History of the Ninja- Fact from Fiction

From ancient Japan to modern day times the Ninja still continues to inspire and historians are still digging to find out the truth about them. Much has been found about the warriors whose martial arts techniques are still being adored centuries after the last real Ninja disappeared from the face of the earth.

From Japanese folklore, the first ninja known as the Shinobi is said to have descended from a demon. However, popular belief shows that ninja warriors just evolved like men and perfected their art through the generations of disciplined, well trained warriors.

The art of fighting of the Ninja is said to have come from China where most forms of organized martial art descended from. In 850 A.D the Chinese ruling class was in shambles and many people escaped to Japan. Some warriors made it here too and they brought with them skills of combat that had never been seen in Japan.

Blending with the Japanese indigenous forms of fighting, the warriors’ tactics and philosophies of war would become what is now known as nunjitsu. This form of fighting had set out rules that any aspiring learner had to master.

The samurai were indigenous to Japan and were polished in their art of fighting. Unlike the Ninja however, they had a strict code of discipline and honor. The latter however had loose rules and would rise to challenge the position and standards set by the Samurai.

Some ninja leaders known as the jonin opposed to the Samurai and not ready to commit the ritual suicide associated with rebelling, fled and started their own societies.
Ninjas were the usual folk like farmers and seldom came from the nobility. Learning fighting to them was a way of defending themselves and for self-preservation. Women could also make the cut and were known as the kunoichi, the female ninjas. They could easily infiltrate enemy territories under the guise of dancers, concubines etc. They could also be trusted to carry out assassinations as well.

The ninja warriors were for hire and were paid handsomely for their work. Samurai lords were their biggest clients and this system of hiring warriors from the lower classes served as a way of distributing wealth across the class divide.

The ancient warriors had their class system of society too. There was "high man," or jonin whose orders would be passed through the chunin, the middle man to the lowest class, the genin.

The modern book or movies depicts the ninja as always clad in a back hood with only the eyes showing. The facts are however different. These warriors dressed as fitted the occasion so as to disguise themselves with their enemies and enable smooth operations.

Ninja warriors were ordinary folks and this explains why they were usually hired to do the dirty work by the Samurais who were nobility. Such included spying, assassination, poisoning and other underhand methods of dealing with enemies.

One thing stands true for the Ninja though; they were highly polished and well trained to carry out their duties with the required finesse. It is out of the ability of these warriors to carry out their missions to success that the admiration they so deserve comes from.