Why you don't want your kid to grow up top be a ninja...
When growing up, few things fascinated me more than ninjas. Their skills, mysteries, weapons and 'awesomeness' were amazing to me. Many kids, especially boys, admire them through comic books, media, movies and other sources. However, the facts are that ninjas were spies and mercenaries. Period! Ninjas are horrible role models and once you realize what kind of people they were, you don't want your child to have anything to do with them. That is why nobody in their right mind should be promoting ninjas and definitely not teaching (or claiming to) how to be a 'ninja'. That is, if a person knows what the real ninjas were like. We realize ninjas are a huge attraction but every serious martial artist should know better.
Some urban myths claim that the ninja descended from a half human, half demon. The more rational background is that ninjas came from samurai that betrayed their masters and worked for whoever paid them most. Ninjas practiced ninjutsu, which came from Ju Jutsu (the art of the Samurai), combined with other Chinese arts.
Ninjutsu was a kind of guerrilla warfare back then and did not put loyalty and honor central, as samurai did. Ninjas used seduction, poison, sneak attacks from behind etc. while samurai went head to head with their opponents in a more fair situation.
Ninjas came from different backgrounds, some may have been farmers, nobels or disgraced samurai. Daisuke Togakure for example, who fled instead of committing seppuku (ritual suicide).
This does not mean sneaky attacks from behind don't work or you should commit seppuku when you're asked to. But it does show you what kind of people ninjas were in a society in which honor, respect and loyalty were utterly important.
If you put it in a modern situation, you could say samurai were the honest working people and a ninja would be Bernie Maddoff...
However, all of this does not mean you cannot enjoy the use of ninjas in our culture nowadays. Take a look at the movie 'Ninja Assassin', a nice action movie, in which they actually portray the actual nature of the ninja. A good movie for the fan nonetheless!
Just be more cautious when using the term 'ninja' and please... Don't let your child grow up to be a ninja. There are much better and more practical martial arts out there.
By Sander Vanacker, Define Defense’s certified personal trainer and head martial arts instructor, based in Boulder, Colorado. Take a look at www.DefineDefense.com, www.TrainerVanacker.com or check out our videos on YouTube.com/DefineDefense !
Some urban myths claim that the ninja descended from a half human, half demon. The more rational background is that ninjas came from samurai that betrayed their masters and worked for whoever paid them most. Ninjas practiced ninjutsu, which came from Ju Jutsu (the art of the Samurai), combined with other Chinese arts.
Ninjutsu was a kind of guerrilla warfare back then and did not put loyalty and honor central, as samurai did. Ninjas used seduction, poison, sneak attacks from behind etc. while samurai went head to head with their opponents in a more fair situation.
Ninjas came from different backgrounds, some may have been farmers, nobels or disgraced samurai. Daisuke Togakure for example, who fled instead of committing seppuku (ritual suicide).
This does not mean sneaky attacks from behind don't work or you should commit seppuku when you're asked to. But it does show you what kind of people ninjas were in a society in which honor, respect and loyalty were utterly important.
If you put it in a modern situation, you could say samurai were the honest working people and a ninja would be Bernie Maddoff...
However, all of this does not mean you cannot enjoy the use of ninjas in our culture nowadays. Take a look at the movie 'Ninja Assassin', a nice action movie, in which they actually portray the actual nature of the ninja. A good movie for the fan nonetheless!
Just be more cautious when using the term 'ninja' and please... Don't let your child grow up to be a ninja. There are much better and more practical martial arts out there.
By Sander Vanacker, Define Defense’s certified personal trainer and head martial arts instructor, based in Boulder, Colorado. Take a look at www.DefineDefense.com, www.TrainerVanacker.com or check out our videos on YouTube.com/DefineDefense !
0 Comments