juhappan. Though some of them are the same, the techniques of each discipline were used with different approaches by both Samurai and Ninja.
The 18 disciplines are:
Seishin-teki kyôyô (spiritual refinement)
Taijutsu (unarmed combat)
Ninja ken (sword fighting)
Bôjutsu (stick and staff fighting)
Shurikenjutsu (throwing blades)
Sôjutsu (spear fighting)
Naginatajutsu (naginata fighting)
Kusarigamajutsu (chain and sickle weapon)
Kayakujutsu (fire and explosives)
Hensôjutsu (disguise and impersonation)
Shinobi-iri (stealth and entering methods)
Bajutsu (horsemanship)
Sui-ren (water training)
Bôryaku (military strategy)
Chôhô (espionage)(spying)
Intonjutsu (escaping and concealment)
Tenmon (meteorology)
Chi-mon (geography)
Practitioners of ninjutsu have been seen as assassins for hire, and have been associated in the public imagination with other activities which are considered criminal by modern standards. Even though it was influenced by Chinese spying techniques and the strategic principles of Sun Tzu, ninjutsu is believed by its adherents to be of Japanese origin. One version is that the basis of ninjutsu was taught to a Japanese household who fled to the mountains after losing a battle. There they mixed with a varied lot of people including the descendants of refugees who had fled China. Later, the skills were developed over 300 years to create ninjutsu.
Although the popular view is that ninjutsu is the art of secrecy or stealth, actual practitioners consider it to mean the art of enduring - enduring all of life's hardships. The character nin carries both these meanings, and others.
In the modern world the word ninjutsu usually refers to a certain system of self defense, and its offshoots. It is true that ninjutsu has a long and myth-filled history, but today almost anyone is allowed to practice modern ninjutsu. As one makes progress in ninjutsu the system gets more sophisticated, and one might realize that the system contains more than fighting skills. To avoid misunderstandings, "ninjutsu" should just refer to a specific branch of Japanese martial arts, unless it is being used in a historical sense.
The eighteen disciplines were first stated in the scrolls of Togakure-ryû, and they became definitive for all Ninjutsu schools, providing a complete training of the warrior in various fighting arts and complementary disciplines.
However, Ninja Juhakkei was often studied along with Bugei Juhappan. Though some of them are the same, the techniques of each discipline were used with different approaches by both Samurai and Ninja.
The 18 disciplines are:
Seishin-teki kyôyô (spiritual refinement)
Taijutsu (unarmed combat)
Ninja ken (sword fighting)
Bôjutsu (stick and staff fighting)
Shurikenjutsu (throwing blades)
Sôjutsu (spear fighting)
Naginatajutsu (naginata fighting)
Kusarigamajutsu (chain and sickle weapon)
Kayakujutsu (fire and explosives)
Hensôjutsu (disguise and impersonation)
Shinobi-iri (stealth and entering methods)
Bajutsu (horsemanship)
Sui-ren (water training)
Bôryaku (military strategy)
Chôhô (espionage)(spying)
Intonjutsu (escaping and concealment)
Tenmon (meteorology)
Chi-mon (geography)