WE think of ninjas as black-clad assassins skilled in martial arts and weaponry who could climb up walls and roofs with the utmost ease and conveniently vanish behind a puff of smoke. A “Ninja” or “Shinobi” was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. They practiced espionage to gather intelligence from the enemy without resorting to direct combat.
Ninjas are trained from childhood and became experts at many skills. They could fight unarmed, but also armed, and had the ability to turn almost anything into a weapon. They were also masters of disguises and good at making all types of bombs. Their abilities were honed through years of training in a variety of disciplines. They were well-rounded, physically strong and agile, good actors and skilled chemists.
Their senses were so acute, that they could hear a needle drop in the next room. There were also other skills that the ninjas spent countless hours practicing. They can move around stealthily without being heard or seen.
The total body of skill of the ninjas is known as ninjutsu. There are 18 skills; Spiritual Refinement, Unarmed Combat, Sword Techniques, Stick and Staff Fighting, Throwing Blades, Spear Fighting, Naginata Fighting, Chain and Sickle Weapon, Fire and Explosives, Disguise and Impersonation, Stealth and Entering Methods, Horsemanship, Water Training, Strategy, Espionage, Escape and Concealment, Meteorology and Geography. All these different skills were needed in order for a ninja to carry out his work.
Over several centuries, ninjas became legendary warriors who specialized in convert intelligence gathering, stealth, and combat mastery. Today in Japan, people who practice the historical art of ninjutsu are dying out and pop culture is replacing them. The theme of Ninja was reflected in many different things during the 1990s. There were movies, cartoons, books, video games and martial arts classes.
