First a little history on Ninjitsu:
From the early seventeenth century until the middle of the nineteenth century (Meiji Restoration) Japanese society was locked in a rigid class structure that allowed very little or no mobility at all. That meant that members of a social group within a certain social class had no choice but to accept their place in society. In addition, there was a clear distinction between the ruling class--the samurai--and the other classes--peasants, craftsmen, and merchants. Within each class as well, there was a certain hierarchy according to which members of the class had to act their social role with little opportunity to change their status. This reality have produced strong identifying characteristics for each social class to which the individual had to conform. Outside these social classes, as they were designated by the ruling samurai elite, were the classless people and outcasts who were placed bellow everybody else. Ninjutsu, for the most part, was the fighting skills and methods practiced by a small number of families who belonged to the lower samurai class, peasants, and even outcasts, and only rarely by warriors belonging to the samurai elite. Consequently, ninjutsu since the Edo period has been identified as different than the noble traditions of the samurai, and those practicing it were usually regarded by the rest of society as lowly people. In other words, ninjutsu was anything but conformity to the pre defined social rules. As such, it could have never received a seal of approval as a recognized martial tradition, not even when those samurai were actually employing warriors proficient in ninjutsu.
The social conditions and the strong tendency for conformity I have just discussed produced another problem. Fighting methods or weapons that were not practiced by the samurai elite were considered mysterious at best, sometimes demonic, often super natural, and certainly unworthy of respect. Here again is the problem that rises from social conformity. For the samurai elite who were bound by rules of behavior and a code of honor and ethics, fighting methods were confined to a small number of weapons, namely bow, sword, staff, jutte, and spear. This resulted in little creativity in fighting. However, for warriors other than the samurai, those who were not constrained by their position in society, creativity was a necessity for winning. They have maintained unusual and innovative fighting methods and weapons that were developed in earlier periods, while systematizing, recording, and adding to it during the Edo period. Consequently, ninjutsu came to be perceived very negatively, and when Japan moved into the modern period ninjutsu gradually disappeared while its dark and mysterious image, which already became folklore, was now viewed as an historical fact.
Perhaps it was the Second World War and the American occupation of Japan that changed Japanese society in a way that made people ridicule ninjutsu not just suppress its place in the history of Japanese warfare. It was not part of the Yamato damashii (the Japanse spirit) that the Japanese now looked for to restore their confidence and self-identity. Ninjutsu was placed in a small dark corner in the Japanese historical attic. A further turn to the worse came when ninjutsu was introduced to the West in the Sixties, and became the subject of low quality low budget American films in the Seventies and Eighties. The image of a mysterious, super-human, often devilish warrior was now out in the open and on display. This image was based on fathomless misunderstanding of Japanese history, and of ninjutsu in particular. In addition, there was the motivation for producing profitable movies, a fact that greatly distorted any remaining accuracy. As it often happens, the public accepted the information delivered in the movies as an accurate historical portrayal of ninjutsu.
Naturally, we should now ask, what are all these fighting skill that we now call with such confidence "Ninjutsu"?
The answer to that is not given in all those historical records which I have turned to in order to understand what Ninjutsu is. In fact, there is no known pre-modern historical record that systematically describes, or at least lists the titles of fighting techniques used by those warriors who specialized in infiltration and covert activity. The only records, which I am aware of, are those handed down by a number of late Edo period specialists to Takamatsu Toshitsugu who then passed on the records and knowledge to a handful number of disciples. Much has been written on their infiltration and "blending in" but little about their actual fighting method. it would vary widely from clan to clan.
Conclusion:
True Ninjistu is hard to define based on the historical data that exists.
Many say that their Ninjitsu is true, but in reality there is no way to know for certain.
What we do know is that True Ninjitsu was considered "dirty" and "without honor" IT WAS NOT A BUSHIDO SYSTEM! It did not respect the bushido code of the Samurai and were considered outlaws. Many Samurai that lost there battles and refused to follow through with death would eventually become outlaws and join ninja clans who believed in winning whatever the cost! Totally contrary to bushido code but the only ones who would accept them. They would give up valuable info on the enemy and together whould defeat their enemies.
Thier are many traditional Ninjitsu schools out there. Exp. the Bujinkan Dojo and Budo Ryu, but few "Modern" Ninjitsu schools. Schools that teach winning at ANY cost. That teach how to use "today's" weapons affectively. no more do we fight with shovels and rakes or blow guns. Society has advanced with new complex technology and a true warrior must learn to use them all. In Hokuto Shinken you learn to use different caliber handguns, rifles, scilencers and jamming devices. Using the same mentality as the Ninja of old but in today's world.
Hokuto Shinken DOES NOT teach historical Ninjitsu. It does however impart the "Mentality" and principles that are much more important. We DO NOt dress in black uniforms and climb trees. we much rather blend in wearing Armani suits on the job . It is made up of many fighting styles and is composed of hard and soft syyles of fighting. Soft (the ability to harvest Chi and inner power,Mental concentration and the knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine).
