What is so cool about ninjas?

[Grayfox]

Yea, and I've read books on the Ninja...


Passed down?

There is not one recorded successful one. I am going to get that source URL and post it tomorrow. The first attempted assassination by a ninja was a fail, as most of them were.

Ninja's were not used for assassins, they were used very frequently in Japanese history as siege-men, spies, and scouts.

The URL is coming.

[The Ninja]

Like I said. Argue that with a master. See how far you get.

[Grayfox]

You have nothing. No sources, nothing.

Ninjutsu was their fighting style, but has nothing to do with their history in the war run.

They WERE assassins, they just weren't successful.

http://www.shaolin-society.co.uk/shaoli ... history=10

Read this, and get a source. You have nothing.

"After which, before dying, the Brave imparted on Prince Yamato the name Yamato-Takeru, or "Yamato the Courageous." But what does this have to do with ninjas, you may ask? Unfortunately, in the historic literature, there are no references of any ninja disguising themselves as a woman, at least that I have been able to verify. It is considered a "ninja-like" tactic, but perhaps the best that can be said of this example is that this is the sort of assassination the ninja would like to have been known for. Sadly, no records indicate they ever were.

Moving forward in history about four hundred years, a ninja-like night raid does show up in the Heike Monogatari, which documents the battles between the Taira and Minamoto clans for command of the nation in 1182. A couple samurai warriors secretly sneak into the enemy's camp. But even though by this time Sun Tzu's The Art of War has been lying around for hundreds of years, apparently they didn't read it, since the first thing they do is shout a challenge to announce their arrival, and are promptly killed for their trouble. Clearly, no one had figured out that whole ninja thing yet.

So, when exactly do ninjas show up in the historical record? Do they ever? They do. And it seems the earliest reference to a band of ninja occurs in the Taiheiki, written around 1360 and referring to an event which took place in 1338. And unfortunately, it's an unmitigated disaster -- the ninjas are discovered before the raid is even carried out and they are slaughtered to a man. Not an auspicious beginning! From that point, references to ninja activity increase in the histories and romances written at the time, with ninja activity finally coming into its own during the age of Sengoku, when all of Japan was plunged into war, a state of affairs which lasted throughout the sixteenth century, with the most ninja activity seemingly occuring around the Iga and Koga provinces. What they did, and how they did it, is what concerns us in the next section."


I just beasted on you son.

[The Ninja]

You have nothing. No sources, nothing.

Ninjutsu was their fighting style, but has nothing to do with their history in the war run.

They WERE assassins, they just weren't successful.

http://www.shaolin-society.co.uk/shaoli ... history=10

Read this, and get a source. You have nothing.

"After which, before dying, the Brave imparted on Prince Yamato the name Yamato-Takeru, or "Yamato the Courageous." But what does this have to do with ninjas, you may ask? Unfortunately, in the historic literature, there are no references of any ninja disguising themselves as a woman, at least that I have been able to verify. It is considered a "ninja-like" tactic, but perhaps the best that can be said of this example is that this is the sort of assassination the ninja would like to have been known for. Sadly, no records indicate they ever were.

Moving forward in history about four hundred years, a ninja-like night raid does show up in the Heike Monogatari, which documents the battles between the Taira and Minamoto clans for command of the nation in 1182. A couple samurai warriors secretly sneak into the enemy's camp. But even though by this time Sun Tzu's The Art of War has been lying around for hundreds of years, apparently they didn't read it, since the first thing they do is shout a challenge to announce their arrival, and are promptly killed for their trouble. Clearly, no one had figured out that whole ninja thing yet.

So, when exactly do ninjas show up in the historical record? Do they ever? They do. And it seems the earliest reference to a band of ninja occurs in the Taiheiki, written around 1360 and referring to an event which took place in 1338. And unfortunately, it's an unmitigated disaster -- the ninjas are discovered before the raid is even carried out and they are slaughtered to a man. Not an auspicious beginning! From that point, references to ninja activity increase in the histories and romances written at the time, with ninja activity finally coming into its own during the age of Sengoku, when all of Japan was plunged into war, a state of affairs which lasted throughout the sixteenth century, with the most ninja activity seemingly occuring around the Iga and Koga provinces. What they did, and how they did it, is what concerns us in the next section."


I just beasted on you son.

No you didn't. I could have written that for all you know. Actual person sources are more viable than internet sources. If you don't see this than I pity you.

[Grayfox]

Your uncle is no historian

This source came from a person, British historians to be exact. You have nothing, nothing at all. All you say is "My uncle..."

Your uncle knows Japanese martial arts. End of story. You have nothing at all. You decided to back out of Kestral's argument because he had you beat. You can go read the books yourself.

[The Ninja]

Your uncle is no historian

This source came from a person, British historians to be exact. You have nothing, nothing at all. All you say is "My uncle..."

Your uncle knows Japanese martial arts. End of story. You have nothing at all. You decided to back out of Kestral's argument because he had you beat. You can go read the books yourself.

You and Kestral have me nowhere near beat, you just couldn't accept the fact that "my uncle" means that he wasn't taught only the martial arts but the HISTORY that had been passed down from Japanese master, to master, to master (He is now one of those). Not some British guy.

BTW, you can't write down something that the masters have locked in their heads. So just cause he (you also) has never seen it in writing, he (you) doesn't believe it. So, using that logic, it is safe to say this:

"Has anyone ever seen your brain? Has anyone ever touched your brain? then, using this reasoning, you have no brain."

[Tom]

Sorry to butt in here, but how can we believe your outlandish claim that your uncle is a ninjitsu master? I don't know if you live in the United States or not (I'm assuming by your personality that you do), but most people who live in the United States have no martial arts background other than what they may pick up at some karate lesson. Some random guy being a ninjitsu master and living a normal life States-side is quite uncommon.

[Xavier]

"Has anyone ever seen your brain? Has anyone ever touched your brain? then, using this reasoning, you have no brain."

What? That doesn't even make sense because many people have seen/touched/studied brains and everyone knows they are real and inside of us. In fact, I am using my brain right now. If you asked me if I had a brain, I could easily prove it to you. Every human has a brain, you can't argue that. It's a different story when asking you about ninjas and your uncle. We have zero proof of the knowledge you have given us, you just assume us to believe you.

[Taylor]

No you didn't. I could have written that for all you know. Actual person sources are more viable than internet sources. If you don't see this than I pity you.

I am sorry to inform you, but this is the internet, my friend. Unless you can provide some kind of source, or real evidence other than your own words, then your 'uncle' does not exist. That is just the way it works.

[Grayfox]

Ninja, to make your opinion important to people, you have to have written facts/recorded audio/video to back it up.

I had that source to back my opinion up, and I have more. To make a good argument, you have to get a source.

Much of the Ninja history is unknown, and the reason is is that they were just spies/siege men/scouts/assassins etc.

Ninjas were assassins, but there is no recorded successful one. Now, there probably was a successful one at one point or another, we just don't know about it. Ninja's were just spies/siege men/scouts/assassins etc. influenced by Japanese culture. They weren't that much better than anyone else.

Now, does anyone want to talk about the Samurai?

If so, someone please open a new thread up.

Anything else left to say about the ninja?