Ninjutsu

This article is about the Japanese espionage martial arts and techniques known as ninjutsu. Ninjutsu is frequently depicted fancifully in popular culture; for these depictions, see the article on ninja in popular culture.

Ninjutsu (忍術) sometimes used interchangeably with the term Ninpō (忍法), started out as a set of survival skills that were used by groups of people who lived in Iga Prefecture of Japan. They were self-reliant, and had a strong affinity with nature.

These techniques, used to hunt and fight, eventually developed and became the strategic base of the ninjutsu martial arts. The ninja clans used their art to ensure their survival in a time of violent political turmoil. It also included methods of gathering information, non-detection, avoidance, and misdirection techniques. Ninjutsu can also involve training in disguise, escape, concealment, archery, medicine, explosives, and poisons.

Practitioners of ninjutsu (known as ninja) 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. Though it was influenced by Chinese expatriates 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 word nin carries both these meanings. To avoid misunderstandings, "ninjutsu" should just refer to a specific branch of Japanese martial arts, unless it is being used in a historical sense.

18 Ninjutsu Skills (Ninja Juhakkei)

According to Bujinkan members, the eighteen disciplines were first stated in the scrolls of Togakure Ryu, and according to the Bujinkan, they became definitive for all Ninjutsu schools, providing a complete training of the warrior in various fighting arts and complementary disciplines.

However, according to the Bujinkan, Ninja Juhakkei was often studied along with Bugei Juhappan (the 18 Samurai fighting art skills). 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:

1. Seishin-teki kyōyō (spiritual refinement)
2. Taijutsu (unarmed combat, using one's body as the only weapon)
3. Kenjutsu (sword fighting)
4. Bojutsu (stick and staff fighting)
5. Shurikenjutsu (throwing blades)
6. Sōjutsu (spear fighting)
7. Naginatajutsu (naginata fighting)
8. Kusarigamajutsu (chain and sickle weapon)
9. Kayakujutsu (pyrotechnics and explosives)
10. Hensōjutsu (disguise & impersonation)
11. Shinobi-iri (stealth and entering methods)
12. Bajutsu (horsemanship)
13. Sui-ren (water training)
14. Bōryaku (military strategy)
15. Chōhō (espionage)
16. Intonjutsu (escaping and concealment)
17. Tenmon (meteorology)
18. Chi-mon (geography)

Schools of ninjutsu

The Bujinkan Dōjō headed by Masaaki Hatsumi is one of three organizations frequently accepted as teaching ninjutsu by the Bujinkan's members (under the name Budo Taijutsu). However Hatsumi has stated that he has modified the art of traditional ninjutsu to better suit modern ways. Hatsumi's Bujinkan Dōjō consists of nine separate schools of allegedly traditional Japanese martial arts, only three of which contain ninjutsu teachings. Hatsumi learned a variety of martial arts skills from Toshitsugu Takamatsu.

There are two other organizations which are frequently held to be teaching ninjutsu. These are the Genbukan headed by Shoto Tanemura, who left the Bujinkan in 1984, and the Jinenkan headed by Fumio Manaka, who left the Bujinkan in 1996. Both had achieved Menkyo Kaiden before leaving.

Other extant traditional martial arts such as the Tenshin Shoden Katori Shintō-ryū contain some aspects of ninjutsu in their curriculum, but are not ninjutsu schools per se.

The espionage techniques of ninjutsu are rarely focused on in recent times, since they serve little purpose to the bulk of modern populations, and tend to attract negative publicity and students with unrealistic expectations.

Other schools

Several other schools of ninjutsu purportedly exist, some of which claim to be traced back to Japanese origins. There is, however, no evidence to suggest ninjas of feudal Japan practiced a distinct martial art called "Ninjutsu." There are however a collection of writings known as the "Bansen shukai" Translated to 10,000 rivers converge in the ocean it details techniques from the original 9 ryu.

Verified Japanese origins

Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi is Soke (Grandmaster) of the Bujinkan. According to the Bujinkan, Hatsumi is the inheritor of nine ryu (schools) some of which are Ninjutsu. He is considered by many to be the foremost authority on Ninjutsu, Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu, and Shinkentaijutsu. He also claims to hold the Densho (scrolls) of the ancient schools and can trace his lineage 34 generations however the authenticity of his claims have often been called into question.[1]

The AKBAN organization uses the Bujinkan curriculum the way it was used when Doron Navon, the first foreign Bujinkan shihan, studied under Hatsumi. Israel was one of the first places where Bujinkan ninjutsu was practiced outside Japan, with Doron Navon pioneering it there in 1974. Doron Navon no longer practices Bujinkan ninjutsu.

Stephen K. Hayes studied under Masaaki Hatsumi and is the person who first brought ninjutsu to America, founding the first ninjutsu dojo in the Western Hemisphere in Atlanta, Georgia, in the mid-70s. Mr. Hayes relocated to Ohio around 1980, where he continued to teach the art for a number of years. He now teaches a Westernized system, To-Shin Do, in his Quest Centers.[2]

Carey "Bud" Malmstrom holds a Shidoshi rank and is currently a student under Soke Hatsumi, as well as a prominent instructor of Ninjutsu world wide. He was the headmaster of the Bujinkan Atlanta Dojo in Georgia for many years, taking over after Stephen Hayes moved to Ohio. Mr. Malmstrom has retired from active teaching, and has passed on the responsibility for the first ninjutsu dojo in the west to Roy Wilkinson, Judan Kugyo, who is one of the senior-most, non-Japanese practitioners of the art.[3]

Thomas "Jotoshi" Maienza studied under the Bujinkan Ninjutsu tradition with many influencual practitioners of the art. He also trained in Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu. He is the founder of the martial art of Jizaikan Aiki Ninjutsu [4].

Jack Hoban is a prominent instructor of Shihan rank, and a current student of Hatsumi. He is also the founder of the Warrior Information Network (WIN).[5]

Phil Legare-Shihan (15th Dan), Founder of Bujinkan Taka-Seigi Dojo, is one of the senior-most, non-Japanese students of Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi-Soke. Through the Shinkentaijutsu website, up-to-date training is offered from Hatsumi-Soke (Grandmaster).

Richard van Donk, encouraged Hatsumi to do videos of his teachings and helped him distribute them worldwide thereby growing the Ninjutsu art. Richard has been graded to 15th dan from Hatsumi.[6]

Unverified origins

There are several persons and organizations that teach martial arts which they identify as ninjutsu but who lack a clear lineage to Japanese teachers. While such arts may still be effective, they lack proof of Japanese origin.

• Ashida Kim is an American martial artist that has made unverified claims of cross training into ninjutsu, as well as unsubstantiated claims of being the last grandmaster.
• Frank Dux is a martial artist whose claims of origins are unverified.
• Dr. Haha Lung is a writer of over a dozen books about mind control and ninjutsu but his authority on the subject is unverified.
• Robert Law is a Canadian martial artist who claims to be the 119th grandmaster of the Geijin Ryu and 29th grandmaster of the Yoshin Miji Ryu, as well as being head of over 20 sub-group clans.
• Ronald Duncan is an American martial artist who runs the Way of the Winds Martial Arts System and claims to be the Father of American Ninjutsu.
• Harunaka Hoshino is an American martial artist who runs the San Francisco Ninja Society.

Neo-ninja is a term that refers to modern martial arts schools which claim to teach elements of the historic ninja of Japan, or base their school's philosophy upon traits attributed to the historic ninja of Japan.

Some people believe Kōga-ryū Ninjutsu to have survived into the mid-20th century, purportedly having been passed to Fujita Seiko by his own grandfather. Seiko had students, but did not pass on this legacy. Any actual direct lineage of the Kōga-ryū that might have existed, ended with the death of Fujita Seiko on January 14, 1966. Koga-ryu arts are generally considered to have been similar to the Iga-ryu arts.

References

• Essence of Ninjutsu by Masaaki Hatsumi (ISBN 0-8092-4724-0)
• Ninjutsu: History and Tradition by Masaaki Hatsumi (ISBN 0-86568-027-2)
• Ninpo: Wisdom for Life by Masaaki Hatsumi (ISBN 1-58776-206-4 or 0972773800)

External links

• Discussion on historical ninjutsu listed by the Koryu school from the Internet Archive
• Technical Resource Website with Ninjutsu content
• Ninpo: Wisdom for Life by Masaaki Hatsumi
• Article on Koga ryu ninjutsu listed by Bujinkan Wako Dojo
• AKBAN-Wiki - The Largest Ninjutsu Encyclopedia
• Ninjutsu - Budo Taijutsu; inc. FAQ & links directory