Swords are not limited to the samurai class. Another class of warriors called Ninja or also known as shinobi, was a class of warriors who originated from lower levels of society. Ninjas are equivalent to modern day spies and were in service of Japanese land lords (a.k.a daymio) and samurai. Ninja may come from lower levels of society but are most often feared even by those who hired them for missions. They were considered professional assassins and mercenaries.
Shinobi-no-mono, as their original name, used to create secret schools or associations for trainings starting on the 15th century. They named their fighting art as ninjitsu. It offered extraordinary skills and physical powers to its trainees even were taught to possess extra natural skills such as flying.
Methods of Fighting
Ninja were naturally feared by others considering that they were actually were very crude warriors! No honor code or any moral rules are regarded by ninjas. Their extremely cruelty does not spare women and children in their killing spree. Thus, it became a primary reason for them to be not respected as noble warriors.
Their underground associations were very handy in times of wars where they fought for samurai executing the most difficult missions. Many regard that the fame of the samurai was made possible by ninjas who utilized their fighting to defeat the enemy with the use of tactics in most of the wars.
The art of ninja fighting was passed down from father to son before creation of schools. Later on it was inherited by best of the students from their masters or sensei. Nakagawa-ry is the first known ninja school and taught ninjitsu.
A ninja was trained from a very tender young age and was taught even more things than a samurai. This warrior was skilled at swords, spears, bows, throwing knives, tagaki (fist weapon), metallic claws for feet (for climbing or leg hits), etc. It is vital for a ninja to cope with explosive and poisonous substances and had to possess surviving knowledge. The variety of ninja weapons, attributes and knowledge was much wider in scope than that of a samurai.
Given the wide array of weapons, there is one weapon that ninja should not leave without. He can never any his home without a possession of his sword as the main weapon of a ninja. A Ninja sword was shorter and straighter than samurai’s katana. It was worn on the back by the left shoulder for easy reach.
Ninja Wearing Apparel
Ninja are remembered to always wear black clothes. It serves as a perfect disguise especially at night. They also wore a light armor when they are in the battlefield, which was designed for protection and the lightness enabled them to move freely.
Ninjas wore shoes called tabi designed as extremely light shoes made of cloth and leather soles.
Ninja are known to be one of the greatest secret of the Medieval Japan history. Up to now, there are schools that teach some of the ninja skills. These skills are more about discipline and physical development rather than aggressiveness and lack of moral principles.