Ninja&Samurai

As most of us know Samurai were the most powerful warriors in fuedal Japan.But,we also hear alot about mysterious warriors called ninja.....but who were they?,where did they come from?,what was their purpose?.I am preparing to take a ninjutsu class and would like to know more about the warriors of which i am fighting after. If anyone has information on ninja and their purpose in Japan please post it.

The ninja were used as assasins and spies in fuedal age Japan. They were kinda like the opposites of Samurai because they did not fight by any codes like the Samurai did...they did wat it took to get the job done. They used many weapons and used stealth as a major weapon.
Ninjitsu today is a very good art to learn, but it all kinda depends on the teacher u have

Thank you, but if anyone has anymore in-depth info on ninja please post it. The teacher i am goinmg to have is a shidoshi and tavels to Japan twice every year to train in ninujutsu and battojutsu.


thanks

ninjas were poor farmers who needed to defend themselves from the samurai and such - so they refined many of they farming tools into weapons and created a secret style;
samurais used to shout loudly before raiding someones house the ninja were sly and would sneak in and eliminate the enemy by any means possible
have a look on the internet there is plenty of stuff regarding japan and its history

lol wow no offense but samurai-sk6, your kinda off........from the lastest research it is known that the ninja were originally very religous mountian people.. they first learned to live with nature and became shinto people.. after that they created ninpo using the modern day bujutsu... but most of the ninja were not assasins or the enemy of samurai.. most were just religous mountain people.. their were only a scarce amount that sold themselves to the government as spies.. they did do it and they were very good at it because of their guerilla warefare type strategies..


see the samurai beleived in "honorable" one on one fights.. the ninja did what they needed to get out... they didn't want to fight the samurai.. they would be spying to gain intellegence or to assasinate someone .. after their main objective was complete they wanted to get the heck out of their.. so they used methods of doing that incase they got spoted...thus gorilla warefare was born

[This message has been edited by Telepath (edited 07-14-2004).]

actually ninja did have codes to follow, and were often employed as strategists by daimyo. they were also supposed to be loyal.
they're techniques were passed on from generation to generation of family as well, as they did not use dojos until mor emodern times i believe.

i could list 100x more but i am feeling lazy from trying to perfect a move i just learned yesterday- the impracticle flying spinning back kick!

ninjas were poor farmers who needed to defend themselves from the samurai and such - so they refined many of they farming tools into weapons and created a secret style

Hmmm...I think you have this confused with the development of Kobudo in the Okinawan Martial Arts.

Actually the Ninja are classified in several ways. Believe it or not but some of them also came from a class of Samurai called Ronin, or Masterless Samurai. It is true that the Shoguns often used the skills of the ninjutsu practitioners to implement their plans, but it is also true that Ninja were actually peace loving mountain people.

So much to learn here...love the forum.

[This message has been edited by aikitesensei (edited 08-10-2004).]

The ninja have totally been exxhaterated over the years. They weren't ALL about hiding in the shadows and spying on people and stuff. I mean, yes, that was a big part, but it wasn't everything. Like said, they would be taken from the peasent class and hired by Daimyo in exchange for housing and feeding their families. Of course, ninjas could lead a double life and bring it with them to the grave. I have heard many unbelieveable stories of ninja who hadn't told a single soul their entire life. Ninja who got married for 40 years merely to get closer to some kind of information that they needed to give to whoever was hiring them. I mean, being able to fake that kind of thing for 40 years is pretty unbelievable. But these days everyone thinks you can just wear all black and run around with a sword and hide in trees, making you a ninja or some kind of ninjitsu master. Ninjitsu was a martial art, yes? It's not some kind of mondo spying system, it's a martial art, and being ninjitsu practitioners isn't what made the ninja what they were... you know, ninja! It was just their preferred martial art. So like I said, knowing ninjitsu isn't what made them ninja, it was just the techniques they used. And you can't forget all the different ninja clans and... yeah, I'm just rambling by this point.

[This message has been edited by Kyosuke (edited 08-15-2004).]

[This message has been edited by Kyosuke (edited 08-15-2004).]

Hmm a form of Ninjutsu started in the forests of Northern China Known at that time as the forest demon or Lin Kuei chuan. They known as the clan of vagabonds migrated to japan were many of their practices influenced and resulted in the creation of ninpo. The ninja were spies thats true,but what is also true is most of them were oppressed farmers and peasent families. Ninjutsu is composed of a collection of skills 18 samurai and 18 ninja. Ninja did not wear black people got that from theater. Their art is composed of 5 elements taught in Taijutsu and extensive weapons training and stealth methods called shinobi ire/jutsu. The Ninja did assassinate but the ninja were not cold blooded killers they simply adopted guerilla warfare and sharpened it to a deadly skill. The Ninja did have a code of honor sometimes their codes were even more rigid the samurai. On Ninjutsu clans the reason there were different clans was because each specialized in a unique skill such as: Fuma Ryu was known for its suiren water tactics The Oni clan was known for hand to hand skills and the Kouka was known for its stealth the togakure was known most for its extensive weapons skills. the fuma and kouka(koga) were most influenced by Lin Kuei methods.

ok, i dont know a whole lot but i do know that ninjas weren't usually assassins, they were spies. a shinobi is a certain type or branch of ninja that specialized in assassination.

well agenT said it all

i have a great video on it.

email me

Jack Stone

Ninjas praticed guerilla warfare.
Ninjas lived in the forested mountains of china

Gorilas live in forested mountians.

Perhaps this is how guerilla warfare got its name?

Think about it

Ninja's are mammals and totally sweet.

They spend all day flipping out at pirates.

My friend saw a ninja uppercut this kid because he opened a window.

Here is a site devoted to nija's http://www.realultimatepower.net/

sorry folks couldn't resist having another peep at this site... the hate mail makes me laugh

The ninja were around i believe in the 1500's and the were hired by generals and kings. They were hired as assisins and body guards. The art was believed to have been started by a Buddist monk who journied to Japan. You chose a great art to learn if you want some katas on ninjas email me. Ninjas rule. Hoorah.

Jack Stone

Ninjas were like backstage players for a play. They play a big part during olden Japan and china. Their gi actually originated for opera backstage workers. To fight is not their actual cup of tea. They are loyal servants to their emperor. They are often sent to kill, steal or spy. Usually they are not like in the movies, fighting people in the lights. They prefer to escape without any ppl knowing their presense. Their aim is to return safely after a mission without anyone knowing. A ninja maybe skilled in making bombs and weapons. But they are extremely knowledgeable in other aspects like geography, weather, disguise, guns, medicine, poison and all the other stuff.

Samurai is a skilled fighter who is supposed to be very loyal to the japanese emperor. They are usually skilled in arts of horse-riding, bow and arrow and martial arts like jujitsu, kenjitsu and iajitsu and a skill "translated from chinese" fire gun techniques. Which were guns.

They both have the common goal, that is to serve the emperor.

Well, I do agree that samurai was misinformed when he said "ninjas did not live by a code." They very much did so. Everything was duty to them. The first ninjas, from my research,(and believe me, I have researched and apply the lifestyle of the ninja in every way of my life, from the minute I wake up til the moment I sleep. I even looked up ninjan food recipes!) were actually priests who developed the skill of stealth to hide from men who were after them, due to the fact that priests have always held power througout history. Eventually the secrets of the priests made it into public hands, and their stealth skills were combined with fighting syles to create ninjutsu. Ninjutsu is literally "the art of being invisible." Ninjas were not really the "enemy" of samurai, like many movies depict. In fact, ninjas often worked for high-ranking shoguns and daimyos(samurai warlords.) That is some basic info. Here are some more good sites for ninja-ish stuff. http://www.iganinja.jp/english/menu.html http://www.ashidakim.com/
There you go, and enjoy your study of the shadow warriors!