ninja

[ydoaPs]

this thread is dedicated to the awesomeness of the ninja and ninjitsu.

[ydoaPs]

i rented the batman begins game. it was really easy, but one part made me mad. the ninjas had guns. what is up with that?

[Dak]

Ninjas in feudal japan used to use guns ('teppo', similar to our match-lock guns).

 

Some modern ninja clans hire themselves out as bodyguards, which means that they use guns.

[husmusen]

Samurai also used to use guns although it never sat really comfortably with their culture it was a fact that the clans who adopted them won , and it was a fact not lost on many of the Daimyo. So Guns ruled and swords became ever more ceremonial, IIRC there was later an edict forbidding some samurai to own swords and thus was ushered in an age of concealed swords.

 

Ninjas IIRC were ruthlessly pragmatic, they would use anything as long as it worked. Also since they couldn't carry arms openly like the samurai, and any samurai could search any peasant at whim and kill him if he was found armed, they used to use common everyday objects a lot, like a sickle on the end of a chain, I think there was some conflation in terms of weaponry between peasants and ninjas.

 

I have heard two different "tales" concerning ninjas, one is that they were peasants in revolt against the samurai. The other is that they were the Tokugawa version of the NSA, essentially spies in the graden, that the shogunate used as a second line of information on the local rulers.

And occasionally as assasins when there was some dirty work that the Tokugawa didn't want traced back to them.

 

Ofcourse it could have been both at once, I doubt there was only one single clan of niwaban across all of Japan.

 

Cheers.

[Phi for All]

So much of what the ninja did was designed to further the myth that they were sorcerors and magicians capable of hypnotizing their opponents. Some of the Kuji kiri techniques are still taught to this day with the idea that they will bring superhuman mysticism if done correctly.

 

Normal martial arts can focus strength through proper breathing and release of energy, and I'm sure the ninja used this and a great deal of tricks and propoganda to make them seem above the rest of the disciplines.

 

Many of their tricks were simply designed to buy them a few critical seconds to either escape or take advantage in combat. Wearing a hideous mask and revealing it at the last second often made an opponent gasp, throwing their breathing off and hindering their attack and defense. Another trick was to keep a small 2" blowgun hidden in the mouth and have it suddenly appear between the ninja's lips. Whether or not it actually had a dart in it or if the dart was poisoned was immaterial; if blowing on it made the opponent flich away it was effective. If there was a dart and the opponent thought it was poisonous and stopped to remove it, it was doubly effective.

[atinymonkey]

i rented the batman begins game. it was really easy, but one part made me mad. the ninjas had guns. what is up with that?

 

They had them in the film, in Gotham, they just didn't use them. How is the game? I almost got it, but I've not heard any reviews.

 

So much of what the ninja did was designed to further the myth that they were sorcerors and magicians capable of hypnotizing their opponents. Some of the Kuji kiri techniques are still taught to this day with the idea that they will bring superhuman mysticism if done correctly.

Funny story*. A Martial Arts convention was held in Norway a few years back with some of the worlds leading exponents all in one room. Near the door this German ninjitsu expert was using a method of out staring the other masters as they entered' date=' to gain superiority and therefore respect in the room. Almost to a man the masters thought he was coming onto them, and had only broke eye contact to avoid explaining that they were not gay. Apart from the one master that [i']was [/i]gay, which lead to an embarrassing conversation and the German expert suddenly realizing what he'd been doing (presumably for the past number of years) and leaving rapidly with a red face. Ha.

 

*Not actually funny.

[ydoaPs]

it's fun but rather easy. it only took a couple of hours to beat.

[atinymonkey]

Ah, thanks, I'll just rent it then. I'd best not add another short game to the collection.

[ydoaPs]

i know ninja's don't use them anymore, but damn if they're not cool

[NeonBlack]

http://www.realultimatepower.net/

[Dak]

have you seen that thing that they can do with their sword, where they hit the shiruken back at the thrower? I always thought it was a film thing, but have actually seen it done, admittedly against plastic training shiruken (it was cool).

[ydoaPs]

http://www.merriol.freeserve.co.uk/products/ninja.htm