Learn Ninjutsu! The 3 Secondary Arts of Ninpo Taijutsu – The Disarmed "Body Art" of the ninja

Contrary to popular belief, the martial art of the ninja is not simply a mixture of conventional “styles” of martial arts. Many people believe that if you mix the punch and kicks of karate with the throws and joint locks of judo and jujitsu, and then throw a sword and some throwing stars, and voila! You have a ninja warrior. In truth, nothing could be further from the truth.

In fact, many of the modern and conventional martial arts that we know today are based on the same skills and subsystems that still make up the armed and unarmed combat methods of ninjas that are used today.

Where the new wave of mixed martial artists is doing exactly that, mixing skills and techniques from different martial arts to make up for perceived gaps in any given system, the ninja combat arts are a unified system of common principles and concepts that fit naturally and operate as a cohesive whole.

Where MMA fighters have to deal with often contradictory principles collected from different “styles”, the ninja does not have to worry about this problem. Where the mixed martial artist has to solve the problem to get a hard style to blend with a soft one, without revealing his intentions or strategy, the true ninja is free to move from one technique to another without the need to change between. style. “or fear of giving something away.

While ninpo-taijutsu, the unarmed method of combat that lies at the heart of ninjutsu, appears to be just a mix of skills and techniques, it is actually made up of 3 general sub-arts, each with its own specializations. These sub-arts, or skill sets, can be used as is, or chosen and applied in response to the attacker’s own techniques and intentions.

These sub-arts are:

1) Daken-Taijutsu: Daken means “to hit”. So these are the flashy arts of the Ninja. Again, rather than being limited to one way or “style” of doing things, the ninja’s dakentaijutsu hitting methods are comprised of the sciences of koppjutsu (“bone-breaking skills”), koshijutsu (‘using your fingers of the hands and feet to hit and tear the muscular system of the aggressor), and others.

2) Ju-Taijutsu – Often translated as “grasping arts,” the kanji for ju in the name ju-taijutsu actually means “soft.” So these are the “soft body skills” of the Ninja. The predecessor to what would later become jujitsu, the ninja’s jutaijutsu focuses on throwing skills, pressure point attacks, joint locks, etc.

However, the common mistake when thinking about the 2 systems above is to assume that there is no grappling or throws in dakentaijutsu, just like there are no hits in jutaijutsu. When in reality, these two arts suggest 1) overwhelming an attacker with strikes (dakentaijutsu) and … 2) using strikes to configure abilities to control, restrain, and bind their attacker (jutaijutsu).

3) Taihen-Jutsu: These are the body movement skills of the ninja. Taihenjutsu means “body changing skills” and is the general classification or title of skills such as the ninja’s unique methods of walking, running, rolling, climbing, etc.

Again, the misconception is to confuse the ninja’s taihen skills with gymnastics, when in reality, the reason for doing the skills in each is very different. Where the gymnast can perform the skills at his own pace, the Ninja must execute his turn, change of body or jump in direct and synchronized response to the attack of his assailant.