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This information is my personal research about the ninja that I gathered.........and hear it goes. Ninja were not evil people who kill for pleasure; they are not like hunters who kill animals only because they wanted to or just for fun. Thay were only ordinary men who developed their skills to protect them selves in the feudal times of Japan. Ninja were trained in many different fields to prepare them selves to any danger that will encounter on their every day lives. They were trained with weapons or with out weapons, manufacturing poisons, explosives & survival wilderness methods. Ninja got their abilities because of their tuned mind and body, and the training never stop. Ninja got general trainings such as “Taijutsu”-Unarmed Combat, "Kihon-Buki"-Basic Weapons and "Kenjutsu"-Swordmanship. Taijutsu is base on earth, water, fire, and wind, the four elements of earth. Ninja learns the fighting techniques that utilized strength(earth), cunning(water), ferocity(fire), and dexterity(wind). Be learning this four elements, the ninja adopt situations by using the most effective element to emerge when needed. Kihon-Buki training focuses on 4 different ninja weapons. The knife, the short staff and throwing spikes. The Kenjutsu training is where ninja trained how to use the Shinobigatana or “The Hidden Sword.” A ninja sword is designed to perform different kinds of tasks. A ninja sword can also be use for climbing and a digging tool. A ninja sword is only roughly sharpened, but it is very strong, it is also very useful in blocking an enemy’s attack and it delivers powerful offensive moves with the body’s natural momentum.
Ninja clans are close to the earth, they are like the Native Americans, their lifestyle is not to live against nature, but to lived according to the law of Nature, and their beliefs became the part of Ninjitsu. Ninjitsu can be translated as the “Art of the Ninja” it is use to refer to the methods and techniques used by Ninja. Ninja are influence by a group of people known as the Shugenja, their method is to subject oneself to the harsh weather and terrain of the area in order to draw strength from the earth. They practice walking through fire, stand beneath freezing waterfalls, and hang over the edges of cliffs in effort to overcome fear and to assume the power of nature. Some Ninja took advantage of the training that they received. Some ninja would rent themselves to the daimyo or nobles for assassination work. These kind of ninja were known as the evil ninja. Since then, most of the daimyo use ninja or rent them to do their dirty work during the Civil War Era in Japan. There were many as 80 to 100 ninja clans operating in Koga and Iga regions during the Ninja activity.
But when Tokugawa Ieyasu became a shogun, He organize all the ninja through Japan under his power. This organization was known as "Onmitsu"-spy system of the shogunate( the military government ruled by the shogun). Ieyasu use the ninja for gathering information about the daimyous, and sometimes Ieyasu use the ninja for assassination work. Ieyasu uses ninja for assassination work instead of Samurai because, samurai’s life is to live by the sword and die by the sword with no fear of death. And Samurai’s had a code known as "Bushido", that must be followed at all times. If a samurai do something beyond Bushido’s limit the samurai will commit "Seppukku", its an ritual suicide, which samurai will cut their stomach open with their sword. But the ninja had no such code. And the samurai cannot sneak into the enemy’s house, because it is against their code. They cannot also do such work of assassination and sabotage. A ninja can sneak into the enemy’s house and can kill a samurai warrior before the samurai could even notice he is in danger. That’s why ninja are very useful to the shogun and that the reason why samurai are afraid of the ninjas.
One of Ieyasu’s skillful and famous ninja was Hattori Hanzo. According from the source, Hottorri’s Clan is the first Ninja clan that can vanish in the thin air with out a trace and just suddenly appear in front of a enemy, and they can also turn invisible in the dark. That’s where Hanzo got his nickname "Devil Hanzo".
Ninja were wearing different kinds of uniform in the different kinds of mission. These kinds of uniforms were called "Shinobi shozoko". Ninja usually wear black because most of their work took place at night. The other color is white to blend with the snow. And the last one is camouflage uniform. When ninja wear a camouflage they cannot easily spotted. Shinobi shozoko got a lot of pockets. These pockets where use to put some weapons or small tools that the ninja need such as knives, shrunken, poison etc. Ninja always brought a small 1st aid kit, filled with poison and solutions. Not all ninja task need to be in uniform, sometimes ninja dressed up like a peasants, priest or sometimes even a samurai, it depends on their mission.
Ninja got a lot of knowledge about poisons. Poisoning a victim is a very effective. Ninja mostly used organic poison or animal poisons. One of the method in getting some poison in animals were; (1) taking fungi poisons out of puffer fish. "Puffer fish" has very strong poison, a small dose can kill a enemy. Another animal is the "bufo marinus". Bufo marinus is a big toad that had a toxic poison behind its eyes. Poison are usually use in shurikens, darts, spear tips, and arrows. Scorpion is also use as a poison, they don’t just extract poison from it, but sometimes they just put a few scorpion in the bed of the victim. (2) Ninja gets poison from apple seed, cherries seed plum seed, this poison is known as "Cynide". By eating this leaves can cause cardiac problems, that may lead to cardiac arrest. Ninja also used “Amanita phalloides,” this is a “deadly” mushroom. This mushroom is so strong , it is 10 times more powerful than the cyanide. Eating this mushroom can cause quick death. Not all poisons are used to kill, some were used to blind, or paralyze an enemy. Ninja also dip shuriken and katana in poison. Making every blow “deadly.” If the ninja sword didn’t kill you, shit!, the poison will.
Ninja have also different kinds of weapons besides the sword and shuriken. (1)The "Fukiya" or blowgun. "Fukiya" is used to shoot darts, this weapon doesn't make any sound. Fukiya is not only use for weapon but also a tool. It is used under the water, since Fukiya is made of bamboo, it blends with the reeds of water. This is very useful tool to stay or hide under the water for hours if necessary. (2)"Ashiko" and "shuko", these were iron bands that ninja wore, this help the ninja climb faster thru walls and trees in a matter of seconds. They were also delivers deadly attacks. Ninja were also using “Kaginawa.” These is a climbing device, it has a hook with 12 to 15 feet rope attached, sometimes chains. It is use to swing across large gaps. It can also use for a weapon by swinging the hook over the enemy’s head with its pointed hook, or the rope can twist together to the enemy confusing mass, then the ninja can attack with the another weapon. Even the ninja got a lot of tricks in battle, they can’t fight with 5 to 6 enemy at the time, that’s the time that the ninja will use the "Metsubishi" or eye closer. This are used to permanent or sometimes temporarily blind 2 or 3 enemy while the ninja is taking care or the rest. Smoke bomb is the other way of taking care or 5 or more enemies. Smoke bomb is filled with gun powder to make smoke and explosion, while there is smoke around the ninja can easily killed his opponent. This is also used to escape when the ninja thinks the there are too many enemies for him even he use his other tools. Ninja were good in tracking enemy. They can identify different kinds of prints. Being good trackers, they realize that they can be tracked too. These were the ninja invented the "Asiaro". Asiaro are many types of “foot prints” that made by curving a wood. Asiaro got a lot of shapes like dog’s or a bear’s and they can also use to imitate human prints such as a child’s foot prints. With these devices, A ninja had no worries to walk into the territory of an enemy with out being track. After all, a Samurai won’t consider a child a threat. Ninja got a lot of secrets and tricks when it comes to their missions. This information is not enough to describe how the ninja survive in the feudal time of Japan and how most of them became paid to kill or used as a spy.
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For MorE inFormaTion about The Ninja's just go to entertheninja.com