Training Tactics and Disguises
Continuing on from our first popular Ninja article which you can read here if you haven’t already. We will know talk about the skills and war tactics of the Ninja people.
The skills of the Ninja are now known in modern times as Ninjitsu and historically it covered espionage and survival skills. Like the Samurai, Ninjas were born into their profession and trained from childhood, studying survival and scouting skills, as well as information on poisons and explosives.
Physical and endurance training was very important and involved combat, swimming, long distance running, climbing and stealth methods of walking.
Teamwork was a major part of training as Ninjas not always worked alone. Helping each other climb walls by carrying each other on backs or providing human platforms to climb great heights were some of the excellent team work involved.
Some of the interesting Ninjitsu methods of tactics included the following (borrowed from Wikipedia)
Hitsuke – The practice of distracting guards by starting a fire away from the ninja’s planned point of entry. Falls under “fire techniques”
Tanuki-gakure – The practice of climbing a tree and camouflaging oneself within the foliage. Falls under “wood techniques”
Ukigusa-gakure – The practice of throwing duckweed over water in order to conceal underwater movement. Falls under “water techniques”
Uzura-gakure – The practice of curling into a ball and remaining motionless in order to appear like a stone. Falls under “earth techniques”
Pretty clever and interesting. It is no wonder why we love Ninjas and the costumes here on our site.
Disguises and Costumes
Today’s perception of Ninjas comes from movies etc. as does the black Ninja costume, but in reality most Ninjas disguised themselves as civilians such as priests, monks, entertainers and merchants and were able to hide certain weapons within their disguises.
Because of early drawings of Ninjas in black, today this is what the perception is but these were drawn to give a sense of invisibility. The clothing used was similar to the Samurai.
There is so much more to these people than the way we view them today and the history is well worth looking in to. Check out all the Ninja Warrior costumes available on our site here.
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