Stealth is the art of remaining undetected; the art of being ‘invisible’. To be ‘invisible’, the ninja has to understand how a person’s presence is detected.

A person detects presence by his eyes and ears. The ninja must learn to fool the enemy’s sense of sight and hearing. In addition, when there are dogs guarding the premises, a ninja should avoid being detected by the dog’s sense of smell.

How do the eyes see

To isolate how the eyes detect presence, let us pretend that it is dark. The first way to detect a person’s presence in the dark is movement. The second way is the shadow or outline of a person’s silhouette. Lastly is colour because the darkness inhibits the detection of colour.

Using this concept, you are also able to see in the dark; more accurately, you will be able to detect someone’s presence in the dark.

So, the eyes see these things in the following order:

• Movement
• Silhouette
• Colour

Next, when we hear a noise, our eyes tend to look for the disturbance at our eye level. Very seldom would our eyes look up or low down to seek the cause of the noise.

How To Fool The Eyes

To avoid detection, slow down your movement when sneaking in the dark. If someone is facing you, stop moving. Blend in with the silhouette of natural elements in the environment (trees, huge rocks, furniture). His eyes will be fooled and he will not see you. Unless of course, it is bright enough to see colour.

Conceal yourself in the darkest portion of the shadows while sneaking and hide behind objects and crouch to make yourself appear small.

Be aware of light sources. You do not want to stand in front of a lamp and show your moving shadow. Remember! The eyes see movement first.

How Do The Ears Hear

Hearing ability varies among human beings. But one thing is for sure. When we hear something unfamiliar, it naturally arouses our curiousity. If we are reassured that the noise was imagined or came from something we know, we would cease investigating the source of the noise.

How To Fool The Ears

By not making noise of course! There are several techniques to walk silently, which will be shared in other articles.

What if the terrain you are walking on doesn’t allow you to move silently? Here are some methods to counter the noise.

Ninja Tactic 1 : Take Advantage of Natural Noise

Make use of natural noise to mask your footsteps. A passing aeroplane can cover the sound of footsteps. Take advantage of it to move faster. Don’t do this if someone is directly facing you though. You movement will be noticed.

Ninja Tactic 2 : Walk Over a Piece of Cloth

If you need only walk a short distance over noisy surfaces, throw a piece of cloth over the surface to walk on. The cloth will muffle most of the noise.

Ninja Tactic 3 : Using Animal Companions

Bring an animal companion to distract the sentry.

While moving in the dark, you accidentally made some noise. The guard’s curiosity will ensure that he investigates the source of the noise. You could let out an animal (maybe a rat) from your bag. When the guard sees the animal, he would think the noise was caused by the animal.

Fooling A Dog’s Nose

This is common knowledge for hunters. Make sure that the wind is blowing your scent away from the dog (not towards), when sneaking around.

Conclusion On Stealth

These are some of the principles of stealth. Think out of the box to conceal your presence.

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The ninja must be able to see in near darkness to excel in stealth.

The eyes have two types of cells that enable us to see. They are the cone cells and the rod cells. The cone cells see colour and works better when it is bright, whereas the rod cells can see in low light and detect movement. However, it takes up to 30 minutes for the eyes to adjust to the dark.

That said, there are human limitations to this technique to see in the dark.

3 Steps to Natural Night Vision

1. Allow your eyes to become accustomed to the dark

You can do this by closing your eyes for 10 seconds and then opening them when you first encounter a dark environment. If this is impossible to do, you can either squint both eyes or cover one eye before you enter the dark area.

2. Use your peripheral vision to see

Your direct vision utilises cone cells, which is better at seeing colour in good lighting conditions. However, if you need to see in the dark, use your off-center vision. Look at the environment with the side of your eyes.

You can do so by looking 5 to 10 degrees above, below, or sides of the object.

3. Scan and blink to ensure optimal night vision

Within 5 to 10 seconds of focusing on one point of your peripheral vision, the visual will fade out. Your eyes will become less sensitive to the visual. Therefore scan the area constantly or blink to make sure that your rod cells don’t become desensitised.

What if you need to read a map in the dark?

If you need to read a map, you’ll obviously need some form of light. It is preferable to use moonlight or natural light. However, if this is insufficient, use low-intensity red light for map reading in the dark; the type of light you use can affect your night vision temporarily. Red does not affect your night vision as much as white light.

Note that you should use proper lighting for regular reading (at home). Don’t be ridiculous and use red light for regular reading. You will spoil your eyesight.

Further Enhancements

If you truly want to harness your night vision, practice a few times each week by moving around in the dark. Choose a place safe and familiar to you (your house/backyard). You do not want to be attacked by a wild animal or criminal while training.

There are also artificial ways to night vision, which we will cover later.

Updated 8 Feb 2014

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The ninja knew how to use society’s assumptions to their advantage. These assumptions greatly influenced their disguises and combat tactics.

As modern ninja, you too have to know the assumptions of modern society. And in knowing how society thinks, you will be able to use the knowledge to your benefit.

Ninja Disguises and Roles

The old ninja disguised themselves as merchants sometimes. Merchants could travel around without arousing suspicion. It was also common for merchants to be social with the locals. This gave the old ninja opporunities to gether vital information.

Modern society too have their assumptions. People are stereotyped and labeled by the way they dress, act or look. When gathering information in disguise. Choose an appropriate identity to blend into and don’t act too stereotypical. It will arouse suspicion as well.

Ninja Combat

In combat, the ninja of old Japan used the element of surprise. They did this by acting in contrast from society’s assumptions. They thought out of the box and used weapons in unexpected ways.

The shuriken (or throwing star) was expected to be a killing or cutting weapon. Instead, shuriken was used by ninja to surprise and distract the enemy. The distracted enemy would consequently leave himself open to a ninja’s followup attacks.

The ninja’s short sword was expected only to be used for stabbing and slashing. But the short sword was also used as a leverage to climb trees.

In modern day combat, using weapons is a sure way to get into trouble with the law. However, we can follow this concept of using assumptions and surprise to make inconspicuous weapons. They are everyday items that could be used in combat; either used as weapons or distraction tools. If you want self defense weapons that are effective, inconspicuous and won’t get you into trouble with the law, buy the Kubotan that can be fitted on your keys.

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