any one know of ninjitsu schools

[tkdislife]

I dont care where just one that teaches actual ninjitsu and not just fakes thankyou

 

[Dirty Dog]

I dont care where just one that teaches actual ninjitsu and not just fakes thankyou

Since you don't care where, I'd suggest going to Japan and studying under Hatsumi Sensei.

 

[pgsmith]

I dont care where just one that teaches actual ninjitsu and not just fakes thankyou

"actual ninjutsu" is something that is very much controversial, and you would be hard pressed to get two different experts in Japanese history to agree on what that actually is. There are several different groups that profess to teach "actual ninjutsu", but ninjutsu techniques are only a small portion of what any of them actually teach. I feel like you'd be much better off doing lots of research into Japanese history, the samurai, and exactly what constitutes ninjutsu, and then determine for yourself what "actual ninjutsu" means to you. You would have a much better chance of finding what you're looking for that way than simply asking for recommendations in an on-line forum.

Just my opinions.

 

[GiYu - Todd]

There are several groups who claim to teach it. The closest ones are Bujinkan (Hatsumi), Jinenkan (Manaka), Gi Yu dojos (Sandhu), and Quest centers (Hayes). All of these teach kobudo or koryu bujutsu, and include both samurai and ninjutsu teachings. Even within the bigger of those groups, there are significant variation in interpretation from dojo to dojo, and the older ones have changed over the years. For the most part, the real training is significantly different than what popular culture would believe.
What is your intent? Are you seeking training, or research?

 

[Tony Dismukes]

There are several groups who claim to teach it. The closest ones are Bujinkan (Hatsumi), Jinenkan (Manaka), Gi Yu dojos (Sandhu), and Quest centers (Hayes).

I'm not sure where the OP is located, but they might also have access to Genbukan or other Bujinkan offshoots.

Off course, there are also other groups claiming to teach it which definitely have no relationship to any historical form of ninjutsu in any way whatsoever.

 

[Chris Parker]

I dont care where just one that teaches actual ninjitsu and not just fakes thankyou

Right…

Assuming this isn't just a trolling post aimed at insulting practitioners, there's a few things that need to be covered (some of which has been touched upon by others already)… but as you can't even spell the name of the art correctly, this could prove useful. So, to begin with, the name is spelled "ninjutsu", not "ninjitsu"… the secondary spelling is only really used these days by two groups… those who don't know what they're talking about, and frauds. For the record, the second character of "ninjutsu" is 術, meaning "practical art or skills", and has no alternate pronunciation… the word "jitsu", on the other hand, has a couple of variants, with the most common being 実, which refers to "truth, reality"… and is, as you can see, a completely different word, the same way that the English word "pan" is very similar to, but completely different to the English word "pin".

Okay, so what is "ninjutsu" in the first place, so we can determine who is actually teaching it, and who are "just fakes"? That, believe it or not, gets rather technical… and changes depending on where and when you're talking about… let's start with a historical perspective.

From a historical standpoint, "ninjutsu" was simply one of many subsets of military skills… specifically focused around spy craft, information gathering, espionage, and sabotage. You may notice that there are a couple of things noticeably missing in this list… including the common idea of "assassin" (there is no historical evidence for any "assassination" attributed to anyone claimed to be "ninja", save for one or two obviously invented stories…), and any concept of physical combative methods. In fact, in a real sense, there wasn't much of the idea of "ninja" being separate at all… a "ninja" was simply whoever was doing the required job… and, more often than not, was a samurai themselves. Alternatively, a "ninja" might simply be an informant in a rival or enemy domain… and could be a peasant, or a merchant, or anything else.

Interestingly, the term "ninja" was rarely used, if at all… instead, the alternate pronunciation of "shinobi", or "shinobi no mono" were found in historical documents… but that wasn't the only found term. Some areas used terms such as monomi ("one who can see", indicating the primary role of spying), nokizaru ("roof monkey", implying someone hiding in difficult places), kusa ("grass", implying that even the grass was watching and listening), rappa ("ruffians"), suppa ("disruptors"), or they were simply named for the location they came from, such as Iga no Mono ("person from Iga").

This first, and most historically common form of applying the concept of "ninjutsu" ("shinobi no jutsu" etc) was, as mentioned, simply a part of many martial traditions and military methodologies, and still exist as part of a number of classical systems that remain being taught today… the best known of which being Tenshinsho Den Katori Shinto Ryu, but also being found in a range of other arts.

There is also a secondary application of the term… where the concept refers to warrior groups (goshi - rural samurai) who came from the Iga and Koga (Kohka) areas of central Japan. This area was difficult for many of the daimyo (regional military rulers) to control… with connections to the Ikko Ikki, a religious pacifist group who opposed the samurai leadership. They were eventually brought into conflict with a range of rulers, most notably Oda Nobunaga, then Toyotomi Hideyoshi, both of whom were instrumental in destroying the faction. In this time, the warriors of Iga and Kohka became famous for their unorthodox strategies, and their abilities to know what their enemies were up to before hand.

In a modern sense, the term "ninjutsu" is used to refer to modern combative systems which claim descent from this second categorisation. Largely, that refers to systems that descend from Takamatsu Toshitsugu, who claimed to have inherited a number of traditions which originated in Iga, including Gyokko Ryu Kosshijutsu, Koto Ryu Koppojutsu, Gikan Ryu Koppotaijutsu, Gyokushin Ryu Ninjutsu, Kumogakure Ryu Ninjutsu, and (most famously) Togakure Ryu Ninpo Taijutsu, from his uncle, Toda Shinryuken Masamitsu. While there is notable controversy and skepticism surrounding this claim (specifically whether or not Toda even existed), it is clear that Takamatsu was legitimately ranked in a number of classical "samurai" systems, Shinden Fudo Ryu, Kukishin Ryu, and Hontai Takagi Yoshin Ryu, to the point that he was an acknowledged Shihan (senior teacher) in the Kukishin Ryu itself, as well as being the inheritor of two lines of Takagi Ryu from Mizuta and Ishitani Sensei.

It is interesting to note, however, that the methods taught within the more controversial systems actually match the historical approaches of documented systems… so, whether they are truly historically accurate (in their lineage claims), or a more modern restructuring of older material or methods, it seems fairly clear that they are a very good (and accurate) representation of "ninjutsu" methods, particularly in the case of Togakure Ryu (Gyokko Ryu and Koto Ryu are more combative systems with their own peculiarities, however Togakure Ryu matches much of what is known to have been historical "ninjutsu", using the first description). Now, it is quite possible that Takamatsu created the modern art of Togakure Ryu Ninpo Taijutsu based on methods found in the scrolls of Kukishin Ryu (and there is evidence to support that), but that does still mean that the methods taught, although not known as "Togakure Ryu Ninjutsu" until the 1950's, are historical "ninjutsu" methods and concepts. To get into exactly what that means would make this post significantly longer than it already is, however…

There is also a person, Kawakami Junichi, who claims to be teaching historical ninjutsu, alongside a couple of combative systems, however his claims are also not verified. What can be said is that, similar to Takamatsu's methods, there is at least the "air of authenticity" with a fair amount of Kawakami's methods… but that could just as easily be attributed to selected research as anything. Some of his combative systems are less "Japanese" in their approach, however, and there is no indication of any corroborating documentation of his ninjutsu or other combative art systems in the main (there is an exception with some highly coincidental accounts of a system known as Shinden Fudo Ryu, not the same as the Takamatsu-derives art, and another known system of Shinden Fudo Ryu, with a very similar structure and series of technique names), as opposed to Takamatsu's verified standing in Kukishin and Takagi Ryu.

Finally, there was claimed to be a line of Koga Ryu, known as the Koga Ryu Wada-ha, which survived to be passed onto the 14th head, Seiko Fujita, and lasted until the 1960's, when Seiko passed away without passing on his art to anyone. Seiko was also very well known and respected in karate circles, with Shito Ryu teacher Kenwa Mabuni being a student of his. He also spent some time in WWII teaching at the Nakano military school, sometimes referred to as "Japan's spy school", although he was on record a number of times as stating that he would not, nor had he in the past, teach anyone his ninjutsu methods, and that they would die with him.

Beyond that, there are quite a plethora of modern, almost entirely Western groups claiming to teach "ninjitsu"… typically claiming connection to Seiko Fujita, and therefore claiming to be "Koga Ryu Ninjitsu"… however a quick look at anything presented shows a huge range of differences between their methods and anything related to classical, or historical Japanese combative methods, with their approaches looking more like bad imitation karate or TKD, combined with modern gymnastics, and movie-fantasy weaponry. A simple way to tell these guys is that they're wearing the kabuki-theater "uniform" (head-dress and all), use the term "ninjitsu", use karate weapons such as sai, nunchaku, tonfa etc, use karate/TKD style kick, such as roundhouse's, side kicks, spinning kicks and so on. These guys are the "frauds" you're talking about.

So, with all that in mind, is there anyone who genuinely teaches ninjutsu? Yes… but it comes in a range of different forms (the "ninjutsu" found in the Tenshinsho Den Katori Shinto Ryu is not the same as that found in the Yagyu Shinkage Ryu, nor is it the same as that found in the Togakure Ryu, and so on, although there are certainly similarities and connections). To learn ninjutsu by itself, though… not so much. Realistically, it was simply a part of the larger education and larger curriculum of a range of arts… it was just something you learnt along with how to handle a sword or similar. But, to look for a school where it forms at least some part of what is offered (whether or not you gain access to it is another story… and is dependent upon the school, the teacher, the system, and more), you can find a Koryu school that contains some aspect as part of it's teachings, or you can go to the Bujinkan, Genbukan, Jinenkan, or an off-shoot from these organisations, all of whom trace their methods back to Takamatsu Toshitsugu.

 

[Ironbear24]

Good luck finding a ninja, let alone an entire school of them. They are all about being hidden.

 

[Anyan]

if ninjas exist, they teach only within their own family or clan

 

[WaterGal]

Good luck finding a ninja, let alone an entire school of them. They are all about being hidden.

Hah, Mr WaterGal and I were driving around over the weekend weekend, and had this exchange:

Me: Hey look, it's a ninjutsu school.
Him: I didn't see it - they must be really good!

 

[Aiki Lee]

if ninjas exist, they teach only within their own family or clan

You mean now or back in the day?
Either way, like Chris said, ninja never existed in the way most people think of when they picture the ninja stereotype. And by "family or clan" do you mean blood relatives, because that's not really how martial traditions always survive.

 

[Dirty Dog]

 

[Chris Parker]

if ninjas exist, they teach only within their own family or clan

Er… huh? You did read the post of mine above, yeah? To be frank, what you're saying is basically just movie-fantasy… so you know.