Here is some info that may help you.
http://www.winjutsu.com/ninjakids/nk_history.html
"Ninjutsu" is usually translated as the "art of stealth." The Japanese
character, "nin" (also translated as "shinobi") has many meanings,
such as perseverance, endurance, and sufferance. The term Ninjutsu is
most commonly used to refer to the specific methods and techniques
used by the Ninja. Ninjutsu as a way of life didn't happen overnight.
It developed over the course of many years. The name Ninjutsu itself
didn't come about until several generations after the Ninja lifestyle
began.
Ninjutsu was created in central Honshu (the largest of the Japanese
islands) about eleven hundred years ago. It was developed by
mountain-dwelling families in an area not unlike the American
Appalachians, where the terrain is rugged and remote. Ninja families
were great observers of nature. They felt a close connection to the
Earth, similar to the Native Americans, and their lifestyle was one
that lived according to the laws of Nature, not against it. Ninja were
also very spiritual people, and their beliefs became an integral part
of Ninjutsu.
Although there has been an evolution of Ninjutsu as a life philosophy
over the centuries, the fundamental principles have remained virtually
unchanged. Togakure ryu Ninjutsu is more than 800 years old. Except
for a relatively short period of notoriety prior to the reign of the
Tokugawas, the art lived quietly in the hearts of just a few people.
The Ninja were a separate society from the urban centered ruling class
and the non-privileged classes which served them. Consider the gulf
that must have existed between the new American government and the
American Indians during the first 125 years following the signing of
the Declaration of Independence. Although this is an incomplete and
potentially misleading analogy, it may give you a better understanding
on how Ninjutsu may have developed as a counterculture to the
samurai-dominated Japanese society. |
