Shurikens, swords, and other weapons handled by Ninjas. Who is stronger,the ninja or the Samurai?

Hello to all of you who are fascinated by ninjas, my name is Kuromaru.
Some of you may even want to become a ninja and aim for great success like in movies and cartoons.
I have a wonderful article for all of you for this purpose.
In this article, I will focus on the characteristics of their weapons such as shuriken, blowdart, katana, chain sickle, iron claws, and makibishi (foot spikes) in the mysterious world of the ninjas.
In addition, I shall also answer the intriguing question: if a ninja and a samurai fought, who would win?
Take a seat, brew some tea and prepare to learn more about Ninja martial arts, weapons, and get a taste of Japan's historical fighting styles.

What is a Ninja anyway?

Ninjas are professionals who serve as spies, assassins, and intelligence gatherers.
Back in the early ages of Japan they were skilled in the use of clever tactics and special weapons to carry out various missions.
In addition, their ability to act and complete their tasks without being noticed by their enemies is what made them feared by many.
If you want to know who the ninjas were, please read this article, "What's a Ninja?".

Various Weapons Handled by the Ninja

Ninjas handled a wide variety of weapons which make them famous, among those famous weapons are the shuriken, blowdart, katana, chainsickle, iron claws, and makibishi.
Although there seems to be no common denominator in the variety of weapons, several characteristics can be found.
Carrying a weapon is a reason to be wary and is not suitable for covert operations.
Therefore, the weapons must be small and easily concealable.
Also, ninjas are more concerned with stalling and distracting their enemies than defeating them.
For this reason, we ninjas prefer to use weapons that increase the speed and reach of our attacks.

Introduction to Shuriken (ninja star)

The shuriken is one of the most iconic weapons of the ninja.
It can be used to takedown from a distance, and because it is small and easily concealable, it can be thrown at an enemy from a short distance with amazing accuracy and power.
Shurikens were very useful in sneaking up on enemies and launching raids back in the older periods of history.
Sometimes the shuriken were pre-coated with poison to increase its killing power.

Blowdarts (Blowguns)

The blowdart is a weapon suitable for silently attacking enemies.
The ninja used arrows coated with poison to attack without being noticed by the enemy.
Skilled ninja were able to hit accurately from a distance and another famous fact about the blowdart is that when it is blown, hardly any sound comes out, therefore the enemies would be dead even before they were aware of their attacker.

Swords (Katana)

Swords were weapons used by the ninja in melee combat and played an important role in their martial arts.
Their swordsmanship emphasized accuracy and speed rather than power, and also the ability to instantly counterattack while parrying enemy attacks.
For this reason, their swords were designed to be much shorter than the swords used by the samurai.
This not only increases speed, but also aids in maneuvering around in a confined spaces.

The Chain Sickle (Kusarigama)

A chain sickle is a weapon consisting of a sickle or a small scythe-like weapon and a weight on the end of a long chain.
This was used to capture an opponent's weapon or to restrain an enemy by wrapping it around them, making them completely unable to move.
It could also be used to attack from a distance or from the side, which helped the ninja attack beyond the enemy's predictions.
It is also useful as armor, as the chain can block enemy's swords.

Click here to see a battle scene using a chain sickle.

Iron Claws (Tekkou Hooks, Tekkou Kagi)

Iron claws are useful in melee combat, and can be used to claw and attack or catch enemy weapons.
They were also used to climb over slopes and walls, helping to increase the ninja's mobility on surfaces impossible to that of a normal human.

Makibishi (Foot spikes)

The makibishi is a weapon used by the ninja to obstruct the feet of their enemies by scattering them on the ground.
Sharp needles would pierce the enemy's feet, allowing the ninja to obstruct the enemy's movement.
This allowed the ninja to control the enemy's actions and facilitate their raids, quick assassinations, and escapes.

If a Ninja and a Samurai fought, who do you think would win?

As you may know, the Samurai are as or more popular than the ninja.
Samurai and Ninja are Japanese fighting professionals who were very active in the same era.
When a ninja and a samurai fight, it is difficult to determine a winner in general.
Samurai had superior swordsmanship and body techniques and generally fought with heavy equipment.
The ninja on the other hand, excelled in their ability to deceive and attack the enemy through flexible tactics and the use of special weapons.
With that being said, who would win in a fight?
The ninja would surely win in the following situations:
A samurai and a ninja, separated from each other in a crowded city, are informed of each other's targets and are required to disable the other.
The ninja would probably attack the samurai from a distance in the crowd with a blowgun coated with a numbing agent that is unable to be heard when shot.
Likewise It would be like a boxing match, with the two men facing each other at a distance of about two meters and starting the battle with a battle cry.
The Samurai would likely cut the Ninja in two with his long, heavy sword.
Depending on the situation both are able to cut the other down however the ninja overall would be victorious to do the fact that a samurai wasn’t known for stealth tactics and would normally face enemies head-on.
A Ninja would have a already made plan as to how to assassinate and the Samurai would fall to their knees by the time they realized what was happening to them.

Experience Ninja training at the Ninja Experience Cafe!

So far, I have introduced the weapons used by the ninja, use a wide variety of weapons, and a variety of fighting styles.
The silent power they hold is unfathomable. I am sure that today's ninja would have created attack methods using smartphones and other modern techniques!
There are modern day ninjas who have followed the lessons of the old are now able to teach you their ways. Now that you have read this article, you must be itching to throw a shuriken, right!
I would like to recommend the Ninja Experience Cafe to those of you who are itching to try throwing shurikens.
You can learn how to throw a shuriken, how to blow a blowdart, and how to use a sword directly from a modern ninja.
There are many other ways to enjoy yourself, such as desserts using ninja techniques, as well as enjoying the atmosphere of our base so be sure to check it out.

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.

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