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Ninjutsu (kanji: 忍術, lit. "the art of endurance") is an overarching system of martial arts and tactics used by ninja. Ninjutsu is also referred to as shinobi no jutsu (忍びの術) or ninpō (忍法).

History[]

Spying in Japan dates as far back as the 6th century during the Asuka period. Skills relating to espionage and assassination were highly useful to warring factions in feudal Japan. Sun Tzu praised the importance of spies and assassins in his book The Art of War. Although originally not grouped under a single name, at some point the skills of espionage became known collectively as ninjutsu, and those who specialized in these tasks were called shinobi no mono (忍びの者). Ninjutsu was developed by various families hailing from the Kōka and Iga Province regions of Japan in the late 15th century. Throughout history, shinobi have acted as saboteurs, assassins, scouts, and spies and are notorious for their use of stealth and deception. There are several styles ( "ryū") of ninjutsu that have been taught, such as the Togakure-ryū. This ryū was developed after a defeated samurai warrior called Daisuke Togakure fled to the Iga Province and later came in contact with the warrior-monk Kain Doshi who taught him ninjutsu as a new life outlook and means of survival. Togakure-ryū largely lacks the strict organization that can be observed in other martial arts.

Ninjutsu ensured the survival of ninja in a time of violent political turmoil and from it sprung a recognized profession. Ninjutsu included methods of gathering information, techniques of non-detection, avoidance, and misdirection, such free running, disguise, escape, concealment, and fighting techniques, including armed and unarmed methods, and archery. Using arson as a means of sabotage and castle infiltration were typical of a ninja. Since disguises were so integral to the work of a ninja, education on outside professions was included in ninjutsu training as well as teamwork with fellow ninja on the field.

Multiple ninjutsu manuscripts, such as the Ninpiden (1655), the Bansenshūkai (1675), and the Shōninki (1681) were written by descendants of Hattori Hanzō as well as by members from a branch of the Hattori clan known as the Fujibayashi clan. The Bansenshūkai used the earlier Kanrinseiyō, a three volume-long book about ninjutsu, as a source for its information. The legendary Kanrinseiyō's existence was only known through its mentioning in the Bansenshūkai as the Kanrinseiyō itself is missing. The second volume of not the original Kanrinseiyō, but a 1748 handwritten reproduction was found in a Kazuraki Shrine warehouse in December 2021.

18 disciplines and skills[]

The six pillars of ninjutsu are spirit, weapons, wisdom, strength, power, and stealth.

In TMNT[]

The Ninja Turtles in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are taught ninjutsu by Splinter. The means in which Splinter masters ninjutsu varies depending on his incarnation. "Ninjutsu" is often inaccurately romanized as "ninjitsu" within TMNT media because said romanization was popular in the 20th century before being revised. Early 20th century translators likely interpreted native Japanese speakers' pronunciation of "jutsu" as "jitsu" (perhaps due to Tōkyō's Shitamaki dialect) and thus transcribed it inaccurately.

2012 TV series[]

It was stated in November 2019 by 2012 TV series staff writer Russ Carney in a Tweet that the series production crew tried to feature genuine ninjutsu in the episodes.[1] In February 2021, Carney stated in a Tweet, "In S1 of 2012, both of our writer EPs were martial artists, one in ninjutsu. The writers would occasionally attend demonstrations by his sensei. At least three of the writers had studied some form of martial arts, and there were bona fide martial arts principles in S1. I can't defend the entire series because the writers all got canned when the writer EPs left, but in the beginning there was a legit effort to make the 2012 TMNT properly ninja . . . ."[2][3][4] J. Chadwick Minge is credited as a series martial arts consultant.

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References[]

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