Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Ninja shopping experience:

1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Ninja offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Ninja at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.

2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about

3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Ninja? Wrong! If the Ninja is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.

4. Questions - Got a question about Ninja then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....

5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Ninja? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Ninja and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.

6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Ninja wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.

7. Feedback - happy with your Ninja then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.

8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Ninja site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site

9. Contact - got a question about Ninja, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.

10. Payment - ready to pay for your Ninja, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.

For other meanings, see Ninja (disambiguation). , ninja and title character of the Japanese folklore Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari.

In the history of Japan, a was someone specially trained in a variety of unorthodox arts of war. These included assassination, espionage, and other martial arts.

In the Japanese culture, they were usually trained for dangerous missions. Although their exact origins are still unknown, with some historians speculating about some China origin or influence, it is known that they appeared in 14th century feudal Japan, and remained active from the Kamakura period to the Edo period. Their roles may have included sabotage, espionage, Reconnaissance and assassination missions as a way to destabilize and cause social chaos in enemy territory or against an opposing ruler, perhaps in the service of their feudal rulers (daimyo, shogun), or an underground ninja organization waging guerilla warfare.

Etymology Ninja is the on'yomi reading of the two kanji 忍者 used to write shinobi-no-mono (忍の者), which is the Japanese language#Vocabulary for people who practice ninjutsu (忍術, sometimes erroneously Transliteration as ninjitsu). The term shinobi (Old Japanese sino2bi2 written with the Man'yōgana 志能備), has been traced as far back as the late 8th century when Heguri Uji no Iratsume wrote a poemTakagi, Man'yōshū poem #3940; page 191Satake, Man'yōshū poem #3940; page 108 to Ōtomo no Yakamochi. The underlying connotation of shinobi (:wikt:忍), in Sino-Japanese means "to steal away" and—by extension—"to forbear," hence its association with stealth and invisibility. Mono (:wikt:者, likewise pronounced sha or ja) means "person."

The word ninja became popular in the post-World War II culture. The nin of ninjutsu is the same as that in ninja, whereas jutsu (:wikt:術) means skill or art, so ninjutsu means "the skill of going unperceived" or "the art of stealth"; hence, ninja and shinobi-no-mono (as well as shinobi) may be translated as "one skilled in the art of stealth." Similarly, the pre-war word ninjutsu-zukai means "one who uses the art of remaining unperceived."

Other terms which may be used include Oniwabanshū (お庭番 "one in the garden"), suppa, rappa, mitsumono, kusa (草 grass) and Iga-mono ("one from Iga").

In English language, the plural of ninja can be either unchanged as ninja, reflecting the Japanese language's lack of grammatical number, or the regular English plural ninjas.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed.; American Heritage Dictionary, 4th ed.; Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1).

Historical period of origin The ninja use of stealth 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 notably 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.

Ninjas as a group first began to be written about in 15th century feudal Japan as martial organizations predominately in the regions of Iga Province and Koga, Shiga of central Japan, though the practice of guerrilla 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 guerrilla warfare and assassination as a valuable alternative to frontal assault. Since Bushido, the Samurai Code, forbade such tactics as dishonorable, a daimyo could not expect his own troops to perform the tasks required; thus, he had to buy or broker the assistance of ninja to perform selective strikes, espionage, assassination, and infiltration of enemy strongholds. (Stephen Turnbull (historian))

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 Stephen K. Hayes's book, Mystic Arts of the Ninja, Hattori Hanzo, one of the most well-known 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."

A similar account is given by 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."

Historical organization 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. These certain ninjutsu trained groups were set in these villages for protection against raiders and robbers.

"Ninja museums" in Japan declare women to have been ninjas as well. A female ninja may be kunoichi (くノ一); the characters are derived from the strokes that make up the kanji for female (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.

As a martial organization, ninja would have had many rules, and keeping secret the ninja's clan and the daimyo who gave them their orders would have been one of the most important ones.

For modern hierarchy in ninjutsu, see Ninjutsu.

Historical garb, technique, and image There is no evidence that historical ninja limited themselves to all-black suits. In modern times, camouflage based upon dark colors such as dark red and dark blue can be used to give better concealment at night. Some cloaks may have been reversible: dark colored on the outside for concealment during the night, and white colored on the inside for concealment in the snow. Some ninja may have worn the same armor or clothing as samurai or Japanese peasants.

The stereotypical ninja that continually wears easily identifiable black outfits (shinobi shozoku) comes from the Kabuki theater. Prop handlers would dress in black and move props around on the stage. The audience would obviously see the prop handlers, but would pretend they were invisible. Building on that willing suspension of disbelief, ninja characters also came to be portrayed in the theater as wearing similar all-black suits. This either implied to the audience that the ninja were also invisible, or simply made the audience unable to tell a ninja character from many prop handlers until the ninja character distinguished himself from the other stagehands with a scripted attack or assassination.

Ninja boots (jika-tabi), like much of the rest of Japanese footwear from the time, have a split-toe design that improves gripping and wall/rope climbing. They are soft enough to be virtually silent. Ninja also attached special spikes to the bottoms of the boots called ashiko.

The actual head covering suggested by Sōke Masaaki Hatsumi (in his book The Way of the Ninja: Secret Techniques) utilizes what is referred to as sanjaku-tenugui, (three-foot cloths). It involves the tying of two three-foot cloths around the head in such a way as to make the mask flexible in configuration but securely bound. Some wear a long robe, most of the time dark blue (紺色 kon'iro) for stealth.

Associated equipment The assassination, espionage, and infiltration tasks of the ninja led to the development of specialized technology in concealable weapons and infiltration tools.

Specialized weapons and tactics Ninja also employed a variety of weapons and tricks using gunpowder. Smoke bombs and firecrackers were widely used to aid an escape or create a diversion for an attack. They used timed fuses to delay explosions. Ōzutsu (cannons) they constructed could be used to launch fiery sparks as well as projectiles at a target. Small "bombs" called metsubushi (目潰し, "eye closers") were filled with sand and sometimes metal dust. This sand would be carried in bamboo segments or in hollowed eggs and thrown at someone, the shell would crack, and the assailant would be blinded. Even land mines were constructed that used a mechanical fuse or a lit, oil-soaked string. Secrets of making desirable mixes of gunpowder were strictly guarded in many ninja clans.

Other forms of trickery were said to be used for escaping and combat. Ashiaro are wooden pads attached to the ninja's tabi (thick socks with a separate "toe" for bigger toe; used with sandals). The ashiaro would be carved to look like an animal's paw, or a child's foot, allowing the ninja to leave tracks that most likely would not be noticed.

Also a small ring worn on a ninja's finger called a shobo would be used for hand-to-hand combat. The shobo (or as known in many styles of ninjutsu, the shabo) would have a small notch of wood used to hit assailant's pressure points for sharp pain, sometimes causing temporary paralysis. A suntetsu is very similar to a shobo. It could be a small oval shaped piece of wood affixed to the finger by a small strap. The suntetsu would be held against a finger (mostly middle) on the palm-side and when the hand was thrust at an opponent using the longer piece of wood to target pressure points such as the solar plexus.

Ninja also used special short swords called ninjaken, or shinobigatana. Ninjaken are smaller than katana but larger than wakizashi. The ninjaken was often more of a utilitarian tool than a weapon, not having the complex heat treatment of a usual weapon. Another version of the ninja sword was the shikoro ken (saw sword). The shikoro ken was said to be used to gain entry into buildings, and could also have a double use by cutting (or slashing in this case) opponents.

In popular culture Ninja appear in both Japanese and Western World fiction. Depictions range from realistic to the fantastically exaggerated.

















Notes

References

| last = Takagi | first = Ichinosuke | authorlink = | coauthors = Tomohide Gomi, Susumu Ōno | title = Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei: Man'yōshū Volume 4 | publisher = Iwanami Shoten | date = 1962 | location = | pages = | url = | doi = | id = ISBN 4-00-060007-9 --> | last = Satake | first = Akihiro | authorlink = | coauthors = Hideo Yasumada, Rikio Kudō, Masao Ōtani, Yoshiyuki Yamazaki | title = Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei: Man'yōshū Volume 4 | publisher = Iwanami Shoten | date = 2003 | location = | pages = | url = | doi = | id = ISBN 4-00-240004-2 -->

External links

For other meanings, see Ninja (disambiguation). , ninja and title character of the Japanese folklore Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari.

In the history of Japan, a was someone specially trained in a variety of unorthodox arts of war. These included assassination, espionage, and other martial arts.

In the Japanese culture, they were usually trained for dangerous missions. Although their exact origins are still unknown, with some historians speculating about some China origin or influence, it is known that they appeared in 14th century feudal Japan, and remained active from the Kamakura period to the Edo period. Their roles may have included sabotage, espionage, Reconnaissance and assassination missions as a way to destabilize and cause social chaos in enemy territory or against an opposing ruler, perhaps in the service of their feudal rulers (daimyo, shogun), or an underground ninja organization waging guerilla warfare.

Etymology Ninja is the on'yomi reading of the two kanji 忍者 used to write shinobi-no-mono (忍の者), which is the Japanese language#Vocabulary for people who practice ninjutsu (忍術, sometimes erroneously Transliteration as ninjitsu). The term shinobi (Old Japanese sino2bi2 written with the Man'yōgana 志能備), has been traced as far back as the late 8th century when Heguri Uji no Iratsume wrote a poemTakagi, Man'yōshū poem #3940; page 191Satake, Man'yōshū poem #3940; page 108 to Ōtomo no Yakamochi. The underlying connotation of shinobi (:wikt:忍), in Sino-Japanese means "to steal away" and—by extension—"to forbear," hence its association with stealth and invisibility. Mono (:wikt:者, likewise pronounced sha or ja) means "person."

The word ninja became popular in the post-World War II culture. The nin of ninjutsu is the same as that in ninja, whereas jutsu (:wikt:術) means skill or art, so ninjutsu means "the skill of going unperceived" or "the art of stealth"; hence, ninja and shinobi-no-mono (as well as shinobi) may be translated as "one skilled in the art of stealth." Similarly, the pre-war word ninjutsu-zukai means "one who uses the art of remaining unperceived."

Other terms which may be used include Oniwabanshū (お庭番 "one in the garden"), suppa, rappa, mitsumono, kusa (草 grass) and Iga-mono ("one from Iga").

In English language, the plural of ninja can be either unchanged as ninja, reflecting the Japanese language's lack of grammatical number, or the regular English plural ninjas.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed.; American Heritage Dictionary, 4th ed.; Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1).

Historical period of origin The ninja use of stealth 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 notably 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.

Ninjas as a group first began to be written about in 15th century feudal Japan as martial organizations predominately in the regions of Iga Province and Koga, Shiga of central Japan, though the practice of guerrilla 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 guerrilla warfare and assassination as a valuable alternative to frontal assault. Since Bushido, the Samurai Code, forbade such tactics as dishonorable, a daimyo could not expect his own troops to perform the tasks required; thus, he had to buy or broker the assistance of ninja to perform selective strikes, espionage, assassination, and infiltration of enemy strongholds. (Stephen Turnbull (historian))

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 Stephen K. Hayes's book, Mystic Arts of the Ninja, Hattori Hanzo, one of the most well-known 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."

A similar account is given by 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."

Historical organization 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. These certain ninjutsu trained groups were set in these villages for protection against raiders and robbers.

"Ninja museums" in Japan declare women to have been ninjas as well. A female ninja may be kunoichi (くノ一); the characters are derived from the strokes that make up the kanji for female (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.

As a martial organization, ninja would have had many rules, and keeping secret the ninja's clan and the daimyo who gave them their orders would have been one of the most important ones.

For modern hierarchy in ninjutsu, see Ninjutsu.

Historical garb, technique, and image There is no evidence that historical ninja limited themselves to all-black suits. In modern times, camouflage based upon dark colors such as dark red and dark blue can be used to give better concealment at night. Some cloaks may have been reversible: dark colored on the outside for concealment during the night, and white colored on the inside for concealment in the snow. Some ninja may have worn the same armor or clothing as samurai or Japanese peasants.

The stereotypical ninja that continually wears easily identifiable black outfits (shinobi shozoku) comes from the Kabuki theater. Prop handlers would dress in black and move props around on the stage. The audience would obviously see the prop handlers, but would pretend they were invisible. Building on that willing suspension of disbelief, ninja characters also came to be portrayed in the theater as wearing similar all-black suits. This either implied to the audience that the ninja were also invisible, or simply made the audience unable to tell a ninja character from many prop handlers until the ninja character distinguished himself from the other stagehands with a scripted attack or assassination.

Ninja boots (jika-tabi), like much of the rest of Japanese footwear from the time, have a split-toe design that improves gripping and wall/rope climbing. They are soft enough to be virtually silent. Ninja also attached special spikes to the bottoms of the boots called ashiko.

The actual head covering suggested by Sōke Masaaki Hatsumi (in his book The Way of the Ninja: Secret Techniques) utilizes what is referred to as sanjaku-tenugui, (three-foot cloths). It involves the tying of two three-foot cloths around the head in such a way as to make the mask flexible in configuration but securely bound. Some wear a long robe, most of the time dark blue (紺色 kon'iro) for stealth.

Associated equipment The assassination, espionage, and infiltration tasks of the ninja led to the development of specialized technology in concealable weapons and infiltration tools.

Specialized weapons and tactics Ninja also employed a variety of weapons and tricks using gunpowder. Smoke bombs and firecrackers were widely used to aid an escape or create a diversion for an attack. They used timed fuses to delay explosions. Ōzutsu (cannons) they constructed could be used to launch fiery sparks as well as projectiles at a target. Small "bombs" called metsubushi (目潰し, "eye closers") were filled with sand and sometimes metal dust. This sand would be carried in bamboo segments or in hollowed eggs and thrown at someone, the shell would crack, and the assailant would be blinded. Even land mines were constructed that used a mechanical fuse or a lit, oil-soaked string. Secrets of making desirable mixes of gunpowder were strictly guarded in many ninja clans.

Other forms of trickery were said to be used for escaping and combat. Ashiaro are wooden pads attached to the ninja's tabi (thick socks with a separate "toe" for bigger toe; used with sandals). The ashiaro would be carved to look like an animal's paw, or a child's foot, allowing the ninja to leave tracks that most likely would not be noticed.

Also a small ring worn on a ninja's finger called a shobo would be used for hand-to-hand combat. The shobo (or as known in many styles of ninjutsu, the shabo) would have a small notch of wood used to hit assailant's pressure points for sharp pain, sometimes causing temporary paralysis. A suntetsu is very similar to a shobo. It could be a small oval shaped piece of wood affixed to the finger by a small strap. The suntetsu would be held against a finger (mostly middle) on the palm-side and when the hand was thrust at an opponent using the longer piece of wood to target pressure points such as the solar plexus.

Ninja also used special short swords called ninjaken, or shinobigatana. Ninjaken are smaller than katana but larger than wakizashi. The ninjaken was often more of a utilitarian tool than a weapon, not having the complex heat treatment of a usual weapon. Another version of the ninja sword was the shikoro ken (saw sword). The shikoro ken was said to be used to gain entry into buildings, and could also have a double use by cutting (or slashing in this case) opponents.

In popular culture Ninja appear in both Japanese and Western World fiction. Depictions range from realistic to the fantastically exaggerated.

















Notes

References

| last = Takagi | first = Ichinosuke | authorlink = | coauthors = Tomohide Gomi, Susumu Ōno | title = Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei: Man'yōshū Volume 4 | publisher = Iwanami Shoten | date = 1962 | location = | pages = | url = | doi = | id = ISBN 4-00-060007-9 --> | last = Satake | first = Akihiro | authorlink = | coauthors = Hideo Yasumada, Rikio Kudō, Masao Ōtani, Yoshiyuki Yamazaki | title = Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei: Man'yōshū Volume 4 | publisher = Iwanami Shoten | date = 2003 | location = | pages = | url = | doi = | id = ISBN 4-00-240004-2 -->

External links



Ninja - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In Japanese history, a Ninja (忍者, ninja?) is an elite warrior, highly trained in all aspects of combat martial arts, and specializing in a variety of unorthodox arts of war.

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Home of Ninja Tune, Coldcut, Solid Steel, Roots Manuva, Amon Tobin, Herbalizer, Ntone and Big Dada. Contains briefs on artists, links, webcasts, tour dates and forums.

3 Foot Ninja - Games at Miniclip.com - Play Free Games
Help little ninja defeat enemies and collect all the scrolls. ... Jab Sword; Help little ninja defeat enemies and collect all the scrolls to move to the next level.

Ninja Surfing - Hide IP Software
Mail notification tool for multiple mailboxes ... Ninja Surfing - Keep Your Privacy! Your current IP address is: 65.55.209.6.

BBC NEWS | Europe | Russian 'ninja' arrested in Italy
Italian police arrest a black-clad "ninja" who had been terrorising local farmers at knife point.

I'm Gonna Flip Out Like A Ninja. Music - "Ninja" by 7 Seconds Of Love ...
I'm gonna flip out like a ninja! Ninja by 7 Seconds Of Love, animation Joel Veitch rathergood.com

Ninja Surfing - Hide IP Software
Mail notification tool for multiple mailboxes ... Download Ninja Surfing Download Ninja Surfing for FREE! Download Now Free Registration

Photoshop Ninja
Expert Photoshop tips and tricks for designers and photographers This website is recovering after some trouble... service will be resuming normally!

You Got Questions, Ninja Got Answers. | Ask A Ninja
Submitted by digitalfilmmaker on September 25, 2008 - 8:42pm.

 

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