Ninjas

The Ninjas were a special warrior class who originated in Japan and they mastered the martial art perfectly . The actual historical background of the Ninjas is still unknown as most of the facts about them were scripted by the outsiders who were mere observers . The Ninjas had their special techniques and weapons to combat the external enemies as well as for handling the sabotages.

This is assumed that at around 522 A.D. the priests of Japan started the act spying as part of their religious rituals and the purpose was to assist the rulers of that time. But gradually they felt the need to use this art as a mode of self-defense. They became the first ones to practice the unconventional techniques of ninja.

Then a privileged class evolved who realized the urgency of the methods like killing, stealth, spying etc in order to acquire power as well as for survival . This is the reason why the groups and organizations formed who was popularly known as the

History of NINJAS:-
The origins of ninjas are unclear. It is believed that the ancient ninjas may have been yamabushi (“mountain priests”) who adapted the Sonshi, a Chinese martial arts manual, for their own purposes. There are references to ninja-like shonobi in the Asuka Period (592-710) who were used to infiltrate enemy territory and described as "experts in the field of information gathering” and "masters of stealth and disguise."

The heyday of the ninjas was between the 12th and 16th centuries, when there were many local wars and the ability to spy, infiltrate and assassinate was highly valued. Hired by warlords as assassins and secret agents, ninja were widely used in the Sengoku period (1467-1568) when Japan was engulfed in civil war Ninjas have played important roles in Japanese history.

Iga ninja helped Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616) escape safely from Osaka in the turmoil that preceded the beginning of the Edo period. Ieyasu showed his gratitude by giving the ninja leader, Hattri Hanzo, a residence in the Imperial Palace, in Edo. The Hanzimon gate at the current palace is named after him.

Matsuo Basho, Japan's most renowned haiku master, may have served for a time amid his nomadic wanderings as a spy for the shogunate. During the relative peace of Edo Period ninja found themselves out of work. To survive they began producing manuscripts explaining their skills, weapons and tools. They became the subjects of stories and nobles and this elevated them to the status of magical superheros, an images that persists to this day

Powers of the Legendary NINJAS of Japan:-

The Ninjas had various power and knowledge which were rare. This is said that they were able to assess the time looking at the eyes of a cat. The explanation behind it is that the cats’ eyes are very sensitive and they change the shape according to the movement of the sun which was observed by the Ninjas. The Ninjas were also able to locate the directions wit the help of the stars just like the sailors.

But the unique method they used was looking at the age- rings of the trees and calculating the directions. They knew the method of hiding themselves even while they were resting. Their favorite hiding place was the top bushy part of a tree. These are the few tricks which the most popular Ninja legends of Japan used to perform easily.