Modern ninjas?

[Rio]

I know there are schools claiming to teach Ninjitsu/Ninjutsu/etc...

 

It's also pretty widely accepted that most of the ninja folklore is a result of old wives' tales and hollywood (ninja invisibility, mind control, mind reading, etc).

 

That being said, with the ninja being a supposed master of stealth, combat, undetected entry, etc, it seems to me the modern ninja would have a completely different (or at least updated) set of skills from the ninjas of old.

 

With everything today being so high-tech, it would seem to me that the modern ninja would need to be proficient in picking locks, bypassing alarms, modern combat methods, as well as the ability of computer hacking/cracking.

 

Gaining entry to a secure location nowadays would require the ability to disable alarm systems, pick locks with high-security pins (such as spool shaped pins and pins within pins), deal quickly and efficiently with unexpected (and expected) opponents, and obtain electronic data from computer systems.

 

Any thoughts on this? Or am I completely out in left field?

[foreveryoung001]

I don't know if you're that far out in left field, but it sounds more like the plot of a movie to me. And instead of weapons hidden in their clothes, they could carry floppy disks, and CD-R's, and they could bash people in the head by flinging around a mouse... be carfule, if you right-click it, three inch spikes shoot out both sides...

 

Oh yeah, Spielburg is gonna be all over this one.

 

On a serious note, I did read on this forum, that someone would give the term "modern day ninja" to some of the military's special forces. I think that has some merrit to it, and I believe they already have training in most of things you have mentioned. I was not accepted into the military so I could be way off on this, but that's just my opinion.

[Ricochet]

Yeah, that kind of "modern ninja" would be right at home in a cyberpunk novel, I think.

 

Actually, in Neuromancer, there was a character who was a "street samurai." Not exactly the same, but the idea is similar.

[shanemm]

actually there was a special on the discovery channel about ninjas. they had a team of seals go and kill a man hidden in a building with 2 guards, the guards had to search around the house for an answer to a random question now and then to prevent them from camping in one spot. they had to take the man's hat off to signify that he was dead. the swat team did it easy but the 2 guards got off a few shots, which could have possibly killed one of them in real life. the "ninja master" posed as a set assistant and eventually worked his way into the room were the guy was hiding(the target was in a bath tub and the ninja was in the room connecting to the bathroom). he used excuses such as the cameras were fogging up(they had a fog machine running a little bit), and he earned one of the guard's trust by answering one of the questions. when he was in the room about 8 feet away from the target he struck and got the hat.

 

point...today's ninja would be like McGuyver. a people person who knows how things work, especially a computer and several other high tech objects.

[Shane]

I kind of see where your coming from on this topic. As times change so do we with it. So if someone was going to use the Ninja today, in the ways that the myths show them, then ya they would probably for sure need some up to date training on tech.

[TeaL]

according to old texts, please dont ask me to site... i forget where it was, it was omthing like a few thousand years old, it said a ninja was a "jack of all trades" type person, with any skills to fit the job. with only ninjitsu as a basic. The "ninja magic" was half made up, half real, the fake half was what the public knew and feared thus giving ninjas a fatal aura and could cause terror to there victims. The real part of the magic was in a sense false, they had such training they could "see the future" in a fight, meaning they could predict the movements of there enemies very accuratly, giving them a "foresight" so highly hyped about.