Ninjutsu vs. Jujutsu

[Shorin Ryuu]

Jujitsu was basically one of the many disciplines that a samurai (I'm talking Kamakura period type samurai, not the later, Tokugawa period samurai during the 1600-1868 time frame) would study, from horseback riding, to tying a captured opponent. Jujitsu was employed to enable a samurai to dispatch a foe if you happened to be unarmed or perhaps only have your dagger with you. The emphasis on the joint manipulations makes sense, as an opponent would have armor (despite stories of Okinawans punching through samurai armor when the Satsuma samurai annexed Okinawa, none of these probably actually happened) and it would be hard to punch them. They'd practice to unbalance the opponent and most likely cut their throat or otherwise finish them. Jujitsu later evolved into the sport Judo, which is what we know today (do just means "way" whereas "jutsu" means martial or combative pursuit).

 

Ninjitsu on the other hand is the all-encompassing term for the ninja. Legend has it that they were taught by the Tenguu, a sort of mountain spirit. Obviously much more likely is that just in any culture's history, spies were employed, and could be used for information gathering all the way to assassination, which is what most people see ninja as. The image of the ninja has been somewhat glorified due to movies. Somewhat less glorious would be a recorded example of how a ninja was actually used. During the unification of Japan by Tokugawa Ieyasu, a ninja hid in the cesspit of the castle of Ueshiba Kenshin. When said lord did his business one night, he was speared by the ninja through that end of the body that most of us sit on...Nowadays, most ninjitsu schools (legitimate or otherwise) focus upon the combat techniques or more just plain interesting stuff to the average person (like smoke cloud bombs or weaponry). In other words, the ninja did the dirty work that the samurai would not do (but paid the ninja to perform). Of course, such ridiculous scenes like in the Last Samurai, where hordes of ninja attacked the camp of Saigo Takamori (I forget what the character in the movie was actually called, but that is who he was based on) never happened.

[Ravencroft]

Yeah i know. i would be very surpirised to find any records at all of ninja doing a full on attack on the samurai like that.

[Drunken Monkey]

.....well, the thing is, if a shogun/lord asked (or should that be ordered?) one of his samurai to go and kill someone in secret, he would have to do it.

 

he would then employ every skill at his disposal to complete the mission.

 

he might not actually know 'ninjitsu' but he would still be a 'ninja' for the mission....

 

the point was, most shogun/lords/whatever normally had someone who was specially trained for that sort of thing

 

and so 'ninja' and samurai were separate entities.

 

but this was not always the case.

 

y'know, like government agancies.

 

an agent is always an agent

 

but sometimes, they are a covert agent (for a mission).

[Shane]

Once again this is only my opinion and I do not study ninjitsu

 

Jujitsu was designed from Combat. Not for combat but from combat. Jujitsu should incorperate any and everything that works in combat. Ninjitsu also trains for combat just in a non conventional way. Let me use an up to date example. U.S. Army Infantry/Rangers train for convential warfare on the battle field to wear U.S. Army Special Forces train for uncovential methods. But both have to be trained in the basic combat tactics, and then specialized training takes place depending on the unit. So in Jujitsu and Ninjitsu you would find similar techniques since both were used for combat rather it be on the battlefield or on a special assignment. Because the basics of combat is the warriors foundation and basics are what works and whats going to save your life.

 

Just my opinion

[gcav]

With all due respect to everyone that has posted in this thread, you guys make me laugh at the thought that ninjutsu and jujutsu are the same thing. Ninjutsu is like no other MA, barr none. You have to look at the art in its entirety, not just the physical aspects of it. You can not compare the art of ninjutsu to any other MA, because there is nothing that even comes close to it. The lower (physical) levels of training might seem similar to other MAs, but the higher (spiritial and philosophical) levels of the art are like no other. The Godan test by itself will atest to that fact. All MAs have similar physical techniques such as throws, kicks and punches, but ninjutsu is so much more than just physical movements. It is something that has to be experienced to be understood. And that "understanding" takes a life time of dedicaded training. I know some 12th Dans (yes we have 12th Dans) that learn new things about the art everyday. I am not saying that ninjutsu is better than all of the other MAs, it is just different than all of them. A true comparison can not be made because there is nothing to compare it to.