My friend has been taking Ninjutsu now for a couple of years and he has taught me several things..I've got to say that it is a much "dirtier" martial art than I thought..it's very lethal! I forget the particular name of the move, but basically if someone comes at me with a straight right, I could paralyze him from the neck down
I've been reading a lot of wikipedia articles about various martial arts and related topics, so I was aware that Ninjutsu is a "dirty" martial art, but considering the context in which it originated, I can't say I blame them for it. Speaking of dirty fighting though, are you familiar with Krav Maga? They have a lot of genital strikes, chokes and eye gouges as well, but I think Ninjutsu has a more comprehensive practice of koppojutsu (bone breaking) and kyushojutsu (pressure points). I was actually very impressed by how comprehensive the original Ninjutsu curriculum really is.
Seishin-teki kyōkō (spiritual refinement)
Bōjutsu (stick and staff fighting)
Shurikenjutsu (throwing shuriken)
Sōjutsu (spear fighting)
Naginatajutsu (naginata fighting)
Kusarigamajutsu (kusarigama fighting)
Kayakujutsu (pyrotechnics and explosives)
Hensōjutsu (disguise and impersonation)
Shinobi-iri (stealth and entering methods)
Bajutsu (horsemanship)
Sui-ren (water training)
Bōryaku (tactics)
Chōhō (espionage)
Intonjutsu (escaping and concealment)
Tenmon (meteorology)
Chi-mon (geography)
Taijutsu (Unarmed Combat)
Kenjutsu (sword fighting)
I was also impressed by the Ninja's strategic use of sex.
Unlike fiction, real-life kunoichi were trained differently from male ninja. Their training focused more on disguises, poisons, and using their gender to an advantage. While they were trained in close combat, they were only to make use of this knowledge if they were caught.
They would usually disguise themselves as geishas, prostitutes, entertainers, fortune-tellers, and the like to get very close to the enemy. It is thought that they would generally seduce the soon-to-be victim and when they get close enough, would poison them, but it is just as possible they would be disguised as a household servant, allowing them many opportunities to overhear information or get close to a victim.
Kunoichi would hide weapons in their disguise, like poisoned needles in their hair and knives up their sleeves. They also often would turn a previously harmless item into a weapon. For example, they would learn how to break bones with their wooden shoes, put a hidden blade on their fan, or they would use an umbrella as a momentary shield.
Anyway, as an Aikido guy I should still expect to be surprised by how aggressive and remorseless Ninja arts can be, but the contrast between philosophies is part of the appeal for me. Not that I picture myself ever using lethal techniques in a real fight, or participating in an MMA match, but with enough experience I'd like to get involved with martial arts cinema, though probably not in the US. I'm sure there are plenty of Asian studios though who could use another white antagonist or miniboss
Otherwise I'm a straight kickboxer, I concluded a long time ago that in a fight situation, I'm much more comfortable with striking than counter-grappling etc..
However I do the occasional training in Ninjutsu and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu when I go spar/wrestle in the gym
I enjoy striking in wuxia movies because Kung Fu is so cinematic, but it seems to me that its effectiveness in real combat is limited. I remember watching what was probably a BJJ infomercial years ago and the host was spitting out statistics about how striking is only so valuable because X% of all fights end on the ground anyway and it seems consistent with my high school experience of watching angry basketball players fight. In almost every single one, Guy A would punch or push Guy B, then Guy B would rush in with his head down and grab Guy A's waist or legs. After this, they would both roll over each other on the ground attempting to punch each other, but both were too close and too off balance to do any harm to the other before an adult stepped in to separate them. However, a simple arm or leg lock could have ended the fight pretty quickly, possibly along with the rest of the recipient's season
When it comes to striking though, I think I can say without too much arrogance that I'm deceptively good at it. Honestly, I'm not a very big guy (6'1", 145 lbs) and I'm not very strong. I am quite fast though, and I seem to have an intuitive grasp of how to exploit my added velocity for increased power on impact. When I was in high school I used to go to the gym after school and just kick the shit out of the two punching bags. One of them was a standard hanging bag and I could routinely hit it so hard that one or two of the chains holding it up would detach. The other bag was a weeble type standing bag that was really heavy in the base to prevent it from falling over. However I could knock it over with a round house kick or a side chop and was the only one of my peers who could manage to get it to stay down without either tackling it, or using a "big boot" style push kick.
After graduating high school I did nothing martial arts related for five years, because I wasn't interested in joining my college's Tae Kwon Do or Karate clubs, and I wasn't aware that an Aikido club existed until my final year. Since we're all friends off the mat as well, we occasionally screw around outside of practice and one day one of the guys who probably weighs over 200 lbs was holding a practice pad and wanted me to round house kick him. It was the first time I'd kicked anything in about five years, but I still could kick hard enough that he lost his balance and almost fell.
Also, on Sunday we were practicing jab defense and I accidentally punched him and the instructor and in their faces
