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Terminology and an annoying friend By SageGhost83 - 06-02-2008 04:01 PM

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I have a conundrum. Wasn't Ninja a generic word for anyone who uses stealth or is sneaky? Wouldn't a common thief or burglar technically be a "ninja" too? I was thinking that Shinobi no mono was the name for the particular group of shadow warriors in feudal Japan while Ninja was a term that is used more generally for anyone being sneaky. If this is truly the case then wouldn't "Nin + Jutsu" be a generic way of identifying any method done for the purpose of sneaking in or used by "one who sneaks in"? Then we would have ShinobiJutsu to identify what the Iga and Koga clans did in that feild to identify their own specific methods, while Ninjutsu would be something more general done by commoners as opposed to the actual methods of the clans themselves.

Ninja = one who sneaks in; generic, could be used to identify a common thief or burglar
Shinobi no mono = a member of a specific clan and tradition in the Iga and Koga regions of feudal Japan

Ninjutsu = general methods used by a Ninja
Shinobijutsu = specific methods used by a Shinobi no mono

I ask because I got into a really heated debate about ninjutsu with a buddy of mine and he argued that technically anybody who teaches anything about stealth or being sneaky or stuff like that is teaching their own version of Ninjutsu by the very definition of the word. Help me out here, I hate losing debates :rpo:!


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