Ryan Hefner

Ninja Writing Assignment - Draft

Mr. Bolchalk – 2nd Period - May 17, 2008

Ninjas – this was a name that many people feared for centuries. They were

an elite group of stealthy warriors that seemed to slip in and out of existence.

Ninjas believed in a religion called Ninjutsu, which translates to “the art of stealth”.

Ninjutsu is the Japanese martial art that is a collection of techniques originally

practiced for Japanese espionage purposes. Ninjas were very spiritual and were

influence by Shinto, “the way of the kami (a god).” There was such a small number

ninjas in existence that there are very few records of their lives. Gathering what

has been recorded, historians have pieced together the account of these mystic

combatants.

Samurai and ninjas were two completely different types of warriors. Ninjas

were more assassins and the samurai were soldiers in an army. Ninjas were

members of feudal Japan’s society of mercenary agents, highly trained in martial

arts and stealth, which were hired for surreptitious purposes ranging from

espionage to sabotage and assassination. Conversely, samurai were members of

the warrior class in feudal Japan. They were professional and ruthless fighters. The

types of weapons that both carried were also very different. Samurai primarily

carried katanas, but hojos, kamas, Kozuka blades, shurike, tessen, jutte, and the

manrikigusari were also in their arsenal. On the other hand, ninjas fought primarily

with no weapons, although they would occasionally have to use an instrument of

attack. These included ashikos, bos, bows, bokkens, chigirikis, darts, fukiyas,

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 Ryan Hefner

Ninja Writing Assignment - Draft

Mr. Bolchalk – 2nd Period - May 17, 2008

hanbos, hooks, naginatas, juttes, kakutes, kamas, neko-tes, kusari-gamas, kyoketsu-

shogeis, manriki-gusaris, nunchakus, onos, shobos, shurikens, tantos, swords,

tessens, tetsu-bishis, yaris, and kunais.

I think that in their time, the ninjas were more effective in what they did than

the samurai. Ninjas were like assassins, secret, smart, and cunning. They popped

out of nowhere and attacked. Samurai, though, were more like army soldiers. They

fought in numbers to defeat the enemy and were heavily armed. But, as many

weapons and skills as they had, they were no match for a crafty ninja.

There are many myths surrounding ninjas. Such myths include becoming

invisible, walking on water, catching a sword, catching an arrow, turning into

animals, jumping over buildings, the ability to fly and the ability to foresee the

future. Most of these are definitely untrue, but they are rather illusions. For

example, many people believe that ninjas can become invisible. Actually, there are

trapdoors in the houses of the ninjas that they go through to make the impression

that they disappeared. Then, they pop out behind the attacker and subdue them.

What the ninjas do isn’t really magical, but it is rather clever and unique.

Overall, I think that ninjas were the most sophisticated soldiers in history.

They were witty, refined, chicand much more. They performed their radical

assignments with deadly accuracyand elegance at the same time. One second they

were there, and the next they had vanished. I believe that ninjas were definitely

© 2008 Ryan Hefner – Some Rights Reserved

For more information:
http://moourl.com/copyright
 Ryan Hefner

Ninja Writing Assignment - Draft

Mr. Bolchalk – 2nd Period - May 17, 2008

real, but probably didn’t live up to the exaggerating stories that were told during

their time.

© 2008 Ryan Hefner – Some Rights Reserved

For more information:
http://moourl.com/copyright