Concluding with wars

Hello people, I read the comments from the last two posts and then I started to research about the name of the war that Bere wants to know, but unfortunately I didn’t find a precise name. The unique moment in Japan’s history which resembles a little bit to the situation that Bere described is when the Genpei War occurred. In this post I will explain more about this conflict, although is not completely related with ninjas, it could have a relationship because samurais are involved in the war also. Moreover, in this post I will try to include the tips suggested by Goyo and I hope that you are prepared to read about Japan’s history. Let’s begin:

First, the Genpei war began in 1180 and ended in 1185 (actually it was a short war). It took place in the late Heian period (exactly! When ninjutsu began to flourish) and basically was caused by a dispute between the clans that had the possible next heir to the throne. These clans were the Tiara and the Minamoto clans. Summarizing the story a little bit, the problem here was that the Tiara’s heir was a kid of two years old and the one from the Minamoto clan was the prince Mochihito. Mochihito hired samurais to begin a war and finally he occupied the throne, establishing the Kamakura shogunate (another period in Japan’s history). Despite samurais intervention, is likely that ninjas were hired for the battle also, because of their tactics. Finally, this war established the colors of Japan’s flag and started to give more power to samurais.

Bere, that is all that I found. Actually it is only related because Mochihito and the kid from the Tiara clan were family. Goyo, I hope that I described with more detail and be patient, eventually I will take the “rivalry” between samurai and ninjas. Well, that is all for today, (and for ninja wars) have a nice weekend and feel free to comment about different focuses for the topic that you would like to read, tips or suggestions. See ya!

Reference:

Wikipedia. Genpei War. 2011. 29 September 2011 .

P.D. Yes, I know that Wikipedia is not 100% reliable but my lack of sources provoked this.

Continuing with ninjas and wars

Hi bloggers, it is great to see that you are interested on knowing more about ninjas so that, I will answer your questions, written in your comments, from the last post. First, Danyel, we can say that ninjas are warriors, but with different values and objectives than stereotypical warriors like samurais. Also, it is important to mention that ninjas participated in wars because they were hired by the Japanese courts that were fighting for the control of the country. Furthermore, Chava and Danyel, be patient, I will comment my experiences in ninjutsu in other posts. And, Chava, actually I heard about techniques that can kill a person instantly, but those types of movements are learned in very advanced levels of ninjutsu (I stayed in green tape, like level 3 out of 10). Even though, I will find them and comment on this further.

Well, retaking the wars in which ninjas have participated, I found that, 70 years after the Nanbukucho Wars, the Onin War broke out. This conflict started in 1467 and finished in 1477. Basically, the war started against the Ashikaga clan, but it then evolved into a civil war. Here, ninjas’ participation was very important because they acted as spies and surprise attackers that distracted the armies in order to give an advantage to the main besieging army that was attacking from the outside of the castles. After this war, a century of fighting started and it is called, Warring States Period (Szczepanski).

I think that it is all for today, next week, we will see the last registered war in which ninjas participated. Keep reading, commenting and see you next week.

Szczepanski, Kallie. History of the Ninja. 2011. 21 September 2011 http://asianhistory.about.com/od/warsinasia/p/NinjaProfile.htm.

Ninjas and wars

Hello again bloggers. About the last post… Yes Ale, ninjas and their techniques exist in reality. Actually here in Monterrey there are institutions that can teach ninjutsu (if someone wants to learn, I can give you the facebook account of a sen sei that knows more about this). Danyel, yes, the last reference that I used is related to the Naruto manga but I assure you that this web page is a completely reliable source. Goyo, thanks for the comment, I am glad that you liked it. About your request, I researched about some conflicts where ninjas participated and I decided to make some posts about this. Today’s post will be the first war in which ninjas were involved

The fist war, where ninjas participated was called, the Nanbukucho Wars. These wars started at 1336 and came up to an end until 1396. In these wars, two internal courts of Japan were disputing the control of the country. The Northern Court was leaded by the shoguns (military leaders) and the Southern Court was commanded by Emperor Go-Daigo. Ninjas played an important role here because they were spies from both sides. For example, they infiltrated in the castles and passed the information gathered to one of the Courts in order to have an advantage over the enemy. At the end, the Northern Court won and the Emperor’s fortress was burned by ninjas (Szczepanski). Well, that is all for today, I hope that you liked it. Next week I will talk about other wars involving ninjas. Keep reading and commenting.

Reference

Szczepanski, Kallie. History of the Ninja. 2011. 8 september 2011 http://asianhistory.about.com/od/warsinasia/p/NinjaProfile.htm.

Ninjutsu weapons

Hello people!

Today I am going to introduce you to some ninjutsu techniques. To begin, I want you to know that these techniques are divided into taijutsu (body training) and weapons (like shurikens, swords hanbos, etc). This time I’ll write about some weapons that ninjas tend to use.

First, the most known weapon that ninjas are related with is shuriken. In the simplest way, shuriken consists in throwing stars. This seems safety but, these little stars are made of iron and have a sharp edge. Moreover, if a shuriken didn´t killed the person, the poison that can be added will. Also, shuriken can be used as a knife for close combat because of its sharp edges (Comunidad Naruto). For training, schools use shurikens made of rubber.

Then, ninjas also use swords as a weapon, specifically katanas. Katanas, also called sables, were the most common swords in Japan among the samurais. This weapon was made sober and black in order to not be seen. For ninjas, the katana was just for combat and it didn’t have a special value. Furthermore, ninjas could jump walls with katana’s help. Also, they could use this sable in order to breathe under water or carry poison (Comunidad Naruto).

Despite the information above, ninjas can also use less aggressive weapons, like hanbos. A hanbo is a stick, usually made from wood, which has a length of 90 centimeters. It’s easy to carry because of its size and if a ninja doesn’t have one, he can use an umbrella, a sweep or another object that can simulate almost the same length. (Comunidad Naruto) Personally, I have used a hanbo and it is amusing to use one, because it’s like an extension of your arm. You can hit with it, you can also learn techniques of personal defense and finally, you can participate in combats with other opponents where you have to hit them in order to gain a point.

At the end, these weapons tend to be effective and quiet in order to achieve their purpose, which was, in many cases, assassin a person. Also, it is important to mention that these are only the 3 most known weapons that ninjas use, but we can also mention others like: kunais (knife), tanbos (little hanbo) or tessens (fans made of metal). Well, that is all for today, I hope that you like it and if you want to know another weapon, just comment and I will research about it.

Reference:

Comunidad Naruto. Las armas del arte ninja. 4 august 2005. 31 august 2011 http://www.comunidadnaruto.com/armas-ninja.html.

Perceptions of the ninjas

Hello bloggers, welcome again to All About Ninjas. Well, first I want to thank the three people that commented on the blog last week. Moreover, let me say you Danyel that yes, I am going to talk a little bit about shurikens but not this time because I am following a little order (Shurikens will enter as “ninjutsu’s techniques”). Just be patient and you will have more information about them soon. Also, I think that today I will develop the perceptions of the ninjas when they started to develop in Japan and nowadays.

Well, primarily, in Iga, when the ninjas started to develop, the daimyos had many conflicts that ended in guerrillas. To solve this problem, the daimyos bought the services of the ninjas in order to commit murder, espionage or infiltration. On the other hand, the samurais, or Bushida, banned the use of ninja’s techniques and that started to create the perception that the ninjas were murders. Despite this, they were true warriors that had to work secretly because ninjutsu was considered illegal and dishonest by the samurais (Pilar Guiroy). Probably, this type of things started to create misconceptions of the ninjas and that is why they are not so recognized.

Nowadays, ninjas are known from tv series, mangas, movies, video games, etc. Despite their presentation in our culture, they are continuously linked with black clothes, murders and shurikens. This is a misconception because in our days, we have different schools or dojos that can teach ninjutsu, showing us that ninjas have a completely new world of martial arts that we can learn (without even having to commit murder or wearing black clothes). Well, that is all for today, keep commenting, hope that you liked it and… see you next week.

Bibliography

Guiroy, Pilar. Ninjas y su periodo histórico. 2004. 25 August 2011 .

The origins of the ninjas

First, I will define for you the term “ninja” and I will inform you a little bit more about its origins. Basically, ninjas are people who use ninjutsu. The word ninjutsu comes from Japanese and means the art of sneak away. Ninjutsu is an art of warfare (nowadays is considered a martial art) that started 4000 years B.C. in the Indian culture. Despite this, many scholars propose that ninjas and the ninjutsu art started between 500-300 B.C with the 13th chapter of a Chinese book called “The art of war” written by Sun Tzu. This book contained information about spies and their methods of espionage that was taken and transformed into a philosophy called “ninpo”. Later on, this art was passed to the Korean peninsula and finally, in the 6th century, it arrived to Japan. There, a man called Shotoku Taishi learned these techniques and therefore he is considered the root of the ninjas. Moreover, Shotoku mixed the espionage techniques with a Japanese practice called shugendo (this practice consists in mountain training), but since Japan’s geography is hilly and narrow, ninjutsu became a unique art from Japan. Moreover, the yamabushi (monks that lived in the mountains) and different Japanese warriors, learned the ninjutsu art in the Heian period (794-1185 A.C.) because the Omyodo (an art of divination and astrology with Chinese origins) was introduced to Japan. Finally, ninjutsu established and developed when the Hattori clan took control of the Iga region (nowadays the Mie Prefecture) and opened the Iga’s school of ninjutsu.

Source from where I subtracted and modified the information:

Iga-Ryu Ninja Museum. What is a ninja? 2011. 18 August 2011 .