What is Ninjutsu (Ninja skills), a special skill used by ninja?
Kuromaru
Have you ever seen "Ninjutsu" / "Ninja skills"?
Superhuman fighting techniques, magical fire-breathing actions, hiding in ponds without breathing, disguising yourself as a completely different person, sometimes even the opposite sex…
Even if you have never seen them, if you are a ninja lover, you have probably seen them in anime and manga and admired them.
Can the ninja really use such ninjutsu? What kind of ninjutsu training / lesson / workout do ninjas have? Are there any ninjutsu that you should incorporate into your life?
Let us show you!
Ninjutsu (ninja skills) as you imagine
When you hear the word "ninjutsu", what do you imagine?
These are just a few examples.
Transformation Jutsu
The ninja changes his or her appearance (face, height, gender, etc.) in an instant to become someone else.
By pretending to be someone else, they enter places they cannot enter themselves (inside castles, enemy camps, etc.) and complete their missions.
Substitution Jutsu
When about to be attacked by an enemy in battle, it instantly switches itself with the surrounding objects to avoid the enemy's attack.
Fireball Jutsu
Fire as a means of attack or as sabotage, such as setting a building on fire.
Water-escape Jutsu
They hide in ponds for long periods of time, using long, thin tubes to secure a means of respiration.
They use it to hide from enemy pursuit or to wait for midnight, when people are asleep.
Combat techniques using various weapons such as shuriken
In addition to shuriken, they are proficient in handling a wide variety of weapons, including poisoned blowguns, long-reaching chain sickles, and swords disguised as staffs.
Why was ninjutsu training needed?
The ninja are mysterious, but what was their job? It is what we call espionage in modern times.
They invade enemy castles and camps to steal important information and valuables. Assassination. Gathering information. They perform such tasks.
To do so, it is of utmost importance to blend in with the environment. It was necessary to wear disguises, use few weapons, and sometimes perform combat actions without weapons.
Also, technique for the purpose of escaping safely (bringing back information) is very advanced.
If you want to know who the ninjas were, please read this article, "What's a Ninja?".
What ninjutsu can actually be used?
It would be a dream come true if real-life ninja could use the ninjutsu that we see in anime and manga.
What is the actual situation?
Martial arts
Ninja make assassination part of their livelihood, sometimes fighting enemies.
It varies depending on the situation, such as the presence or absence of weapons and the environment in which it takes place…
In order to cope with these situations, they are required to master eight different techniques. They are called the "the eight gates of the ninja".
- Osteopathic technique
An ancient martial art that shares its roots with sumo. It is a fighting art consisting of throwing, joint and striking techniques. - Kiai technique
The method of using "Kiai" (spirit) to create a sleep paralysis, or to defeat an enemy at a distance without touching him, or skills including breathing techniques and mindset. - Swordsmanship
- Spearmanship
- Shuriken technique
- Fiery technique
It is said that the ninja had no hesitation in developing methods for mixing gunpowder and tools using gunpowder, and formed their own unique gunpowder science. - Acrobatic technique
They mastered the acrobatic movements that are characteristic of the ninja. Parkour as we know it today. - General education
They acquired the knowledge to blend in with the town, such as general knowledge of the city, in order to hide and infiltrate as a townspeople.
Art of disguise
When the ninja infiltrated enemy territory, they had to disguise themselves so that their identities would not be discovered, so they developed their own disguise techniques.
The art of disguise called shichiho-de existed, in which the ninja disguised themselves into seven different occupations, merchants, Buddhist monks and etc.
If you want to know more about ninja disguise techniques, please read this article, "The real Ninja's art of Disguise".
Incidentally, the pitch-black ninja uniforms often worn by "ninjas" are used to move around in the dark of night.
If you want to know more about ninja disguise techniques, please read this article, "The Ninja's costume is all Black??".
Breathing techniques
They use a breathing technique called double breathing.
Breathing in the rhythm of "inhale, exhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale," increases oxygen intake, while running in a meditative state reduces oxygen consumption.
Art of memorizing
Ninja's espionage requires memorizing vast amounts of information. For this reason, they developed their own memory techniques.
For example, a technique called "Fubo no Jutsu" (the art of forgetting). It is a technique in which one associates "pain" with what one wants to remember.
Specifically, he would use a small knife to scratch his fingers and use the pain to memorize the information, which is quite a terrible way.
Art of communication
Since there were occasions when it was necessary for the ninja to transmit the information they obtained to distant places, they had their own transmission techniques for communicating to distant places.
They used a tool called "iriko-bi" to transmit information like Morse code.
How can you incorporate Ninjutsu into your daily life?
Ninjas live in the city and in everyday life, so of course the various techniques used by ninjas are also easy to use in daily life.
For example, if you have to hurry to get to your next travel reservation, how about using the double breath?
You should be able to travel longer distances with less fatigue!
Do you always forget your room number in the hotel?
In such cases, use "Fubo no Jutsu" (the art of forgetting) and remember it with the pain of pinching your cheeks!
You might even lose it if you jot it down on your smart phone.
Ninjutsu you can experience at Ninja Experience Cafe
We at the Ninja Experience Cafe want to make the secret art of Ninjutsu as enjoyable as possible for everyone. Therefore we have some ninjutsu lessons.
You can experience and learn shuriken technique and swordsmanship, as well as enjoy the fiery fondant chocolat, a dessert created in front of you by applying fire techniques.
If you come to Osaka, Kyoto or Tokyo in Japan, visit the Ninja Experience Cafe to learn, master and enjoy the art of Ninjutsu!
It will be a special and unforgettable memory!
What are we?
We run Ninja Experience Cafe in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, Japan.
Here you can immerse yourself in Japanese culture through experiencing ninja training.
Both adults and children are welcome to try their hand at defeating the ninja master inside the cafe.
The cafe is an indoor interactive zone, so it can be enjoyed even on rainy days.
If you are thinking, "I want to be a real ninja too!” If you are interested in becoming a real ninja, please visit us.
Reservations can be made here.
references
http://www.2nja.com/2nja_ability/2nja_bujutsu.html
https://iganinja.jp/2007/12/post-51.html
https://www.ninja-museum.com/ninja-database/?p=418
https://www.kiokuanki.com/rekishi/ninjyakioku.html
https://note.com/kiyo_design/n/ne55d9ee26166
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