Ninjas: The Assassinated Samurai

Ninjas have been known for centuries for their abilities, training, and stealth. Over the ages, these amazing soldiers have become the make of legend.

History has little to say about ninjas. It is difficult to decide the precise origin of the silent assassins, because historians did not record as much about them. This is due to the fact that ninjas were recruited from the lower class. They were created to counteract the upper-class samurai of feudal Japan. The art of ninjutsu began around 600-900 AD. Ninja clan training done by Japanese war monks was greatly influenced by the Chinese monks, who fled to Japan after the chaotic fall of the Tang Dynasty.

Some ninjas were disgraced Samurai, but most were lower class people such as farmers. They were hired as assassins and soldiers in espionage. They were not held to the same standards as the noble samurai, and some samurai used this to their advantage, and even hired ninjas to do their dirty work. They either spied for armies or leaders, or were hired by leaders to poison, assassinate, or kill enemy leaders. In

warfare, their abilities were also used to distract and create diversions. Entire castles could be distracted by the ninjas on the inside, while outside the fort was an army about to siege.
The first ninja school began when Daisuke, a former samurai, met a Chinese war monk in the mountains of southwest Honshu. He forsook his code and created a new code of guerilla warfare tactics with the monk in 1162. They called it ninjutsu. Daisuke’s descendants would create the first ninja school, the Togakure Ryu. The ninjas were trained to get a mission accomplished by whatever means necessary, being lower class, and forsook the honor and nobility involved with the code of samurai warfare. This included sneak attacks and poison, which was dishonorable to the samurai. The Iga and Koga provinces became strong ninja training areas. They contained entire villages devoted to ninja training. Strongholds eventually formed in these regions as well. Many ninja schools (ryu) taught “The Eight Basic Methods” which consisted of body skills, karate, spear fighting, staff fighting, blade-throwing, use of fire and water, fortification and strategy, and concealment.
Not only were they trained physically, but they were trained mentally as well. Ninjas were taught Buddhism. During moments of danger, they could make many supposed magical signs with their fingers for self-control and stunning the enemy. They trained themselves to have near superhuman instincts, and focused their senses to a fine point. They developed their mental toughness by meditating, practicing patience, and strengthening their senses of hearing, smell, and strengthening their reflexes.
Ninjas dressed up not clad in all black, as Hollywood so commonly portrays them, but in outfits that blended in to whatever setting they were in, as true spies would do.

They could disguise themselves as foot-soldiers, farmers, guards, etc. For night operations, they wore navy blue to blend into the darkness. Weapons consisted of shinobigatana (medium-length swords,) the bo and naginata (war staves and pikes,) and martial arts like karate. Ninja also created unique tools and weapons such as the shuko, an iron hand climbing tool, and the tessen, a sharpened metal fan. They also used silent shoes called geta which were wooden sandals with cotton that enabled them to move noiselessly. Some ninjas disguised themselves as flute players, but then used their flute as a blow dart or weapon. In feudal Japan, ninjas could use modified farming tools as a disguise and then use them as weapons as

well.
Ninjas were vital to Japanese conflicts from the 1300s to the 1600s. The land was in constant conflict, and their skills were needed on both sides of wars. They burned down fortresses, infiltrated castles, and used their stealth to gain an advantage over their enemy by destroying them from the inside. During the Sengoku period, the ninjas served many different roles as kancho (spies), koran (agitators), teisatsu (scouts), and kisho (surprise attackers). Ninjas could be creating a diversion in a castle during a siege while the large army is attacking on the outside. Oda Nobunaga, a war lord, was the strongest leader in Japan during the mid 1500s, and united much of Japan. He saw the ninjas as a threat and eliminated the Koga ninja stronghold. He then attacked the Iga ninjas with a large force of thousands of warriors, and destroyed their base, scattering the ninjas. They then faded away, ending their usefulness in battle in the 1600s. On into the 18th century, Japan became more peaceful, and ninjas faded into legend.
Today the original concept of what a ninja truly is has been morphed and stretched in entertaining movies, tv shows, and comic books. Ninjas no longer exist today, and have become the legendary figures of Japan.