CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 6 CHAPTER 1 THE HISTORY OF NINJAS 9 CHAPTER 2 NINJUTSU 19 CHAPTER 3 TACTICS AND STRATEGIES 29 CHAPTER 4 EQUIPMENT AND WEAPONS 36 GLOSSARY 44 FOR FURTHER READING 46 INDEX 47
6 INTRODUCTION In a modern world where action films and exciting video games are so popular it’s no wonder that ninjas have established an iconic presence in popular culture With their traditional black clothes enigmatic masks and extraordinary weaponry ninjas are surrounded by an aura of deadly mystery This trait stems from their historical presence as figures who conducted missions based on se crecy spying and sometimes assassinations While many facts about ninjas have been clouded by stories and modern entertainment trends they were real warriors in Japan hundreds of years ago The original ninjas were members of secret societies formed in Japan prior to 1500 At that time warlords and their followers ruled Japan For security reasons various clans trained individ uals as spies saboteurs and fighters to engage in what would be called covert action today These stealthy soldiers were called many things We know them as ninjas although that term did not appear until the twentieth century Ninjas were trained in the art of ninjutsu another newer term Unlike other martial arts ninjutsu doesn’t focus solely on hand to-hand combat and the use of weapons Ninjutsu is a discipline based more on the methods of espionage and treachery The origi nal term for ninjutsu was shinobi no jutsu which can be translated as skills of stealth and perseverance Any man or woman who helped spy on or disrupt the enemy could have been considered a ninja Professional ninjas studied ninjutsu and mastered its many useful talents particularly those that aid in spying Ninjas were
7 Caption Title This is a page from an eighteenth-century collection of hand-colored illustrations of Japanese trades and customs The two men in the illustration are shinobi or ninjas also scouts arsonists thieves soldiers and to a lesser extent assas sins Today ninja tactics are considered an early form of guerrilla warfare Modern military tacticians still follow principles found in many ninjutsu manuals Modern myths often say that ninjas were outlaw enemies of the samurai who were military leaders employed by powerful generals
