Ninjutsu vs Kung Fu (for self defense)

[MFGQ]

Hey all

My question is which one of these styles would be better for self defense? For Kung Fu I mean tough styles, not wushu, styles like Wing Chun or Hung Gar. And please make sure that you know at least something about ninjutsu and kung fu not just about one please

thx

[h2whoa]

Well that depends on who you ask...each one will say his is best! The question should be what is best for you....go to the schools and find out...or fight them and find out!

[MFGQ]

what i mean is which one would be stronger and more prepared for a fight, of course each one will have an opinion, but there r some ppl who have studied both and can give their opinion

[JWLuiza]

Taijitsu, IMHO will provide a bit harsher training environment with some grappling, but as is the case with everything in MA: It depends on the school.

[Obese_Ninja]

as is the case with everything in MA: It depends on the school.

I agree. All of these martial arts were designed for defence in one form or another, so can be applied to self defence today, as human physiology (sp?) has not changed since those arts were developed. However, scenarios have changed, you are no longer likely to be confronted by samurai, wandering bands of mercenaries or opposing martial arts schools. It all depends on how the individual schools have adapted to the requirements of modern self defence

[striking_cobra]

seriously? i wouldn't consider ninjitsu very guided towards "self defense"...i'm not saying it isn't a good martial art...but i surely wouldn't suggest joe somebody go learn it to protect themselves.

(no offense to you ninja's out there lol, but if you really study ninjitsu i'm sure you know what i'm talking about.)

[Anbu Alex]

Actually "Ninjutsu" is a very good art for self defense, in fact most of the Special Forces CQC is based on taijutsu alot of people have the wrong concept of taijutsu that its just an assaination art which is wrong we are trained in fact for street fighting and in comparison of Kung fu and taijutsu its hard because in application alot of the techs are very kungfu like and in fact it has traces to be developed from kung fu both in my opinion are very good at self defense its up to the practioner

[Obese_Ninja]

My understanding of the ninja is that they were not hardened fighters, their job was (for the most part) gathering information, infiltration etc (again this is as I understand it, if I'm wrong correct me) but surely, as the information needed guarding the focus of the ninja's combatative arts tended towards escape, incapacitating the enemy and getting out of there to pass on what information they had gathered, surely incapacition of an attacker and/or avoidance of/escape from conflict is a very worthwhile focus in any martial art/self defence program.

[Anbu Alex]

My understanding of the ninja is that they were not hardened fighters, their job was (for the most part) gathering information, infiltration etc (again this is as I understand it, if I'm wrong correct me) but surely, as the information needed guarding the focus of the ninja's combatative arts tended towards escape, incapacitating the enemy and getting out of there to pass on what information they had gathered, surely incapacition of an attacker and/or avoidance of/escape from conflict is a very worthwhile focus in any martial art/self defence program.

They were in fact very good fighters because they had to defend themselves from Samurai yes they did do intellegence and counter intellegence but so did most samurai in fact most samurai were ninja alot of the so called information that said ninja cant fight was from Samurai who thught the way they fight was un honorable i already had this dicussion with some one on this forum i forgot which topic it was when i find it ill post it

[Obese_Ninja]

Sorry, poor choice of words, what I meant was that according to my understanding combat, in the traditional sense of meeting on the battlefield with weapons in full view, was not their primary focus, so, when faced with violence their focus would have been avoidance first, then, if avoidance wasn't possible fast incapacitation (lethal or non lethal) and escape so as not to be caught but i speak from very limited knowledge so again correct me if I am wrong.