A ninja is just some dude who gets paid money to get dirty using the best tech and skills available at the time. If they had Glocks in the 15th century ninjas would have been popping caps in Samurai ass. They threw metal stars and swung swords because that’s all they had.
The BBC must have been really desperate to report on some anachronistic pajama wearing idiots.
Take away the sneer, and you're actually agreeing with Soke Hatsumi.
(I've done a little Bujinkan training under a Sensei who also travels to spend a few weeks a year with Masaaki Hatsumi)
False. There are a lot of nuances and factors to the definition of a "ninja" - the historical use of the skills of ninja as a political/insurgent tool of subterfuge and assassination is one aspect.
However for those involved in bujinkan for a long time - it is about mastery of movement.
The principles of movement taught by bujinkan are lightyears ahead of what you see in most martial arts. They are also subtle ad complex and easily confused.
BJJ is the modern Tae Kwon Do - the McMartial Art of our time.
There is a lot more to Bujinkan than comparing it to mercenaries.
Bujinkan teaches you how to actually be a better and more complete Human. It is much more than what the surface history teaches.
(I have been in Bujinkan for 20 years)
Bujinkan is also not just about Ninjutsu. It is actually a collection of 9 different martial arts ryūha under one school. Only 3 of the ryūha are considered Ninjutsu or Ninpō ryūha. Of the other 6 ryūha some were of samurai family origins.
In Bujinkan there are those tend to focus on the whole ninja aspect and they don't tend to last too long. Then there are those who start out interested in the ninja aspect of the martial art and find an amazing system that has a whole lot more to offer than black Gis and tabi shoes.
I think the "specialized in infiltration with small teams" is the more important part than "for hire", which is why I thought of the standard military's special forces, and not modern-day mercenaries. Feudal Japan's customs made the "for hire" part necessary, but modern day customs do not.
There are pretty good historical evidence showing legit bushi (legit, as in being backed by the ruling power) who went undercover on covert ops. They may or may not have had anything to do with the Iga or Koga folks at that time. One of them ended up carrying (or founding) a famous sword school.
To be fair, there are spec ops folk who train with lineages in the US. Does that make them ninjas? I suppose so.
[1] http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ninjutsu-History-Tradition-Masaaki-H...
I'm being a bit of a trickster here. @samsteve has some direct sources.
While the image we westerns have about ninjas is largely a myth, what people nowadays call "ninjutsu" is actually a collection of techniques that made their way onto modern jujutsu, kenjutsu, etc., plus a variety of more obscure knowledge (exotic/makeshift weapons, explosives, stealth). Calling these people - whose heritage can be traced back to that period - "pajama wearing idiots" is a disservice.
Blackwater -> Xe Corp -> Academi