7 Things you didn’t know about Ninja
Imposing figures in black, hiding in the shadows, and moving about with almost superhuman agility seem like nothing but cool stories told to tourists and movie-goers nowadays, but were once a very real part of feudal Japan. Japanese folklore states that the Ninja descended from a demon that was half man and half crow. Logic would dictate, however, that it seems more likely that the ninja slowly came about as an opposing force to their upper-class contemporaries, the Samurai, in early feudal Japan.
A bit of history: The true origins of Ninja is unclear. It is believed that the first ancient Ninja may have been yamabushi (“mountain priests”) who adapted the Sonshi, a Chinese martial arts manual, to their own purposes. There are refere… Continue Reading (6 minute read)