Do you think ninjas would be proud of the misconceptions made? We build them up as almost magic, and if I were one, I think I would be pretty happy with everyone being in such awe.
So what your saying is that being a ninja overall is only a part time job. Thanks for answering my question Anthony Cummings. Really appreciate the response!!
I think it may have been a reference to the Assassins from the Middle East, that's a common myth pertaining to them. He may have been conflating the two in order to stress the fact that ninja clans are one of the many misconceptions people have about shinobi. Look up Hassan-i Sabbah if you want to research the Nizari. It's an interesting subject.
im trying to make a game about ninjas, it will be inspired by your books, it will not be totally realistic, im going to get a a "kabuki" inspired aesthetic, but the idea is that it will be more realistic than, for example, ninja gaiden, or tenchu... im struglin with the stealth aspect, but i hope you like it when it comes out to give you an idea, the idea is to mix the stealth from the old "thief gold" game, the fighting from "mount and blade", im not sure what time it would be set in, i want fire arms to be in, and it would be unforgiving for "rambo" ninjas...
Actually, I'm glad for the complication of this video, we were trying to hammer something like this out on a Skype call a month and a half ago, but we just didn't have the articulation. As it's something I come up to when explaining the relationship of samurai/shinobi to people and they ask me about Iga and Koka and how they fit into it all.
I'm going to take my leftover Bujinkan training and make a Foot Clan of Ninja Thieves here in America and cause alot of problems just to get back at Hatsumi for all the bad training I recieved.😂
NOT SERIOUS! JOKE WARNING! Turns out im "a ninja" then, because im from a "warrior family" every generation up to my grandfather was full of active military officers, my father didnt participate in war but he was for a while the main teacher of martial arts to a small section of the specialforces "grupo halcon" as part of his job of teaching at a place were both civilians and security/armed forces trained... And i did got some martial qrts training, but mostly got taught "how to take a position" as in, how to take a building with a small group of people, how to secure the position... How to infiltrate or escape a building unnoticed(not with the intention of using it, since im not in the military but basic stealth steps, room clearing and inspection, how to reduce visibility and noise, how to climb a wall without making much noise, how to know the field of view of someone else, etc... And beside all of that and mostly without using any of that knowledge, ive been hired to spy on companies and people, mostly about knowing what kind of product is the other company making, how good or bad are they on the books, or finding something to exploit like non safe products sold by them... And on particular people to know if they are cheating on them, if they are lying about something, if some rumor is true, etc... So i am a "modern ninja" xD Jokes aside, im just a shroom producer with some military knowledge learnt from family who has done some basic "spy" missions... Not really worthy of the word ninja... Is like trying to call myself a viking becquse i once sailed a long boat(i didnt) and know how to fight with axe and shield(hardly true, altho i do know basics of shield use, a hema practicioner would kick my ass) Dont know if you did a video on it but, if you didnt, can you do one about kunoichi and onnabugeisha?(probably butchered that word)
Well... jokes aside, yes, you are in fact a modern ninja, heir to a ninja clan jutsus (el grupo halcon is no joke, they be some serious shinobi no mono), trained, and you work as a spy or infiltrator (which does traslate to japanese as shinobi no mono). I had a disscusion with friends some time ago about how comes other countries did not have "shinobi" since thir work is quite usefull and ubicuous and the similitude with CIA agents or the spies of the cold war... and we ended up agreeing that ninjas in other cultures, simply have no "special name" for them, like how "digital thiefs" are called "pirates" and they sail no boat. You would be a gennin though until you complete your training and you command more shinobi no mono (spies) of your own, then you could call yourself "shonin". Congrats!
@@bernardorodero8374 yeah, its mostly a thing of definitions... If you use antony definition of spies from japan in a certain age, then no one can be a shinobi today... But if you went back in time and asked the definition to a shinobi, then many people could claim to be shinobi... For example... The british SOE were basically european shinobi
Antony Cummins No it wasn't, I just had the concept stuck in my head and told my friends about that there are no 'Ninja clans' just Samurai clans. However, I wasn't sure and didn't have all the details ^^;
Not too different from an Alor vs clans in mandalorian culture. In the lore, you had the main house clan, such as the Vizla Clan being the most well known because of rebels and clone wars, that led the houses related to the Vizla clan which also had Clan Wren in it. If I remember correctly, Sabine even says “I am of Clan Wren, of house Vizla” or something like that. And as far as adoption, well the only clone to become a Fett was Boba but Clan Skirata adopted many clones. Jango himself was adopted into the Mareel Clan but kept his biological clans name while his sister was adopted into one of the Death Watch clans (ironically). But to my knowledge that’s where the similarities end because Karen Travis, the author of the Republic Cammando series of books stated she based them a lot on Celtic culture.
Basically the Japanese Family Structure worked, the same as it does in the Military!.. 🥷Within reason and obvious there will be exceptions, but in life things always remain relatively the same with an appearance of change. Nice Video
Thanks Antony - the translations you guys are putting out mean I no longer have to ignore this Ninja subject! I do have one question - often I've come across what seems to be a list of families from Iga and Koka (of about 40 names) that is presented as a list of shinobi ryu-ha (as I am interested in a ryu with a similar name so the list keeps coming up). I tried to reference where the list came from and after some digging it seems it is listed as personal collection of Hatsumi. Is there any authenticity to this list at all?
Ninjutsu started as a counter culture against the tyranny of certain oppressive samurai daimyo, so they were not samurai, in general. They were much closer related to monks, than samurai. Godspeed!
@@southernknight9983 I ask the same question as the above guy. Are you an academic? Mr Cummins is A PhD researcher. He has documented original books that exist but were all in old japanese before him. And he didn't do it alone. A work of that magnitude is done in association with other scholars. I did ninjutsu btw. Even animes are congruent with what said in this video. Even in Naruto world, the villages are under the jurisdiction of Samurai land Lords. The vallages are part of them. Shinobi no Kuni manga. Ninjas where just soldiers and samurais from samurai houses from Iga and Koga.
@@southernknight9983 The monk part. There existed monks for different spiritual practices. If you are thinking in ninja magick. You have to know that samurais had their magick too. All of them inspired and derived from chinese magick. The hand selas/mudras and mantras. And who had access to ancient books? Samurai.
@@Eidosgod Cummings has a Masters in Ancient History and far from a PhD. He doesn't even speak Japanese, yet claims to have the best translation of certain "ninja scrolls." The guy is an idiot and an insult to the Japanese culture. I know nothing about Naruto or whatever. Ninja originated from warrior monks from China, which is why they utilize very similar weapons and training methods of the Shoalin, being taught and funded by Buddhist, Shinto and Shugendo temples. Ninja are warriors. Samurai are soldiers. Understand the difference. Peace!
Sounds a lot like Scottish Clans and their septs. My name is Lowe but is a "sept" of Clan MacLaren. Or at least that's how I have come to understand it.
No, i focus on older times not more modern ones, i only know them because id am bring Natori Ryu Back so we have to follow the history trail. I go the other way, older the better.
Most other channels give us videos one or two times a week. They spend a bit more time on editing and use more b-roll. I know a couple of channels upload a normal video once a week say a Monday and then you add them on a Join account and they upload say on a Friday.
I wish I could find more information on my grandmother's maiden name which is Ikeda. I know as much as there were two samurai clans with this name but I'm not sure about much else....
***** I was told the samurai adopted the name of the local farmers in order to get them to embrace him so my family isn't sure if we're related to the rice farmers or the samurai. I'm sure you can tell by my username which one I'd like for it to be
Very interesting video, it answered a lot of what I was wondering about things like the Iga clan and stuff. But with the different Ie inside, using your example, the Tokugawa clan, does that mean Tokugawa Ieyasu formed the Yasu house of the Tokogawa clan? Just taking the linguistics of his name to a logical conclusion.
He would have become patriarch yes of his line, and of course taking over the whole country he becomes the head of all houses. All owe loyalty to the shogun so if you follow all house lines they all go to him, even if they do not want to.
Linguistic and historical knowledge wins again! At least for me. But with how names were in that era (you got to pick your personal name, and I think even change it), was him being named after the Ie he was the patriarch of common, like all new patriarchs named themselves after their house, or was it an anomaly or not that common?
That is a difficult question. Tokugawa was not called Tokugawa he changed his name, Natori Ryu became Shin-kusunoki ryu and yes names changed. As far as i know they tried to maintain their family name, yet there are examples of the names being changed.
Ashigaru can be, but there are also examples of full time ashigaru and it is debated if they have one foot in the samurai world. Koshi, Musokunin, jizamurai are all examples of people who are not full samurai but still have some rights as samurai. Normally they are from families that have fallen out of the samurai class.
There are no ninjas left and no proof for any of them. Ninpo Taijutsu is made up. My days of this topic are well over! :) But you get the idea. Stay away from anyone selling you ninpo taijutsu or ninja MA
How are this loyalties worked out?, in a situation where a Shinobi is ordered to fight against a person with whom he has blood loyalty by the person he got a salary from? Which would be considered a major compromise?
I'd imagine their money loyalty comes first. As if you have guys say, from Iga that abandon their "lords" due to a fight with someone they have blood with, then I'd imagine that it would get around that you couldn't trust guys from Iga and then they'd stop being hired out as a result. That being said, I'm totally speculating, with a little tinge of Occam's Razor. I could totally be wrong though.
Something to consider, is that this is a subjective question based on dozens of if not innumerable factors that will be different per person, forever. What would you be loyal to? What would I be loyal to? What would Antony be loyal to? Even the answers to these questions would be impossible to answer in all regards. Some people are driven by honor, some people by family, some people by fear of action anyways and don't think of either, some like chaos, some have thought processes we won't even understand.
Steven Pistone I think something that Otake Sensei from Katori Shinto Ryu had said somewhat comes into effect. In which he'd mentioned that back in the day, one of their oaths to be in the school, was that they couldn't serve a lord. The reason being that if a lord ordered you to strike down someone in your family, or a friend, someone else from the school, etc... you'd have to do it. Leading one to think that the sentiment at the time was that even if it was dishonorable, one would still be inclined to follow the word of their lord. He then went on to say that such a thing is the reason why there's nobody in folklore that's of the KSR school. I don't know, just something to think about, I suppose.
one lives in Iga and one in Koka (not Koga), but they both did very similar things, almost teh same, so not that much difference, read Iga and Koka Ninja Skills the book. From the 1700's and great info from the scrolls on the difference.
Great topic, It will be hard to remove entrenched ideas. They have too much to lose. This subject is a cash cow and they are making a living perpetuating misinformation.
you explain ryuha that some where samurai and where half samurai or part of a school might not be part the house or they adapted in Iga Togakure Daisuke - Shogen period, 1207-1210. Founded TOGAKURE RYU so the scroll just one an the same thumb up
don't mean that not there it in iga ryuha of 43 familys but I am not historian but the research come and go sometime dead end an Iga Heinai Saemon no jo Ianega - Tenmon period, 1532-1554. Founded KUMOGAKURE RYU comes up but if said was togakure ryu modern its ok I am still train in and no one can make me stop learning about ninjutsu and all it history as it is part of the samurai family
Why didn't shinobi have a face of their own? Did there have to be Samurai house's so they'd have representation or were there just not people seperatly trained as Shinobi and that heing their Primairy skill?
a shinobi is a job not a social status. Samurai farmer, craftsman merchant are the divides, shinobi is a task done. So there is no such thing as a social status of shinobi so they do not mix like that. Try my book Samurai and Ninja by Antony Cummins, all in there.
I will stress that you are half right half wrong. The consensus at the very time was 50/50. And so some members remain samurai and others remain shinobi. There is a difference, now here is where my profession begins. I tear apart their vfc schools and philosophizing and their kata and techniques and i find what is inherently shinobi. I take it. Along with any one of a kind secrets and i paste it forever within my family scroll. I steal their knowledge Their essence is mine where it belongs. Hojou and fuma and ⅔rds of Koga. I am studying takeda closely and now others have popped up their heads before i even began the hunt. What a wealth of lost clans and secrets. I know we share an affinity. You on the outside me on the inside. I burrow deeper into their ryuha kokoro no shin or hearts notion lol the more they resist. I rip through the fabric they weave with their heart's mind.
Nah, they had cannabis in Feudal Japan. The earliest traces of cannabis in Japan are seeds and woven fibers dating back to the Jomon Period (10,000 BC - 300 BC). Probably cannabis sativa, and heck, look at this prehistoric painting of weed from Japan. www.herbmuseum.ca/files/images/79/cave.jpg
