I'm curious about this Lorien, How does one become a Ninja?
Is there a school or do you just practice with throwing stars and other weapons till you master it? How much of what we see in movies is actually real?
I have a 4th dan backbelt in ninjutsu (I have 5th dan in aiki-jutsu, but it's totally different) - which the the martial art behind Ninjas. Techically, you can consider yourself a Ninja when you have a blackbelt in this martial art. I took classes (3 times a week) and practiced daily for years (from around 6 until my late teens - and then stopped going to classes (by then, I was the sensei to many others) as often as I didn't have the time but continued to practice on my own and advanced very little in rank after that. The fact is, there weren't many anywhere in America higher ranked or from whom I could learn much more anyway - had I wanted to progress, I would have needed to learn Japanese and go there to live and find a true grandmaster who would be willing to teach me (and that wasn't on my agenda at all). There are activities involving hand-to-hand combat as well as using a very wide variety of weapons - and I trained in all of them (though I'm better at some than at others).
We can talk about the various ones if you care to - to my knowledge, this martial art uses a wider variety of weapons than any other I've ever seen or heard about - but that doesn't mean that I'm more dependent on weapons than with the other arts (the hand-to-hand techniques are very good and very effective - and as deadly as any other art I know about) - just that I've been trained in more weapons than the others. Oddly enough, my other black belt is in an art that focuses primary on defensive moves and responses (it is the precursor to Aikido - best exemplified in the movies by Steven Segal) whereas this one strikes a much more even balance - and perhaps even focuses slightly more on offensive moves (especially if you include many of the weapons - though even some of those are primarily defensive in nature {e.g., the manriki chains}).
Some of what is seen in the movies is accurate, but for the most part they just use generic martial arts and not specific styles. The Ninjas in movies
sometimes use Ninja techniques, tactics and weaponry (and the costumes are generally close or even good enough to be real - though I'm not sure about the hidden pockets and such as they don't really show them well enough and IMHO they don't seem to be custom-made for the individual as a real outfit would be - they're either too tight or too loose), but usually I see them using techniques not really taught in ninjutsu but from other martial arts (some of which I don't recognize but are probably the more commonly practiced ones that I never bothered learning like tae kwon do, kickboxing, Aikido {I do recognize some of those moves from my own training in aiki-jutsu}, and jujitsu - but I'm just guessing). And of course some of the things done by Ninjas in some of the movies I've seen are absurd and utterly impossible as far as I'm concerned - not just because they aren't taught but because no human can do some of those things (but I've never seen a Japanese grandmaster at maximum, so some may be possible but most certainly not all of it). It doesn't turn you into a Marvel comics superhero with special powers - you're still just a human. Plus some of the things Ninjas do in movies would never be done by a real, highly-skilled Ninja - I mean in terms of tactics or how they move or how they react to situations or initiate attacks, or how and where they carry the weapons and which they choose to use in a given circumstance and so forth. Sometimes I even end up laughing at what I see - though the movie is supposed to be serious about it.
Then there is a
significant difference from the versions taught in America and the version taught in Japan. I've sparred with some entirely taught in Japan and, rank-for-rank, they were quite a bit better - I was frankly surprised at how much better in some areas - mostly hand-to-hand (though no better in others - primarily the use of weapons). It felt like I was sparring with someone three levels above me or that I suddenly had dropped 3 levels myself. I was beset with both offensive and defensive tactics I'd never seen before - and they were quite effective and most impressive. I learned from them what I could but I know they held back others, not even wanting me to see them.
I believe those who brought it to America didn't learn everything there was to know or weren't as good as those who remained there under the guidance of the grandmasters (8th or even 10th dan) who provided/provide better training. The same still probably continues (I haven't searched out a dojo or observed classes or contests in quite some time so I'm not sure how things are today but suspect it remains as it was). It's my impression that the grandmasters intentionally hold back on anyone they don't think is in it for life and plans to stay always in Japan and never divulge or train others in those more secret techniques.
I hope that helps a bit. Check around where you live to see if there is a ninjutsu dojo and visit it and see what it's actually all about (assuming they'll let you in on the advanced student training - basic training won't really show you enough to get anything near a true grasp of what it is and how effective it can be). Ask about scheduled contests and check one out. Better still, go to Japan and do it there. But remember, these classes and contests are highly restrained since nobody wants to hurt anyone - even full contact isn't really full contact if you know what I mean.
My health holds me back from practicing much any more (breathing becomes problematic almost immediately with some exercises), but I can and do practice with some of the weapons which require less aerobic effort or do so much less rigorously than I once could - and probably could in an actual incident which has never happened (a few close calls were stopped by a couple of moves that ended things before it could become serious or anybody got hurt and nobody of skill ever tried). Sometimes I miss it a great deal but alas, there's not much anyone can do about it so I just do the best I can.
Take care!
it wasn't possible without all of you
