Any Ninjas on Styleforum?

[globetrotter]

I had a distributor in italy once who was seriously into ninjitsu - it was pretty funny, he was a pretty rich kid, his father had started the business and he was your stereotypical italian playboy - several large motorcycles, jaguar, dressed very very nicly, was friends with some of the extended family from fiat, and one day he told me about how he was a 4rth dan ninja - I had trouble keeping a straight face (I don't care how silly the style may be, I still did'n't want to get ****** kicked)

 

[Go Surface]

I sleep with a wakizashi under my pillow.

 

[Augusto86]

Originally Posted by Brian SD

On a serious note: I'm pretty sure "ninja" has no relation to "ninjutsu." IIRC the ninja many people think of are entirely fictional, and real ninjas were basically assassin farmers killing their landowners.
I thought they were basically freelancer mercenaries who were hired out to the highest bidder and had some tricks up their sleeve like attacking castles at night and using easily disguised weapons like staffs and scythes...

 

[rach2jlc]

I've never studied either one so I don't know how related they actually are, but just for reference they do share characters in Japanese. 忍者 (ninja- or literally "stealth person&quot and 忍術 (ninjutsu- or literally "stealth style/technique/art"

One of my good friends is named Shinobu、忍, which is another reading for the "nin." I think it's a great name...

 

[SoulPatcher]

I have webbed feet so I could never wear the ninja shoes.

 

[retronotmetro]

Originally Posted by mizanation

ninjitsu is mocked even by the japanese.

One should pause to reflect on how screwed up something must be in order to receive mockery in the country that brought us ganguro girls, gothloli fashion, tentacle **** hentai manga, and bukkake videos.

 

[retronotmetro]

Originally Posted by rach2jlc

I've never studied either one so I don't know how related they actually are, but just for reference they do share characters in Japanese. 忍者 (ninja- or literally "stealth person") and 忍術 (ninjutsu- or literally "stealth style/technique/art"

There is a lot of Japanese folklore concerning ninja. Whether any of the folklore concerning black-clad shuriken-throwing ultimate-power-wielding superdudes has any factual basis is a matter of debate. I believe there is some historical evidence that the spy/assassin roles in feudal Japan were filled by samurai, not by secret clans of ninja. I don't recall reading about peasant farmers ever successfully offing a landowner, which would be a pretty surprising event.

Whether the martial arts now billed as "ninjutsu" have any connection to the historical ninja, or are simply a marketing ploy used to dress up and sell certain martial arts systems, is also a matter of debate. IIRC, there are "ninjutsu" elements in the curricula of some of the remaining documented styles of traditional samurai martial arts. Conversely, some aspects of the modern ninjutsu schools cannot be documented historically (and in some cases don't even make sense).