Ninjas
The History of the Ninja
Who Were the Ninja?:
'Some of the ninja leaders, or jonin, were disgraced samurai like Daisuke Togakure. They had lost in battle or had been renounced by their daimyo, but fled rather than committing ritual suicide.
Most ordinary ninja were not from the nobility, though. They were villagers and farmers, who learned to fight by any means necessary for their own self-preservation. The most famous ninja strongholds were the Iga and Koga Provinces.
Women also served in ninja combat. Female ninja, or kunoichi, infiltrated enemy castles in the guise of dancers, concubines or servants. They were successful spies, and sometimes acted as assassins as well."
Commentary
The First Known Ninja School:
"For a century or more, the blend of Chinese and native tactics that would become ninjutsu developed as a counter-culture, without rules. It was first formalized by Daisuke Togakure and Kain Doshi.
Daisuke had been a samurai, but he was on the losing side in a regional battle. He forfeited his lands and his samurai title. Ordinarily, a samurai might commit seppuku under these circumstances, but Daisuke did not.
In 1162, Daisuke was wandering the mountains of southwest Honshu when he met Kain Doshi, a Chinese warrior-monk. Daisuke renounced his bushido code, and together the two developed a new theory of guerrilla warfare called ninjutsu.
Daisuke's descendants created the first ninja ryu, or school, the Togakureryu."
Commentary
Ninjuitsu is a blend of Chinese and native fighting styles. It was developed by Daisuke a former samurai and Kain Doshi a Chinense warrior monk. As a team they created ninjutsu, a type of guerrilla warfare. Togakureryu was the first ninjutsu school started by Daisuke's descendants.
Ninjutsu versus Bushido:
"Ninjutsu developed as an opposing force to the samurai code of bushido. Samurai valued loyalty and honor above all else. Going into battle, a samurai would select a single opponent, announce his challenge, list his family pedigree, and then attack. Samurai wore bright colors on their armor to announce their clan identity. Ideally, at least, bushido was noble and highly stylized, but it couldn't always get the job done.
That is where ninjutsu came in: the ninja code valued accomplishing a mission by whatever means necessary. Sneak attacks, poison, seduction and spying were all shameful to the samurai, but fair play by the rules of the ninja."