MT:The True Ninja

[Knowledge Bot]

The True Ninja By Wolf - Mon, 18 Dec 2006 14:37:56 GMT

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The Ninja Turtles, The Three Ninjas, and the Ultimate Ninja Warrior.
America today has basically twisted and altered the image of a Ninja to a kids figure. In fact to say someone is a Ninja is like saying they are Barney.
I think we have lost the true nature of the ninja, as being the ultimate warrior feared all through Japan, even feared by the Greatest Warrior ever the Samurai. My question is, do you think the true image of the Ninja has been so distorted that America actually believes a Ninja is what they see on TV ie. a Turtle doing martial arts?
Also, Everytime I see this kind of thing on TV, or when I hear someone saying something against the Ninja it actually irritates me, am I the only one?

Thank You.


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[kurttasche]

It irritates me as well. When I first became interested in the art in 1984, there where very few legitimate resources available. It wasn't easy to get any books by Masaaki Hatsumi or any of his students. Most stores and martial arts suppliers carried the fake b.s. like books by Ashida Kim.

I didn't start training in ninjutsu until I found a legitimate, Japan certified school in 1994.

When I tell people I study ninjutsu, they ask questions based on their pre-conceived notions brought on by Hollywood, comic books, and television. They want to know about assasinations, back flips, turtles, etc. I just laugh and change the subject. People like that will never be able to understand the true art.

[Eddie_Bauer]

The image has, indeed, been distorted. Although, we can look at this a different way.

The art, in its pure form, emphasizes secrecy in every way. We do not give anything away to our opponents with body language, and a part of our training is in stealth itself.

For these reasons, we are unsure of the origins of the art, as the Ninja fabricated an illusion (brilliantly) of where it could have come from.

So, as for cartoons and anime making the image of a Ninja very silly, I don't see it as a bad thing at all. People who believe those sort of things do not train with us (and with good reason), and we don't even have to fabricate anything. The media is (unknowingly) doing it for us.