are ninjas real?, and can you become one?

Question

sorry that it sounds dumb just wish to know.

Answer 1

Ninjas are real, in China they exist a lot more, you can become a ninja by knowing a lot of karate.

INFO:

Historical period of origin

The ninja's use of guerilla tactics against better armed enemy samurai does not mean that they were limited to espionage and undercover work, that is simply where their actions most drastically differed from the more accepted tactics of samurai. Their weapons and tactics were partially derived from the need to conceal or defend themselves quickly from Samurai, which can be seen from the similarities between many of their weapons and various sickles and threshing tools used at the time.Ninja as a group first began to be written about in 15th century feudal Japan as martial organizations predominately in the regions of Iga and Koga of central Japan, though the practice of guerilla warfare and undercover espionage operations goes back much further. At this time the conflicts between the clans of daimyo that controlled small regions of land had established guerilla warfare and assassination as a valuable alternative to frontal assault. Since the samurai code Bushido forbade such tactics as dishonorable, a daimyo could not expect his own troops to perform the tasks required, and thus had to buy or broker the assistance of ninja to perform selective strikes, espionage, assassination, and infiltration of enemy strongholds (Turnbull 2003).
There are a few people and groups of people regarded as having been potential historical ninja from approximately the same time period. It is rumored that some of the higher-ranking daimyos and shoguns were in fact ninja, and exploited their role as ninja-hunters to deflect suspicion and obscure their participation in the 'dishonorable' ninja methods and training.
Though typically classified as assassins, many of the ninja were warriors in all senses. In Hayes's book, Mystic Arts of the Ninja, Hattori Hanzo, one of the most legendary ninja, is depicted in armor similar to that of a Samurai. Hayes also says that those who ended up recording the history of the ninja were typically those within positions of power in the military dictatorships, and that students of history should realize that the history of the ninja was kept by observers writing about their activities as seen from the outside.
“Ninjutsu did not come into being as a specific well defined art in the first place, and many centuries passed before ninjutsu was established as an independent system of knowledge in its own right. Ninjutsu developed as a highly illegal counter culture to the ruling Samurai elite, and for this reason alone, the origins of the art were shrouded by centuries of mystery, concealment, and deliberate confusion of history” The Historical Ninja. –By Soke Masaaki Hatsumi
A similar account is given by 10th Dan instructor Stephan K. Hayes“The predecessors of Japan's’ ninja were so called rebels favoring Buddhism who fled into the mountains near Kyoto as early as the 7th century A.D. to escape religious persecution and death at the hands of imperial forces” Ninjutsu: The Art of Invisibility.

Historical organization

Early in their history, ninja groups were small and structured around families and villages, later developing a more martial hierarchy that was able to mesh more closely with that of samurai and the daimyo.
While ninja are often depicted as male, and nearly all military and related professions were typically limited exclusively to males, females were supposedly ninja as well. A female ninja may be called kunoichi (くノ一); the characters are derived from the strokes that make up the kanji for woman (女). They were sometimes depicted as spies who learned the secrets of an enemy by seduction; though it's just as likely they were employed as household servants, putting them in a position to overhear potentially valuable information. In either case, there is no historical support for the modern image of female ninja assassins, and they were more likely employed as spies and couriers. It should be noted, however, that historical support for all aspects of ninja are lacking across the board therefore, the gender of these stealth killers is undetermined.

Answer 2

Ninjas were real, but do not exist today, and I'm pretty sure you can't become one. The art of the ninja is called ninjutsu. Ninjutsu was developed by peasants in feudal Japan. The ruling class at the time, the Samurai, forbid anyone to carry the katana. So some of the peasants of Japan learned to use every day tools, like the Kunai (A digging tool) as a weapon. The last real ninja by blood was O'Sensei Toshitsugu Takamatsu. His student is Soke Masaaki Hatsumi. He is the Grandmaster of all the 9 ryus (schools) of ninjutsu that make up The Bujikan system. The Bujikan system has some parts of ninjutsu in it, but in essence, it is not real ninjutsu. As for Soke Masaaki Hatsumi, he is not related to O'Sensei Toshitsugu Takamatsu, who was the last living ninja and has no descendants. So in that respect ninjas do not exist today. The closest thing you can get to a ninja now is a Spy.

Answer 3

Well my take on your question is 'how can I be the modern day equivalent of a ninja?' so my answer is first learn the very best martial art you can where you are, thats what actual ninja did they didn't learn 'ninjutsu' unless they were from very specific clans. second make sure you get really good grades at school and then apply for the CIA/MI5/KGB.... wherever you live, or the local mafia, there all the same, ninja work for whoever pay them / they like the idea of following third if that fails then a few years in the marines will help you with the harsh environment training and your CV before going back to the job market fourth If you do grow out of it before then you should at least have a blackbelt and good grades to fall back on.

Answer 4

Ninjas used much different tactics than any other warriors during their time. Ninjas were assassins and had to work in stealth. They trained with various weapons instead of taking up one and mastering it.

While it is true that ninjas used only martial arts that were common at that time as their fighting styles the ninjitsu styles that have evolved more recently do carry some weight. These styles though recent do focus more on the stealth and secrecy that the ninjas practiced in their time. One downfall is that modern ninjitsu tends to be rather showy, in order to exploit the popularity of the ninja sub-culture.

You can become a ninja if you train to do so, learning some of these recent ninjitsu styles may help you but if you want to be a true warrior you will need to study nearly every weapon, every style of fighting (to some extent) and how to move quietly and swiftly.

Answer 5

Ninjas are not real. Some existed in feudal Japan, but it wasn't a martial art. According to historians, Ninjas used exactly the same arts as samurais, but different tactics and strategies.

Modern Ninjutsu, as taught by the Bujinkan, Stephen Hayes, Ashida Kim, etc, is a fraud. These people exploited the ninja boom after II WW to launch large scam organizations.

About Ashida Kim and Frank Dux you will find plenty of information.

About the Bujinkan (and its splits) scam look at E-Budo.net and Bullshido.net

Try Google and read some of my previous answers.

Answer 6

They exist today, but not as you have heard about by movies, television or old stories.

back in the feudal days of Japan, they were noted as assassins and spies for hire that used their knowledge (methods of gathering information, non-detection, avoidance, and misdirection techniques. Ninjutsu had originally also involved training in disguise, escape, concealment, archery, medicine, and explosives.) that would now be considered as criminal today.

The Martial Art as it's known for today, has been basically reduced to the self defense and weapons techniques (with particular regard to the sword fighting techniques)

There were originally eighteen disciplines that were first stated in the scrolls of Togakure-ryu, and they became definitive for all Ninjutsu schools, providing a complete training of the warrior in various fighting arts and complementary disciplines.

However, Ninja Juhakkei was often studied along with Bugei Juhappan (the 18 Samurai fighting art skills). Though some of them are the same, the techniques of each discipline were used with different approaches by both Samurai and Ninja.

There are some people who have studied the original disciplines or certain aspects of the Bujinkan Dojo headed by Masaaki Hatsumi discipline that you could define as "Ninjas", but they are: Doron Navon of Israel, Stephen K. Hayes studied under Masaaki Hatsumi but teaches an Americanized system, To-Shin Do, in his Quest Centers, The Late Dr. Glenn Morris studied under Masaaki Hatsumi but founded the Hoshin Roshi Ryu, Brian McCarthy studied and was graded to 8th dan under Masaaki Hatsumi including being awarded the title of shihan.

but no you can't actually "become" a Ninja, all you can really do today is learn the discipline primarily as a self defense technique.

The discipline has been developed to fit society as it is today.

Answer 7

Yeah, what those before me said. I'd only like to add that modern Ninja's do not learn poison use, lockpicking, forceful entry or the "lost arts" some claim the Ninja once possesed (these include the Dim Mak or death touch, the ability to scale sheer walls, the ability to cure deathly injury and even supposedly the ability to fly). However the modern Ninja does learn the use of firearms and defense against them, including disarming armed attackers and the best movements to use to avoid fire.

Many legends of the ancient Ninja overstate their abilities. Most of the "lost arts" were fiction used to scare people, the only one I know to be fact is the Dim Mak. However it does not kill as it's name implies, but rather knocks the target unconcious.

Answer 8

Ninja used to exist in Feudal Japan. Their training was conducted with the utmost secrecy in the mountains of Japan.
Currently I do not believe their are any true ninja around and if they are real ninja they are not going to advertise it.

Answer 9

They were real at 1 time but no longer exist, so no, you can't become a Ninja now.

Answer 10

Ninja (忍者, Ninja?) were active in fourteenth century feudal Japan, from Kamakura period to Edo period, performing scouting, espionage, sabotage, and assassination missions, usually for feudal rulers (daimyo or shogun).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja

Answer 11

Well, you could practice ninjutsu nowadays. Mind you, ninjutsu is also a respectable form of martial arts today.
Happy training!
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