There were no more feudal wars left to fight. Fact! As Japan's Edo Period wore on, the ninja became less secretive. Ninja in training walked through fire, stood under freezing waterfalls, and dangled themelves over cliffs. Henceforth, all ninja were portrayed in black. Taking the stealthy reputation of the ninja into consideration, Kabuki troupes decided to portray ninja the same as stagehands-dressed all in black so as not to be seen by the audience. By the Edo Period (1603-1867), their exploits were famous enough to hit the Kabuki theater. When sneaking into an enemy lair, they wore the uniforms of their adversaries to trick them. Myth! In real life, ninja dressed for the job at hand they usually looked like everyone else. (Image credit: Flickr user Jérôme Sadou) 5. By the 1900s, ninja were portrayed as practically superhuman. Yet ninja buzz kept growing through art, theater, and word of mouth. The height of ninja activities was during the 1600s but by the 1800s, most ninja action involved farming or looking for work. In battle, though, they used this legend to frighten their enemies. Myth! While ninja may have appeared magical, they put their pajamas on one leg at a time, just like everybody else. Ninja practiced black magic and had supernatural powers. They even carried a bag of little, bladed finger gloves that gave them the equivalent of iron press-on nails of death! n occasion, they assassinated unsuspecting "suitors". Kunoichi used the illusion of helplessness to their advantage, wielding secret weapons like sashes, fans, combs, and umbrellas when forced to fight.
Occasionally, some wielded swords like the men, but most often, they were trained as spies and messengers to help gather information that would help their clan. A ninja boxing match wouldn't make a good spectator sport: one pokes the other in the eye and climbs a tree. Ninja learned to get the job done quickly.
The samurai were trained in one-on-one fighting against an opponent who actively engages, not a slippery man in black who kicks you in the toe and disappears. Their big-city oppressors outnumbered them, so training involved "dirty" fighting tactics that would scare or injure adversaries just long enough for ninja to get away. Fact! Ninja specifically trained to fight more than one opponent. One ninja could sometimes defeat five soldiers. These few renegades created the stereotype of ninja as the warrior killer.
When money got tight the occasional ninja would sell his skills. For self-defense when outnumbered, the ninja created a fighting system call Ninjutsu, "the art of stealth". In reality, they were mountain people of Japan who were systematically harassed by the samurai ruling class 400 years ago. Myth! In the movies, ninja are portrayed as evil mercenaries crawling out of the woodwork to make sashimi out of the good guy. The ninja were a clan of evil assassins for hire. But how much do you really know about the dark warriors of feudal Japan? It's time to separate the men from the myth.
You've seen these men in black everywhere, usually in a group, threatening a movie hero. The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Plunges Into History Again.