Ninja and Ninja Weapons

Ninja belong to , Ninja fourteenth century Japan and were part of a secret mercenary organization and they were into missions that included scouting, espionage, sabotage, and assassination. They were usually working for feudal rulers (daimyo or shogun) and often made use of guerilla tactics. But espionage and undercover work weren’t the only things the ninjas were doing. Like the samurais, they had Japanese weapons and tactics that helped them conceal or defend themselves quickly from Samurai.

Although there are documents dating from 15th century which state the existence of ninja, as a martial arts organization found in the regions of Iga and Koga of central Japan, guerilla warfare and undercover espionage operations have a longer history back in time. Early in their history, ninja groups were small and organized around families and villages, later developing a more martial hierarchy , closer to that of the samurai and the daimyo. Although most people imagine ninja as men, it is said that women could be ninja too.

They were often spies who learned the secrets of an enemy by seduction. In other cases, they were employed as household servants because in this position they could provide the organization with valuable information. However, there is no evidence supporting the theory of female ninja assassins. And they were more likely employed as spies and couriers. Due to their assassination, espionage, and infiltration tasks , ninjas have developed a specialized technology in concealable weapons and infiltration tools.

A certain type of weapon was used by ninjas, those weapons that didn’t look like weapons at first sight, but as common tools. One instrument that could be used as a tool and as a weapon at the same time is the bo. A long thick stick , usually made of wood or bamboo, it was used to balance buckets of water or milk or baskets of harvested crops but , at the same time, it could be a lethal weapon . The martial art of wielding the bō is bōjutsu.

Handclaws (shuko, neko-te tekagi) were originally sharp spikes attached to wooden clogs used for walking on snow or ice . Later they became a weapon used for scratching an opponent.

Kunaiwas a gardening tool that could be used as a weapon especially by the ninja disguised as a gardener.One of the most famous ninja weapons is shuriken. Shuriken are also known as ninja stars, throwing stars, shaken, senban shuriken, or hira shuriken. There is a wide variety of different objects lumped under the category of “shuriken,” but they are all throwing blades of some sort. They are small, sharpened, hand-held blades made from a variety of everyday items, such as needles, nails, and knives, as well as coins, washers, and other flat plates of metal. The art of using shuriken is Shurikenjutsu. However, ninjas also used swords in battle.

One such sword is ninja-ken (or ninja), or “shinobigatana”. These swords came in a variety of shapes and sizes but they are often shorter than a katana but longer than a wakizashi. It is a higher possibility that typical shinobigatana is a wakizashi or cut-down katana, perhaps even an aikuchi or most likely a chokuto fitted with a katana-length handle and placed in a katana-length saya (scabbard). The size of the saya is misleading for the opponents who may miscalculate the speed of which the sword is drawn . This saya also disguises the weapon, in order for the carriers of this specific sword not to be identified as ninjas and , instead, to be taken for carriers of a common sword.

As for the advantage of a shorter sword, a shorter blade makes the fighter to get closer to his opponent, which may be a disadvantage or an advantage when facing an opponent armed with full length swords. On the other hand it’s the functionality of a shorter sword can’t be denied when it comes to narrow spaces. A shorter, straighter blade would serve the Ninja better in close quarters, on corridors, for example, where it would be rather difficult for a Samurai to use a Katana.

Ninjaken was straighter than the average samurai sword of the period which were much more curved. The ninjaken still had a slight curve to the sword. specialists say that they were often straight bars of low-quality steel with an edge ground on to them. According to other sources, some of the sword being forged during the Tokugawa era also had blades with less curvature than others Ninjatō is a sword similar to the katana, but straighter, and was generally not made of pattern welded metal. However, may people think the ninjatō was more than likely created during WWII, and branded as a sword used by ninja. 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 slashing opponents.

Written by admin on February 22nd, 2007 with no comments.
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