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 Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2006 7:50 am
Naruto and Hollywood have made the word 'ninja' into a word for a super-uber cool-assassin, usually part of a clan who goes around killing people or looking for revenge. Personally I think we should be allowed to call ourselves 'ninja' however the fact that is has been corrupted so much really makes it hard to talk to anyone about it without them either trying to attack you or just making fun of you. I don't give a damn what anyone else thinks 'ninja' might be and couldn't care less about all the logical things people are coming out with, as said by Hylo: Quote: So there you have it, yes they did exist... but no, they wern't honorable super-soldiers. Just a simple dude with some farm tools and the know how to use them, looking for some quick cash. I'm not so sure about just looking for some cash but yes, the rest is certain. Oh, and not all but some samurai were also Ninja, Hattori Hanzo being one of the most well known, a samurai and leader of 'special forces' before dying or drowning as it is most said whilst combating pirates.
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Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2006 2:15 pm
Yeah, yeah, we all know about the history of the Ninja, about the past of the Ninja, but now I shall present to you THE FUTURE OF THE NINJA:Chipp ZanuffHe's actually quite realistic, concidering the game he's in.
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Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2006 3:13 pm
Hylonomus Yes, Ninja were highly damatized, but it doesn't mean they didn't exist. Every culture had its assassins, they play an important part of warfare. They were not samurai with assassin missions, in fact samurai found the ninja to be shameful and dishonerable. (honor is really in the eye of the beholder though, as samurai were known to sell out to the highest bidder and slughter peasents.) The ninja were simply assassins trained with weapons used for sneaking, climbing and killing in quiet. They did not wield swords, but more commonly used polearms and a variety of chained weapons that were used both for climbing and as a weapon. A ninja could not stand up to a fair fight against a samurai, nor would he want to. They relied on gadgets such as poison and pepper powder to hinder their enemies. Caltrops, hooked short spears, claws, and hooks or sicles on chains were the common tools of the ninja, as well as shurukins, which looked nothing like they are usually portreyed. Ninja shurikens (I know I suck at spelling) were not used to kill enemies so much as hinder them. They were small and square, and were thrown in rapid succession as a "suppression" weapon as a last resort against a pursuer. For their actual assassinations a simple string and a bottle of poison will suffice, or a quick stab with a knife. There were never any "honorable standoffs" between a samurai and a ninja, the victim was usually killed without hesitation in his sleep, on the toilet, in the bath, or any other place that was lightly guarded. Now, this may seem really crazy and glamourus... but ninjas had a very dangerous job and did it independently out of pay. They were hitmen for hire, simple mercinaries. Like I said before, assassinations and espionage plays an important part of any war. So there you have it, yes they did exist... but no, they wern't honorable super-soldiers. Just a simple dude with some farm tools and the know how to use them, looking for some quick cash. Eheh... not quite. The ninja were not super, U84R assassins of doom like in anime, as we all agree upon, but they were not ordinary people like today's assassins either. (And in comparison to samurai, they usually were better trained than most of them) Actually, many weren't assassins at all! Thats what they were feared for in the world outside their isolated villages. Typically, the ninja clan in any given area would work out an agreement with the nearby feudal lord. In return for not being forced to disarm, the ninja would keep to themselves, and occasionally lend some of their warriors to the do the lord's bidding (often assassination, information gathering, or simply acting as secret police). Notice how I called them warriors. This is true. Its mainly a mixture of ignorance (usually the average person's knowledge of ninja was not beyond the news of a political assassination) and myth. The ninjas were somewhat pragmatic. Unlike samurai, they would not commit harakiri/seppuku because it was a waste and didnt make too much sense; wouldn't it be more honorable to endure shame and redeem oneself? The same goes for stealth; Isn't it more effective to have the element of suprise on your side? However, the ninja were not solely warriors. Thats another myth generated by the upsurge of Japanese culture that happened in the west after WWII (which the westerners were clearly not ready to take in all at once). I plan to make a topic about the truth behind ninja later... err... after I join this guild xd As for using farming tools and the like, it's not that they didn't have real weapons; they did. This actually reflects one of the main principals of fighting in the way of nin. One must become perfectly in harmony with one's enviorment. In other words, they took what they got. A master of the way of nin can look at a wooden table and see hundreds of different posssible weapons. They trained so that any possible object could be used in combat, and thus be ready to overcome any and all circumstances, as sugested by the quote in the 32nd (I think) soke. This also ties in to the stealth aspect (if one is in harmony with their surroundings, it would be easy to conceal oneself in them). And no, ninja did not act independantly. If a ninja were to leave a village without notice, they would be promptly hunted down and killed in order to protect the clan (one of the things in Naruto that has some truth about ninja). Hope this clears a couple things up a couple things. I hope to be joining this guild soon (after I find the application form sweatdrop ). Whew... that was a hell of a first post.
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Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2006 3:36 pm
Lord Asia ...for the most part ninjas (which is a newer term and not really historical) were samurai that did clandestine work. There were ninjas that weren't samurai but the majority of information written and passed down about ninjutsu and it use were done by samurai. Just something to think about. Since Asia is an authority on all things ninja like at Bullshido.net
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Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2006 4:04 pm
Oh, and by the way...
Not to try to force anyone, but would anyone mind nominating me for joining the guild? I like this place; people actually know what they're talking about.
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Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2006 9:28 am
Unvanquished Oh, and by the way... Not to try to force anyone, but would anyone mind nominating me for joining the guild? I like this place; people actually know what they're talking about. If you want to join, there are stickies about how to do this. If you've already PM'ed a member of the crew, be quiet and exert patience. On another note, I would like to know your sources. Now, for a question in general... What do people think of Masaaki Hatsumi? Some people say he's a fraud, yet I've heard he's been made to a National Japanese Cultural Heritage. He. Himself. This seems odd, but then Japanese are odd in general and have given trees the same title. Questions: -Does Masaaki Hatsumi have this title, yes or no? -If so, does it mean he is a legitimate source of historical information or is he a fraud with political connections? -If not, then how credible is Masaaki Hatsumi?
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Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2006 6:47 pm
Tveir Yeah, yeah, we all know about the history of the Ninja, about the past of the Ninja, but now I shall present to you THE FUTURE OF THE NINJA:Chipp ZanuffHe's actually quite realistic, concidering the game he's in.Cool, Guilty Gear. mrgreen ( I am a fan of that series ... ^ ^" ) Quote: Quote: He's actually quite realistic Errrmm ... well ... sweatdrop ( Ok, at least, he doesn't have a projectile ... and relies totally on his speed and long chain combos. ) Anyway, in his GGXX mid-air taunt, he tosses a single shuriken ( Shou li Jien / "Hand In Sword" ) at the opponent which doesn't cost any damage at all ...
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Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2006 6:06 pm
Unvanquished Hylonomus Yes, Ninja were highly damatized, but it doesn't mean they didn't exist. Every culture had its assassins, they play an important part of warfare. They were not samurai with assassin missions, in fact samurai found the ninja to be shameful and dishonerable. (honor is really in the eye of the beholder though, as samurai were known to sell out to the highest bidder and slughter peasents.) The ninja were simply assassins trained with weapons used for sneaking, climbing and killing in quiet. They did not wield swords, but more commonly used polearms and a variety of chained weapons that were used both for climbing and as a weapon. A ninja could not stand up to a fair fight against a samurai, nor would he want to. They relied on gadgets such as poison and pepper powder to hinder their enemies. Caltrops, hooked short spears, claws, and hooks or sicles on chains were the common tools of the ninja, as well as shurukins, which looked nothing like they are usually portreyed. Ninja shurikens (I know I suck at spelling) were not used to kill enemies so much as hinder them. They were small and square, and were thrown in rapid succession as a "suppression" weapon as a last resort against a pursuer. For their actual assassinations a simple string and a bottle of poison will suffice, or a quick stab with a knife. There were never any "honorable standoffs" between a samurai and a ninja, the victim was usually killed without hesitation in his sleep, on the toilet, in the bath, or any other place that was lightly guarded. Now, this may seem really crazy and glamourus... but ninjas had a very dangerous job and did it independently out of pay. They were hitmen for hire, simple mercinaries. Like I said before, assassinations and espionage plays an important part of any war. So there you have it, yes they did exist... but no, they wern't honorable super-soldiers. Just a simple dude with some farm tools and the know how to use them, looking for some quick cash. Eheh... not quite. The ninja were not super, U84R assassins of doom like in anime, as we all agree upon, but they were not ordinary people like today's assassins either. (And in comparison to samurai, they usually were better trained than most of them) Actually, many weren't assassins at all! Thats what they were feared for in the world outside their isolated villages. Typically, the ninja clan in any given area would work out an agreement with the nearby feudal lord. In return for not being forced to disarm, the ninja would keep to themselves, and occasionally lend some of their warriors to the do the lord's bidding (often assassination, information gathering, or simply acting as secret police). Notice how I called them warriors. This is true. Its mainly a mixture of ignorance (usually the average person's knowledge of ninja was not beyond the news of a political assassination) and myth. The ninjas were somewhat pragmatic. Unlike samurai, they would not commit harakiri/seppuku because it was a waste and didnt make too much sense; wouldn't it be more honorable to endure shame and redeem oneself? The same goes for stealth; Isn't it more effective to have the element of suprise on your side? However, the ninja were not solely warriors. Thats another myth generated by the upsurge of Japanese culture that happened in the west after WWII (which the westerners were clearly not ready to take in all at once). I plan to make a topic about the truth behind ninja later... err... after I join this guild xd As for using farming tools and the like, it's not that they didn't have real weapons; they did. This actually reflects one of the main principals of fighting in the way of nin. One must become perfectly in harmony with one's enviorment. In other words, they took what they got. A master of the way of nin can look at a wooden table and see hundreds of different posssible weapons. They trained so that any possible object could be used in combat, and thus be ready to overcome any and all circumstances, as sugested by the quote in the 32nd (I think) soke. This also ties in to the stealth aspect (if one is in harmony with their surroundings, it would be easy to conceal oneself in them). And no, ninja did not act independantly. If a ninja were to leave a village without notice, they would be promptly hunted down and killed in order to protect the clan (one of the things in Naruto that has some truth about ninja). Hope this clears a couple things up a couple things. I hope to be joining this guild soon (after I find the application form sweatdrop ). Whew... that was a hell of a first post. Of course they wern't all assassins. They were spies, counterspies, sabatours, ect. And yes they had family ties, secretive training and all the like. Yes, they did kill themselves though. It was a bit of an insurence policy that a ninja must rather kill himself then allow capture. This is understandable, because most likely the ninja would end put tortured and executed if cought anyway. They wern't spiritual or magical in any way, they were just trained at what they do, like all aspects of military life. Not much different from modern-day special forces. In fact, many US special forces troops are trianed by ninjustu masters on the military base established in Okinawa Japan after WW2.
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Posted: Sat Mar 25, 2006 1:33 am
as a practitioner of ninjitsu, I would never refure myself as a 'ninja'
that's something I swore when I first desided to study it <.<
quite frankly, it just has to many preconceved notions attacted to it that I want nothing to do with sweatdrop
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Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2006 8:35 am
Rogue Specter as a practitioner of ninjitsu, I would never refure myself as a 'ninja' that's something I swore when I first desided to study it <.< quite frankly, it just has to many preconceved notions attacted to it that I want nothing to do with sweatdrop Well, ninja in training would be more like it. If you are a master of ninjustu or a black belt or whatever, then I guess you could call yourself a ninja. Then, when somebody makes fun of you for it... kill them fifteen different ways with a toothpick. Seriously though... I only think you can call yourself a ninja or shinobi if you actually go out and perform spying missions, assassinations and sabatoge for money from a dictator or general. Otherwise, you are simply a "practictioner of Ninjustu." How many kenjustu practitioners call themselves samurai? I don't see any fencers calling themselves knights! I am handy with a rifle, but I don't call myself a soldier.
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