The Ninjas were a special warrior class who originated in Japan and they mastered the martial art perfectly. The actual historical background of the Ninjas is still unknown as most of the facts about them were scripted by the outsiders who were mere observers. The Ninjas had their special techniques and weapons to combat the external enemies as well as for handling the sabotages.

This is assumed that at around 522 A.D. the priests of Japan started the act spying as part of their religious rituals and the purpose was to assist the rulers of that time. But gradually they felt the need to use this art as a mode of self-defense. They became the first ones to practice the unconventional techniques of ninja.

Then a privileged class evolved who realized the urgency of the methods like killing, stealth, spying etc in order to acquire power as well as for survival. This is the reason why the groups and organizations formed who was popularly known as the Ninjas.

Where did the Ninja legends form?

The ninja groups mostly developed in the villages or around the families. Their motto was to protect the society from the robbers, killers and attackers etc. in fact the evidences say that the women also had the privilege to become a Ninja and take part in activities like spying using their seductiveness.

There is a common myth about the Ninjas that they used to wear the all-black costumes in order to hide themselves which has to historical proof. Many of the theatre actors used to wear these sorts of costumes which might have played an important role in this myth.

Powers of the legendary Ninjas of Japan

The Ninjas had various power and knowledge which were obscure. This is said that they were able to tell the time looking at the eyes of a cat. The explanation behind it is that the cats’ eyes are very sensitive and they change the shape according to the movement of the sun which was observed by the Ninjas. The Ninjas were also able to locate the directions wit the help of the stars just like the sailors.

But the unique method they used was looking at the age-rings of the trees and calculating the directions. They knew the method of hiding themselves even while they were resting. Their favorite hiding place was the top bushy part of a tree. These are the few tricks which the most popular Ninja legends of Japan used to perform easily.

CWS (edited by Logen)

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The history of Japan describes the ninjas as the best combatants who used to be perfectly trained in martial art that involves strange but effective techniques. Few of the unconventional methods, which were used by the Ninjas were stealth, surveillance and disguise.

They had some special weapons and tricks up their sleeves that were simply inescapable. The actual origin of the Ninja is not clear. Yet it seemed they evolved as an opposing force to the samurai.

Where the samurai had the code of bushido (aka honour and loyalty), the ninja followed Ninjutsu. Bushido was noble. The samurai would state their challenge against a single opponent and announce his clan name. But this wasn’t effective. The ninjutsu code, on the other hand, prized the accomplishment of a mission by any means necessary above honour.

Ninja, therefore, were the olden day’s spies and assasins. It was the ninja who promoted the “Guerilla” technique of war, influenced by Sun Tzu and his Art of War manual.

The method of “Stealth” originated in Japan approximately at 522 AD. This was linked with the religion and the priests were the ones to practice this. There was no violence involved and the priests used to practice this in order to support the ruling power of that time. At around 645 A.D these priests mastered the art and realized the need to use it for their self-defense.

Later during the 1192 A.D. many of the wealthy and established clans emerged. They fought and killed for reasons that included survival and power. Gradually there was need of using techniques like stealth, surveillance and disguise. Who better to seek help from than those who had already mastered the art. This was how ninja slowly evolved.

According to the historical facts the ninja groups were developed in small villages or around the elite families. They were into protecting the residents of the villages and communities from external enemies. Women had the privilege to become the Ninjas, like men. While male ninja were called shinobi, female ninja were called kunoichi. It was said that female ninja were used to seduce enemies while accomplishing the task of spying on others.

There were various rules decided solely for the ninja and they were often kept as secrets. The facts that have been retrieved about the origin and purposes of the Ninjas are mostly the records kept by the outsiders who observed and scripted the history. But if you are looking for assured historical proofs for this, then they are not discovered to date.

CWS

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