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Japan Still Has Ninjas — But They’re About to Go Extinct (psnaudus.medium.com)

submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by CaspianXI@lemmy.world to c/mildlyinteresting@lemmy.world

15 comments fedilink hide all child comments

In 2012, Jinichi Kawakami emerged as the last surviving ninja grandmaster. Kawakami believed that the art of ninjutsu has no place in the modern age, as we have better weapons, the internet, and better medicines. Masaaki Hatsumi, another surviving ninja grandmaster, has not appointed an heir. Once Kawakami and Hatsumi pass away, ninjas will forever cease to exist.

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[–] moormaan@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 years ago

The article is quite incomplete when it comes to Masaaki Hatsumi - he started teaching westerners Budo Taijutsu in the seventies. Since then, it spread to all corners of the world. Also, it's fair to say that ninjas in their original form no longer exist, but the art lives on and continues to affect its practitioners' lives in many ways; see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_schools_of_ninjutsu

[–] fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

It wasn’t until the age of eighteen, when he was given access to the clan’s ancient scrolls, that Kawakami finally realized the purpose behind his decades of training

Hmmmmm

[–] 51@kbin.social 2 points 2 years ago

Training starts years before birth in the egg half of the eventual person

[–] IronDonkey@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

Once Kawakami and Hatsumi have passed away, ninjas will forever cease to exist.

That's what they want you to think.

[–] UnknownQuantity@lemmy.world 0 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Ninjas are mammals.

[–] mrbubblesort@kbin.social 1 points 2 years ago

No no, I saw a documentary about them in the 90s, I'm pretty sure they are turtles

[–] kfoo@lemmy.world 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Ninjas fight ALL the time.

[–] UnknownQuantity@lemmy.world 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

The purpose of the ninja is to flip out and kill people.

[–] UnknownQuantity@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago (2 children)

For the uninitiated, a little bit of old time internet: https://www.realultimatepower.net/ninja/ninja2.htm

[–] Rumbelows@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

That is….totally sweet!

Never saw that one, thank-you.

[–] _haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 years ago

I love that this site is still up lol

[+] spittingimage@lemmy.world -18 points 2 years ago (2 children)

For anyone who's interested, Hatsumi-sensei's school is called Bujinkan Taijutsu and is practised in Japan, the US, New Zealand and other places. It's a serious self-defense style and students train without mats, because if you need it to defend yourself, you'll probably be on concrete. It comprises kicks, punches, throws, joint locks, weapons and poking opponents in the most painful nerves.

You'd be surprised how hard it is to hit anything with a throwing star.

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 years ago

I knew a guy who trained in ninjitsu in highschool. I trained in Kung Fu for a few years before I met him. We used to spar after school and he was ridiculously hard to fight. All of his moves were deceptive. Even simple kicks and blocks were meant to decieve. As a result I was constantly trying to predict his actual motive instead of just fighting him straight-up. It's a really neat style that seems to be very effective against other trained martial artists. Idk how it would fare against an untrained street fighter, but I'd guess that it is just as effective in that situation too.

[–] livus@kbin.social 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

@spittingimage are you yourself.... a ninja?