Nin Gu - Ninja Tools

[Bester]

(Title from book by Stephen Hayes)

According to Mr. Hayes, the weapons of the ninja include sticks, blades, flexibles, projectiles and combustables. This pretty much covers everything weapon-like I can think of.

What weapons were traditionally used (ie: most common) and what are their modern counterparts that are still considered 'a regular' part of the training regiment of the modern day ninja?

 

[Enson]

my opinion for a modern ninja to use would be any weapon as long as its effective. its good to train in multiple weapons to get a feel for everything, and its extremely fun. some schools only have you train with traditional weapons but its sometimes hard to carry around a katana or a naginata in today's world. so i train with all weapons including those that are not in my art per say. you never know what you will have to use when the time comes, or where/when you will have to use it.

 

[Kreth]

In my own training, I tend to focus more on tools that will be useful in modern society, such as sticks, knives, chains. All of those are common to see if you use a little imagination (ie. chain techniques can be done with a belt or bar rag). However, I also try to find time to focus on the other traditional weapons such as the sword, shoge, if only because they hold lessons about body mechanics that you might not otherwise pick up.

Jeff

 

[Bester]

Considering various locations laws, and the average LEO's perspective on shirken, (sp?) is this a skill a modern ninja needs, and if so, what would they use?

 

[Kreth]

Well, I have trained with actual shuriken, but a good modern equivalent would be the pocketful of change that most of us seem to accumulate. Or possibly a ballpoint pen in the case of bo shuriken. Keep in mind that shuriken were traditionally used as more of a distraction, and not to kill like you see in Hollywood (even in The Last Samurai *sigh*).

Jeff

 

[Bester]

They seem to have taken a few liberties with that film.

So, basically, something small and annoying that is throwable could be used? What about the pain factor? Is it important, or more the 'dont hit me' factor?

 

[Kreth]

Pain is a bonus. But, I'd rather throw pennies than gold dollars... I think the overall effect is a combination of both. Most people will duck when an object is thrown at their face. Knowing that can be useful.

Jeff

 

[Cryozombie]

They seem to have taken a few liberties with that film.

So, basically, something small and annoying that is throwable could be used? What about the pain factor? Is it important, or more the 'dont hit me' factor?

Yeah, shuriken were often thrown when being pursued to "discourage" the pursuer from following. So anything that I could throw which might make you not want to chase me, that would be shuriken I guess?

 

[Kreth]

Unfortunately, thanks to Hollywood, the popular conception is of a ninja whipping shuriken at someone from 100 yds away, penetrating his forehead (or sometimes eye socket) and instantly killing him.
Now, back to sticks for a moment... What I like to do is train a bit with a hanbo/jo/bo, then apply that training with something other than a finely sanded and oiled piece of hardwood. I'll pick up a rake, a pool cue, a tree branch, hell, even an 8' 2x4 that a friend had laying around for a deck he was building...

Jeff

 

[Cryozombie]

What I like to do is train a bit with a hanbo/jo/bo, then apply that training with something other than a finely sanded and oiled piece of hardwood. I'll pick up a rake, a pool cue, a tree branch, hell, even an 8' 2x4 that a friend had laying around for a deck he was building...

Jeff

Canes... Baseball bats... (is it just me, or is it weird to pick up a bat and no longer think of it as a "club" but as a lever?)

 

[Bujingodai]

Kreth thank you for making that point. So many people come into the dojo asking about the shurikan as if they were some lethal fighting tool. When I explained that they are not a kiiling tool perse, so disappointed they look. LOL
But when you employ it for the real use in training, say such as a handful of change the point comes across.
Now thats not to say a rusty shurikan wouldn't give you a good case of tetinus back then, if you managed to clip an opponent.

 

[Elizium]

In the European wars of the Medievil period, they would dip the arrowheads nto the midden (local place to go for the toilet) and use them to injure the opposition. Now 1 arrowhead with some nasty gut bacteria entering your body, making it go septic is not a good idea. Most died within a few days, so be thankful for penacillin.

Now, shuriken as a distraction. Guard is cut, thinks ninjas are everywhere and I have been cut = fear. Distraction works. Guard runs off and it all goes to pot from then on. Now a few days later, it goes septic. You figure it out. It may have gone that way, but using a shuriken tipped with a poison is the same as the Europeans dipping them in the midden.

For me, as was stated before, Hanbo, Bo and Jo are more likely to be used. I do not see the point of doing katana work unless you use a bokken as a tool. After all a bokken can be used in a fight. It may not have to cut, but it can pack a wallop. Which is why when I do sword work with a bokken, it is done with care and at a slow speed.

 

[Cryozombie]

I do not see the point of doing katana work unless you use a bokken as a tool.

Swords are much more common nowadays than you think... I can think of about a 1/2 dozen or so recent cases of someone getting attacked with a sword in the U.S... at least one of a guy defending himself with one...

and apparently its such a common occurance in Austrailia that they have had to ban swords...

Granted... what are they gonna be? Cheapo 20 dollar "Bud K" specials... but people have em... at the very least, I'd train AGAINST them...

 

[Kreth]

Now, shuriken as a distraction. Guard is cut, thinks ninjas are everywhere and I have been cut = fear.

This kind of ties in with a personal theory I have, about how the legends of ninja having super-human powers came to be:
Say you're a castle guard. While out on your post one night, you're ordered to chase down an intruder, who's been seen in your area. Off you go in pursuit, only to get blind-sided by some chap in dark clothes, who then escapes, despite your best efforts to stop him.
Now, when you have to report your failure to your commander, is this just some guy who got lucky, caught you when you weren't looking, and then basically out-ran you; or did he have the strength of a demon and the ability to vanish into thin air? :uhyeah:

Jeff

 

[Bob Hubbard]

The CYA principal is as old as man.

 

[Digital Decay]

or, perhaps the "ninja" happened to release a monkey from a cage while he was getting away that was dressed exactly like him.

the guard would see that and think, "he turned into a monkey and ran up a tree, he must be an akuma!!"

 

[Elizium]

or, perhaps the "ninja" happened to release a monkey from a cage while he was getting away that was dressed exactly like him.

the guard would see that and think, "he turned into a monkey and ran up a tree, he must be an akuma!!"

Or maybe not.

 

[Cryozombie]

or, perhaps the "ninja" happened to release a monkey from a cage while he was getting away that was dressed exactly like him.

the guard would see that and think, "he turned into a monkey and ran up a tree, he must be an akuma!!"

SEE? SEE?

I TOLD YOU NINJAS CARRIED ANGRY MONKEYS IN BAGS!

Haha.

That just goes back to my post about having read that ninja often hurled angry monkeys out of sacks at their pursuers.

 

[Don Roley]

This kind of ties in with a personal theory I have, about how the legends of ninja having super-human powers came to be:
Say you're a castle guard. While out on your post one night, you're ordered to chase down an intruder, who's been seen in your area. Off you go in pursuit, only to get blind-sided by some chap in dark clothes, who then escapes, despite your best efforts to stop him.
Now, when you have to report your failure to your commander, is this just some guy who got lucky, caught you when you weren't looking, and then basically out-ran you; or did he have the strength of a demon and the ability to vanish into thin air? :uhyeah:

Jeff

Of course, some of them may have believed it. Imagine what things would look like to a guard at 2 am after an intruder wearing shuko (which he can't see and does not know exists) grabs his sword by the blade instead of being cut by it and then crawls up a wall he can't. And if the ninja had used onibi no jutsu, (demon mask with fireworks coming out of the mouth) the guard would probably be in therapy for the rest of his life. This was a time when people believed in ghosts and goblins and things that go bump in the night.

 

[Fool Wolf]

Back in the day, a samurai that got a scratch from a shuriken often died or lost a limb to infection. Especially if it was coated with dung or slightly rusty. This would make you think twice about chasing that black clad figure. Also, I have seen Hatsumi do many techniques with the shuriken in his hand, using it that way is easier than conditioning your fingers and developing an iron palm.