Modern Ninja Warfare

One of my long-time obsessions is ninjutsu—not the ahistorical variety popularized by the likes of Masaaki Hatsumi and Stephen K. Hayes since the 1960s, which turned the ninja into black-gi wearing martial arts enthusiasts who rarely leave the dojo—but the real, historical art of the ancient Japanese shadow warriors. Unfortunately, until about a decade ago, most of the available ninjutsu literature reflected the bogus version of the art popularized by the "ninja boom", and authentic material was almost non-existent in the English language. Fortunately, thanks primarily to Antony Cummins and his translation team, all the major original ninjutsu scrolls have been translated into English so we can now learn about the legendary ninja in their own words.

Cummins' recent publication, Modern Ninja Warfare, is an outstanding addition to this project. Cummins has created something unique: a compendium of ninja skills taken directly from the historical ninjutsu scrolls, accompanied by a discussion of their modern shadow warrior equivalents.

The book starts with a nice overview of who the ninja really were and what they did. We learn that they engaged in the full range of shadow ops, as spies, commandos, scouts, arsonists, assassins, psychological warriors and terrorists. We get a similar overview of the ninja's modern equivalents, the special forces, spies and hackers who engage in the same types of activities. Subsequent chapters compare everything from hand-to-hand fighting techniques to commando raids, secure communications, infiltrating buildings, escape and evasion, surveillance, ambushes, cross-country movement, assassination and torture. There is an entire chapter on spycraft, which was the bread-and-butter of the historical ninja. In one section I found particularly interesting, Cummins notes that the path of the shinobi no mono (ninja) was recognized in their own scrolls as a "horrific path":

Shinobi took part in murder, lies, deceit, scandal, disguise, propaganda, sex, slavery, the killing of innocent bystanders, robbery and all the deeds at the depths of human society. They were the dark side of the samurai "coin," not the antithesis of the samurai themselves.

Shadow warfare has always been a dark and dirty business, and no one knew that better than the ninja!

I also appreciated the last chapter of the book, "The Way of the Mind", which discusses the psychological and spiritual dimensions of shadow warfare. This is an area that is often neglected in the modern literature, but which the ninja of old knew was critical to success. Their very name was derived from the word "nin", which has several connotations, including "stealth", "perseverance" and "forbearance". They knew how to cultivate these qualities, to exploit the mental weakness of others and to use rituals to acquire inner strength. To operate in the shadows; to endure and overcome all hardships; to control emotions and urges; to exploit weakness and use rituals—these are the mental keys to the Way of the Shadows in all ages, whether they are medieval ninja or modern spy-commandos.

Overall, I found the book quite interesting and picked up many new tricks and ideas. It was instructive to see how the principles of the shadow warrior arts haven't changed over the centuries, though the forms have changed to incorporate new technologies and cultures. This isn't a highly detailed military instruction manual, but an overview and primer on the full range of shadow warfare skills and tactics practiced both by the ninja and modern operatives. As such, Modern Ninja Warfare is a worthy addition to the library of any student of ninjutsu or shadow warfare.

Get a copy of the book here.