Ninjutsu and Ninpo

Category: Mystic groups and systems

Ninjutsu and Ninpo are defined as martial arts whose origin is Japan. 

• Ninjutsu are the set of techniques used to physically engage in combat – thus Nunjutsu is the part most people witness.
• A parallel system exists for the  spiritual aspects and this is called  Ninpo.

Ninpo stresses ‘philosophic and spiritual training’ in conjunction with the physical training.

A definition

Ninjutsu is a martial art, whose objective is not to ‘win’ but to survive.  It is an art of defence not attack.  The objective is to preserve life not take it away.  Using heightened perception achieved via spiritual practises, the Ninja used the acute awareness of his surroundings to avoid unnecessary conflict.  As Dr Hatsumi says ‘even if armed with a blade, he would find a way to win without staining it’.

Ninja history

Ninja can trace its roots to Shinto and  Buddhism  with input from  Chinese martial arts and ascetic practises [many practises borrowed from Qigong like techniques]

The exchange of ideas is not static even now.

Back view of a dotera, a type of traditional Japanese clothing - Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Basic beliefs – the spiritual world

It is absolutely essential that one realises that there are two parallel ‘worlds’ being operated when using Ninjutsu and Ninpo.  The vast majority of those who train in Ninjutsu and who avidly follow its moves and fitness regimes are following a martial art that is practised in the physical world.

But Ninjutsu operates also in the spiritual realm and there it operates under the techniques of Ninpo, where  ‘warriors’ or ‘heros’  go out of body within the spiritual realm.  This may sound fantastic nonsense to those of you of a western physically oriented bent, but even in the western tradition we have the stories of Beowulf and they were not legend.

Chuang Tzu

If you read Robert Monroe’s books  - a man capable of frequent out of body experiences - it is difficult to conceive of a spirit realm in which one fought ‘demons’, but in days gone by shamans fought battles not in the physical realm but in the spiritual realm. They still do.

There are any number of skills needed to achieve controlled out of body travel. 
They include: 

• Being able to control  your shape  - you can be invisible or take on numerous shapes including ball and animal shapes.    This is called shape shifting 
• Being able to manoevre  - you can stride, fly, bounce, hop, leap etc.  In Europe our fairy tales often tell of ‘hundred league boots’, well the fairy tales are actually relating the exploits of out of body travellers able to take great leaps.

Geisha mimic the shuffling steps of an out of body traveller

• Being able to control your mind enough to combat the spirits encountered - good bad or indifferent, - all key strengths for a shaman. 

There is still a secret army of out of body capable shamans who ‘patrol’ the spiritual realms and I am certain you won’t believe me, but it is the case.

Ninjutsu, is taught to the majority of westerners as a physical martial arts discipline that is aided by a bit of mind control.  But the true Ninjutsu practitioner has been trained by a master whose only concern is out of body travel.

The hero’s path

The Ninjutsu path is a spiritual path – the hero’s path – without all the negative associations that have arisen in the west that involve the active involvement in aggressive behaviour.  The hero defends but never attacks.  A true Ninja is a lover not a fighter.

Japan has hundreds of schools of martial arts today, but the majority were developed after the Meiji period to be enjoyed as sports.  The martial arts judo and kendo, for example, are sports.  But Ninjutsu being older and more allied with Shinto and Buddhism is a true spiritually based martial art.

There is a recognition in Ninjutsu that there is – as in all spiritual paths a starting point which is the spiritual awakening and an end point ‘enlightenment’.  Enlightenment is not achieved via meditation but by ‘bodily techniques’ – sexual stimulation

In enlightenment you merge with your higher spirit and this is referred to as the Juji principle

You can practise Ninjutsu techniques for your whole life and never even get beyond the first stage – so in other words never even achieve a spiritual awakening.  To achieve the awakening, there is a recognition in Ninjutsu that the sword and the pen go together, you have a lot to learn spiritually about the world in which you may eventually be admitted.  This is why a teacher or  ‘master’ [guru, sensei]  is needed, tuition covers not just the physical movements but also covers a plethora of spiritual concepts, taboos and symbols.  The word ‘Kyomon’ describes these very special teachings

It is only via the true spiritual awakening therefore that you gain the true skills of a Ninja.  Without the spiritual awareness you are practising a sport that might be quite fun, that might help to keep you fit, but which ultimately is much like any other sport.

The technique involves a number of practises that build up the strength of the person and ensures good health.  Through good health the Ninja are able to exercise ‘endurance’ ‘throughout their secretive lives’.  Now endurance has a number of meanings in Ninjutsu.  It can mean the physical endurance needed in order to protect their families, their clans and their country.  But it can also mean another kind of endurance related to sexual stimulation.

The training in both respects is quite harsh – far more harsh than that used in Hatha yoga or Qigong - to achieve the same levels of fitness.  I think there is a real understanding in Ninjutsu of just how dangerous kundalini energy can be and as such the training  is very rigorous.  As we have seen in numerous techniques, health is key to achieving a spiritual experience, as you need virtually no input from the nervous system of a diversionary nature when you apply any of the techniques on this website, thus good health has a two-fold purpose. 

Inherited ability, clans and bloodlines - Kekkei genkai

Most of the ‘truths’ concerning true Ninjutsu and Ninpo practise is to be found these days in  anime and manga.  The series Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto, for example, contains a wealth of detail about the actual practices of Ninja. 
Kishimoto’s manga story incorporates the concept of  Kekkei genkai , which literally means  "bloodline limit". 
It describes abilities passed down genetically. In his manga series, most of the clans have developed special techniques that rely on their genetic abilities, as it gives them an advantage in battle that cannot be taught or copied by opponents.

This is a story, apparently fiction, but it has a basis in fact.

Practically all shamanic societies are based on a belief that the ability to travel spiritually and perform spiritual actions is inherited – both men and women can inherit the abilities which is why there are often shamanesses in ancient cultures – see inherited genes. 

Europe suffered the appalling decimation of its spiritual heritage when its ‘witches’ and ‘wizards’ were burnt at the stake; murdered; hung drawn and quartered; and other tortures inflicted by principally the Christian churches in medieval times.  Whatever spiritual ability there is in Europe and as a consequence America [outside of the native Americans] lies dormant in  people who probably have no idea they have it.

Because Japan managed to protect itself from [principally] missionary Christian influence until the tragedy of the Meiji period, its clans have been preserved and the abilities are probably still there in abundance.  So, Shinto , Ninjutsu and Ninpo is no exception, there are bloodlines and there are clans and indeed they do have particular powers in each clan

Techniques – an overview

Nunjutsu has borrowed techniques from two sources.

Buddhism - From Buddhism Ninja acquired suppression techniques, for example, contemplation and detachment , squash the big I am, reducing desires,   befuddling and so on.  These were used before combat

So we have controlled breathing techniques – rapid breathing, reduced breathing and holding your breath.  All these were undoubtedly derived through Buddhism and have their origins in the Yoga techniques. 

Shinto - From the original Shinto and its shamanic roots, they learnt very specific  overload techniques .   

So one set of techniques helped in the practical process of combat, and defence by preparing the person’s mind for ‘battle’, whilst the kundalini techniques progressed the person spiritually.  Note that spiritual progression heightens the perceptive skills and the skills of combat anyway.

The combination could not be more ideal, as it is a surefire recipe for progressing along the spiritual path  - early techniques can be based on overload, later techniques on suppression

The Shinto based overload techniques are part of the sacred methods, that include techniques for practical out of body experiences.  In order to understand the symbolism -  the ‘disk harpoons’ are not disk harpoons, for example – see Bisento.  Dr Hatsumi’s book is a joy of coded messages – full of double entendres and coded sections hidden in the text, it took me ages to work out what he meant - but hopefully I got the right idea.

Dr Masaaki Hatsumi  -  Essence of Ninjutsu
The sacred methods of Ninjutsu are
- Shinto Hiho – the secret teachings of Shinto
- Hachimon tonko jujutsu – the eight methods of incantation
- Taijutsusosoku Shugyo – the body technique of walking like the wind
- Mutodorijutsu – capturing without using a sword
- Senbannage and kodachi – techniques for disk harpoons [bisento] and small swords
- Jissensekko Gijutsu – techniques of scouting in actual battle

Ninjutsu are the set of techniques used to physically engage in combat – thus Nunjutsu is the part most people witness.  A parallel system exists for the  spiritual aspects and this is called  Ninpo.  Ninpo stresses ‘philosophic and spiritual training’ in conjunction with the physical training.

In theory, we are only interested in Ninpo for the purposes of spiritual experience, but it would be wrong to assume you do not need Ninjutsu.  Ninjutsu is needed for fitness and to train the body and discipline the mind, in preparation for Ninpo.

Let me take an example. One of the disciplines of Ninjutsu is called Taijutsu and describes  a number of practical physical techniques used in unarmed combat.  It is part of a much larger physically based system that includes such things as the

• Taijutsu  - unarmed combat
• Kenjutsu  - sword techniques
• Bijutsu - stick and staff techniques
• Sijutsu - spear techniques
• Naginatajutsu  - naginata techniques
• Kusarigamajutsu  - kusarigama techniques
• Shurikenjutsu  - throwing weapons techniques
• Kayakujutsu  - pyrotechnics
• Hensijutsu - disguise and impersonation
• Shinobi-iri  - stealth and entering methods
• Bajutsu  - horsemanship
• Sui-ren  - water training
• Biryaku  - tactics
• Chihi  - espionage
• Intonjutsu  - escaping and concealment
• Tenmon (meteorology)
• Chi-mon (geography)

The parallel system in Ninpo is called Ninpo Taijutsu and it too is ‘unarmed combat’.  For each physically based Ninjutsu technique we can find a Ninpo spiritual exercise, in taijutsu all the exercises are executed physically but are based on sexual stimulation.

All the techniques are described in coded language.  There is an entire vocabulary built up around double entendres.  ‘Swords’ are not swords, ‘sticks’ are not sticks, ‘riding the horse’ is not riding a horse, soft and hard techniques are …. well you can guess I suspect.

In the same way we in the west talk about ‘dicks’ and ‘willys’ and ‘cocks’ and ‘cock rings’ and ‘the old man’ and the ‘friend’ – a set of similar terms is used in Ninpo.  The names of the techniques have been kept in the two versions of Taijutsu, but the descriptions [as one expect] are totally different.

Japan has been a repressed society since the Meiji period.  Even before the Meiji period the ruling elite sought to squash all the sexually based techniques. People who have frequent sexual experience, whether this is through masturbation or not,  have little interest in war and aggression.  This is bad news for an empire builder.  The lid has only just been lifted on this repressive culture – and I do mean only just – the 1990s.  All this had to be secretive.  The laws governing the wide dissemination of these sorts of techniques were extraordinarily harsh.

In one of the more surreal events of the modern era, much of the real hidden and secret teachings of Ninpo has been coded into manga.  Manga are ‘comics’  - cartoon based series, conforming to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century.They are read avidly by both adults and children and have a long, complex pre-history in earlier Japanese art – they are in some senses the continuation of the use of myth and story to convey truths

Ninpo, Genjutsu and yojutsu

Once you have applied the physical methods to gain the spiritual experience and you are ‘in’ the spiritual world or in an out of body state, there are two extra sets of techniques that can be used genjutsu and yogutsu.  Jutsu actually means ‘tricks’. See magician

Taijutsu and the eighteen disciplines

This too may be of interest as it shows the links with the kabuki theatre.  Pantomine in the UK has links with kabuki theatre

The allusion to curtain opening is also allegorical/symbolic.  The kuji ("nine characters") is a concept originating from Taoism, where it was a string of nine words used in charms and incantations. 

Killing does not mean literally  killing .  The little death.  

Rules

Ninja abide by both Buddhist and Shinto principles and apply the generic rule DON’T HURT.

The Ninja must not kill others [not just people any creature], must not injure the innocent, must not steal in fact must not perpetrate any act which hurts – the planet or fellow creatures.  In this both Buddhist and Shinto principles are being followed.

A Ninja’s costume is known as ‘Ninniku Yoroi’.  Ninniku literally means ‘forbearance’ and also refers to a Buddhist monk’s robes. The spirit of the Ninja is thus based on the principle of swallowing insults – forgiving, swallowing the need for revenge and on the stilling of the ego – squashing the will.

A Ninja may marry, but for reasons that should be clear to those who have already studied all the sexually based  techniques, this may compromise their ability to have the enlightenment experience unless they follow strict rules – the difference between magic and divinity .  Shinran, one of Japan’s famous monks ‘violated the ban on loving women’ and Rennyo had eleven wives and bore 27 children. 

Yet again we make the fine but extremely important distinction between sexual activity and orgasm.  To provoke a kundalini experience you need to practise sex without orgasm.

It is strictly forbidden to use ninjutsu for the purposes of entertainment or to perform ‘magic tricks’.  There are people, even now, calling themselves Ninja who do ‘magic tricks’ – all of which have a perfectly rational explanation and are simply entertainment.  They can handle snakes, slip through ropes, break sticks with their fists, cause frogs to fall asleep by stroking their stomach, stand on nails and broken glass and cut up chopsticks using paper.  None of this does any harm, it is entertaining, it can be explained, but it is not ninjutsu.

It is clear that ‘magicians’ have been passing themselves off as Ninja for quite some time – people whose only skill is actually illusion and the ability to hypnotise.  The same problem exists in India – some ‘yogis’ are not yogis.  Even the tricks performed are very similar in Japan and India showing where the roots of all these tricks probably lies.

References

Probably the best book of all those I read to describe techniques, the history and the background to the martial art is that by Dr Masaaki Hatsumi The Way of the Ninja – Secret techniques.  Another book that I found helpful, also by him, is Essence of Ninjutsu  - the Nine Traditions

Observations

For iPad/iPhone users: tap letter twice to get list of items.

• Ishikawa Goemon
• Ninjutsu - Levitation
• Ninjutsu - Summoning
• Ninjutsu shape shifting
• Shunsho