Ninjutsu: History and Tradition

After reading this I realized what I was doing wrong, as it teaches you not to hold the technique in memory, but to drop it from your conscious mind and let it become a natural movement in the unconscious mind. It's also cleared up a lot of my mistakes, taught me some extra moves and I've learned about the history of the ninja.

This book by Dr. Maasaki Hatsumi (34th Grandmaster of the Togakura ryu school of ninjutsu) is probably the most helpful information I've found outside the dojo. But don't think that you can learn ninjutsu just from reading books; it takes dedication, endurance and intention to learn (in other words, the best training possible is physically training with someone who knows the martial art). For anyone who is looking to learn the history of the ninja or is struggling in their training, I highly recommend this book. For anyone hoping to learn ninjutsu from simply reading books, although this does teach some techniques, it's not as in-depth as other books.


For all Budo followers   August 10, 1999
 5 out of 7 found this review helpful

Whether you are Bujinkan, Genbukan, or Jinenkan, this book should be in your collection. Although very basic in its coverage, it is an excellent introduction to our art.


All other Ninjutsu is false   January 23, 1999
 9 out of 11 found this review helpful

Please buy this book. It shows many kamae and you can get a real feel of what Ninjutsu is about from reading it. The only drawback is the stuff about Hayes. My instructor is 8th Dan, graded by Hatsumi and he highly reccomends this book. I can think of no better advert for it that his recomendation.