What’s up withe sentence “Even hundreds of years ago during the Meiji era (…)”? If I recall correctly Meiji was 19th/20th century. That’s barely 100 years ago. :) Otherwise, great post!

Remember: Tofugu is broadcast directly from the robot ravaged future.

 Whoops, you’re right. My mistake!

i don’t know if i’d call it over-the-top. i mean, it looks like pretty serious stuff. i’ve come to learn that if someone shows developed skill in any ability, be it speaking another language or making art or doing martial arts, i have to respect them for their dedication.

i totally lol’d at “are moo toe.” that’s such a random rhyme! how did you come up with that!

but i don’t think the title has much connection to the majority of the article–just the ending.

the article wasn’t so history heavy. is that a good thing? well, maybe, if you show us that that is what the article is, and not a history lesson.

“so what were ninja actually like…” sounds like history.
“what are they like today?” this question was definitely answered.

forgetting about all that technical junk, this article was pretty cool. keep it up!

No mention of Naruto in this ninja article? great still nonetheless

You clearly missed the “are moo toe” reference :P

 Aside from the references in games, anime, Kill Bill, and Nin x Nin, you should really see how they market him in my mom’s home of Mie Prefecture.  It’s like Iga town out there.

Dude, great post!  As an Iranian, I was especially excited to see the video and I enjoyed your article.  Salar

so iranian woman are finally gonna takeover they’re male dominated society… AS NINJAS! this may be the coolest future newstory ever :)

In relation to the section on Bujinkan:

“These scrolls are claimed to contain many crazy, mythical ninja techniques like killing people by yelling at them or hitting them in just the right spot”

First I’ve never heard of ‘killing people by yelling at them’ being taught or claimed to be contained in Bujinkan Ryuuha documents. There are indeed esoteric practices such as kiai, but these are, in my experience, always paired with a physical attack and used to distract or unsettle an opponent to create an opening in their defence. Moreover they’re pretty culturally specific and a product of a pre-scientific age, so the esoteric side of things is more of an anthropological study than anything else these days.

As for killing people by hitting them in “just the right spot”, there are dozens of weak points on the human body that if struck or otherwise damaged might lead to serious injury or death, but this is hardly a secret, plenty of folks are killed by one unlucky strike to certain spots on the head, neck and so on, and die from it unintentionally – Google it.

“Well actually, nobody has actually seen these scrolls…” – Actually they have. You can see them on the Saigo no Jissen Ninja Takamatsu Toshitsugu DVD, while Masaaki Hatsumi showed these scrolls publicly dozens of times in the past. They have also been shown to individuals such as Kacem Zoughari and others whose levels of Japanese is up to the challenge. While this is an ongoing controversy for other reasons, it is patently false to say “nobody has actually seen these scrolls”.

“…and the last of the ninja died out long, long ago, so there’s no way that the founder of Bujinkan can be a ninja descendent.”

That’s disputed. Aside from Takamatsu Toshitsugu who was Masaaki Hatsumi’s teacher, there’s also Seiko Fujita and numerous other candidates who claimed (or claim) to be the “last of the ninja”.

Also in the strictest sense once feudal Japanese society was modernized, yes, ‘Ninja’ as group ceased to exist but it’s not unlikely their knowledge, practices and traditions were kept alive. In the same sense Koryuu Budou schools keep the arts and traditions of the Samurai alive, even though the Samurai have long since vanished. Additionally it is my understanding that Ninjutsu exists in the syllabi of other Japanese Ryū beyond Bujinkan & Co., such as Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū which enjoys an undisputed pedigree.

“It largely focuses on disabling an attacker, with a little weapon training thrown in for zest./Bujinkan techniques are meant to break limbs or kill you. ”

That depends, sometimes the focus is on escape, restraining an opponent, disabling or indeed seriously injuring or killing an adversary. Additionally there is a lot of weapon training. Of the most widely taught material there is two sword systems (with multiple kinds of swords used in them), glaive, spear, staffs of various kinds, thrown weapons, chain and rope weapons, hidden weapons and on and on and on. An instructor or student’s individual skill with each one will of course vary depending on the quality of instruction they have received in the area and time practising with each, but there’s plenty of weapon work in Bujinkan.

Moving on to the video of the Iranians, my understanding is that the teacher has some peripheral connection to the Bujinkan, but it is very clear from his movement and technique that his understanding of Bujinkan material is, to be generous, ‘not good yet’. His students show admirable levels of conditioning and flexibility, but it seems they and their teacher have no real idea what they’re doing, and it’s not representative of Bujinkan Budou in the slightest.

If you want to know more or do a revised article, I’d advise contacting members of the Bujinkan that would know considerably more than I about these matters, such as Don Roley, Luke Molitor and Kacem Zoughari.

Lastly, that third image is of Shidoshi James Bimes, do you have permission to use it here?