Ninjutsu?

[Crowe 0]

So I was wondering something about Ninjutsu/Ninjitsu. Does anyone know a lot about this art, or is it a secret sort of practice? It seems like an interesting subject to me, and I would like to learn more about it--seeing as I am a big Naruto fan! What have you heard about this as an art, so far?Which form of martial art does this resemble the most in technique? Or is it completely different in form? I would really like to know, and as I don't know which sites that are out there are reliable with information, I want to see if anyone here has any information on it.And just how is this form spelled? Is it Ninjutsu or Ninjitsu?

[salamangkero 0]

First, some basics. I believe it is originally ninjutsu (nin - stealth, endurance, perseverance; jutsu - technique) I think the only reason ninjitsu is somewhat acceptable in common use (not to me, it ain't) is that -jutsu sounds a lot similar to -jitsu.

The Wikipedia article does offer a somewhat informative overview of Ninjutsu. I do think that the 18 disciplines of ninjutsu are mostly concerned with:

1. Personal wellness, both in mind/spirit and body
2. Stealth, tactics and military strategies
3. Technical know-how on weapons made obscure by modern weaponry

Concerning Naruto, I consider that anime/manga as a prime example of a subject sensationalized by mainstream media. Don't get me wrong, though. I'm a bit of a Naruto fan too, and I've been following the series up to Kakashi's death in the last chapter. And if you, perchance, have read that spoiler, best of luck then.

Anyway, what I meant to say was that I don't believe ninjas then or now, are capable of performing those techniques. They do not have flashy magic spells powered by chakra/mana/nen/chi/MP/SP or whatever stat you call it. I personally believe that most of those are myth; I call to mind Arthur Clarke's third law: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Those poor souls who happened to be victims or collateral damage of ninja attacks could very well have seen dragon's breath techniques when it was nothing more than a small flame and a mouthful of highly combustible liquid... like gasoline. Peasants frightened out of their wits could easily claim having seen a ninja walk up a tree trunk when all it took was sharkskin gloves, footwear and really graceful agility. A poor soldier distracted by a few well-placed bombs or several pieces of flying metallic projectiles could very well have sworn that he had "magically" lost his captive as the latter reportedly melted into the shadows.

Let us remember that, back then, during the times when ninjas thrived in Japan, there were two kinds of people:

1. Intelligent, agile and powerful combat specialists, and
2. Rice specialists, fish specialists, "honorable" battle specialists, bureaucrats et cetera

Considering the great gap between the combat know-how of one and the other, peasants and elites alike could very well swear magic. A good modern-day analogy is a chemist smirking at people gawking at his "magic" tricks: a shirt that changes color in the sun and shade, sand that remains dry underwater and, gods have mercy on us, glow in the dark paint.

Concerning martial arts, I do suppose ninjutsu dabble both in soft (wushu, taichi/qigong) and hard (taekwondo, karate, sprinting, swimming) aspects of martial arts (and sports, as you can very well see) I don't think there is any reliable school of ninjutsu out there, though. I personally am ready to give it up as a lost knowledge, though. A lot like Latin, there are very few (if any) who know and make it a way of life. And there are a lot who cannot see beyond the ominous chanting or, in the case of ninjutsu in the Naruto-verse, the hand seals

[Crowe 0]

Ah, ok. Thanks for clearing that up! It seems like a real interesting subject, and so I might have to do a bit more research on it. Too bad that those Naruto techniques weren't real. But anyways, thanks for the link!

[Lyon2 0]

Ninjitsu is a Martial Art.Ninjitsu is an oriental martial art, so yes it is an art, an art of killing as many said once before.I on the other hand, find Ninjitsu to be martial art to expand your body and your mind/soul to a point of perfeccionism that you could achieve anything that you want and require.Once i had lessons of Ninjitsu here in my country, portugal, namely in a city named Porto, where a japonese created a dojo to teach ninjitsu to anyone that desired, and beleave when i say that for you to be a master in ninjitsu, is at least 100 times more difficult then to achieve the same at karat? or Kung-fu, and i had many lessons in Kung-Fu and some of karat?.When i was younger, now i am 31 years old, i was obsessed about martial arts, bruce lee, chuck norris, jean claude van damme, and ninja/kung-fu movies, i would not survive a day, not literaly of course, if i did not see a ninja or a kung-fu like movie, still today i love to see bruce lee and jean claude van damme movies, and i saw all their produced movies, but the main and only difference is that i am not obsessed now, i just have now a hobby of seeing movies, of all categories/genre.Yes, ninjitsu is a very interesting martial art, a very interesting and exiciting art to know, for many reasons as well, the main reason to me which you could use to learn ninjitsu and practice too, is to develop your mind and body, to develop in terms of quality, if you understand what i mean, and specially to develop your spirit/spiritualism, not your religion nor religious beleaves, but to develop your spirit, to make it strong, at least stronger then it was before.

Edited November 17, 2008 by Lyon2 (see edit history)

[Crowe 0]

Thanks for letting me know. It is just an interest of mine, and don't think that I would actually want to practice something like this--just learning about it is enough for me. I like the idea of spiritual development with martial arts, but I think I will only keep it as an interest. But I do have a question about it: would someone consider this to be a superior martial art, to all others, or is it just along the same lines of any other martial art? I mean, if Ninjutsu is a martial art, how well does it compare with every other one?

[Lyon2 0]

I can and should answer your question Crowe, and it is quite simple in fact, Ninjitsu, or Ninjutsu as you say which it is also right (i use the i letter because of some reason i can not remember, but i think the names are both right, i think/suppose).Ninjitsu is a martial art, and it is a superior martial art, or even a superior art, to me at least, but i know for a fact that the martial art ninjitsu is considered to be a superior martial as well as karat? and kung-fu, first of all because they have all thousands of years of existance, second because they are arts where you can develop your body and soul/mind/spirit in a way that not any sport could ever do it, third because a martial art is in fact an art of developing something in you, in this case, a martial is dedicated to develop your body and mind capabilities to the maximum, at least to a point that you will allow yourself to go, with great and hard effor only, of course, so it is not easy to practise a martial art, it requires years of hard effor.Like i said before, i praticsed ninjitsu, karat?, kung-fu and a little of kick-boxing and full-contact on the same dojo near my latest house, so i have all the experience needed to talk a litle about this subject and subjects related to the same.I wish the others give their opinions as well, that would be interesting to know, to trade experiences, to trade knowledge.

Edited November 18, 2008 by Lyon2 (see edit history)

[Crowe 0]

That's cool that you've practiced it. The only real physical sport that I used to do was Wrestling, and things that came a long with it. Do you do much wrestling in Ninjutsu, or is it totally different? From what I know, most Martial arts will use some form of wrestling, or grappling techniques--I just don't know to much about them.

[iGuest 3]

hello

I pracice ninjitsu (by the way the debate about how its spelt, thnere both correct there are many differnt way ninjitsu is spelt and said, infact most practicianers will call it ninpo instead of ninjitsu bot its all the same thing) and I am now 3rd Dan blact belt in it,

1st: naruto allthough a good anime is a VERY big twist of the martial art for media interest, the same is for old ninja and kung fu movies.

ninjitsu is a stealth martial art and (from what I learned and how iv learned) the main bases of it is to disarm or finish or even kill your opponent as quick as possible by using as little energy as possible.

in ninpo we do learn how to use shurikan, bo staffs jo staffs , kamas, sai's and many other weapons (although learning to use shurikan is a differnt art called shurikanjitsu)

ninjitsu isnt really a superior art (although I like 2 think I own all other martial arts in tournemants) neither is kung fu or karate, its just that they are the most common and hyped up martial arts around, mostly by movies.

in a fight using ninjitsu you usually win in the first move (be it them throwing a punch and you breaaking them or you get behind them and you win as u can do anything)

if you want to no about ninjitsu history type Dr Hatsumi or Sensei Hatsumi in google.

-reply by Ash3

[dragonstar 0]

I have practised ninjitsu with ninja instructor Arie Van Den Akker. The Kuroi ryu Ninjitsu style the grandmaster is Ashida Kim i supose. I quit ninjitsu because i was to bussy with school. We did many outdoor training, blowguns, stances, sparring, locks, groundfighting, weapons, stealth. It was a bit ju jutsu like, but with pressure nerve points. And many more, But i am very interested in brazilian ju jutsu, does anyone know more about that?

[ahmed_mmahmoud 0]

Ninjitsu is the right spelling of the art as they spell it in jabanit is the art of hiding refering to the surrounded area , art of spying , noticing , close contact of hands and legs , and using all kind of weaponsif you want to know every thing about this art just watch this movie "Ninja Assassin 2009"

[shadowx 0]

you cant learn anything about combat from movies.That is all i am going to say.