Nowadays, the ninja is commonly thought of as a mere myth, something invented by people who wanted something to marvel at and to idolize, and that ninjutsu and nindo never eally did exist. Although it may seem hard to believe, that is very far from the truth. Although they did not posses "special powers" and could not turn invisible, their expertise in many areas made this seem the only explanation.

First off, ninjas were used for espionage, reconassaince, and assassination. They did not always wear the black hood and clothes as we envision them today, but rather would wear whatever the circumstance called for, whether he was impersonating a person of importance or flying under the radar as a common peasant. For missions of stealth in the night, however, for which the shinobi are most famous, they would of course wear black so as not to be easily seen.

Any decent shinobi would have to be proficiant in many areas of bujutsu, including aikido, judo, karate, iaido, kendo, and shakendo, to name a few. (If you are amongst those who do not believe that ninjas were real and you do not understand what I just said, you might as well give up now; you do not know enough about this subject to form any kind of resonable opinion of your own.) This would have covered virtually any combat circumstance they would be faced with and would be sufficiantly prepared to defend against virtually any sort of attack; they also had to know how to fight with the battle fan and staff (that's right, a fan). True masters of the unarmed bujutsu can disarm an opponent, taking the weapon for himself, and knock ou/kill his opponent in a matter of seconds, and this is no lie. Some of the things us Westerners don't understand we simply pass off as gibberish, such as the concept of ki.

Now ki, according to those who are Buddhist, Hindu, or numerous other Eastern religions, is a spiritual force within you. From a Christian standpoint, it is recognized as a psychological state that can enhance human abilities. You may be thinking even now that I'm crazy, whether you believe in the shinobi or not, but hear me out. This "ki" cannot increase your abilities to extraordinary measures; you will not be able to lift a car, unless you almost could before. To explain how to use it is very difficult, but I myself have tried it and found it to work quite well. What you do is almost entirely mental, so in order to get it to work you must be in a certain mindset. Simply imagine you are focusing your strength and extending it through your arm to your hand. If you do this idly and only think it, however, the desired results will not appear. You must at the same time tense the muscles; like I said, it's rather hard to explain. You can test to see if you have succeeded by trying a technique called the "unbendable arm". Focus your "ki" in your dominant arm and extend it before you. Bend it at the elboe so that it forms a slightly obtuse angle. Have someone else try to bend your arm at the elboe towards that shoulder while you focus on something else, continuously extending your "ki". If done correctly, the other will not be able to bend your arm much or at all; some still relies on your own physical strength as opposed to theirs.

It is this principal of the unbendable arm that seemingly increased the ninja's strength, adding to the power already gained through intense physical training. As for their seeming invisibility, they could have held still for hours, which could be useful if a sentry thought he saw something. In darkness, it is hard to make out just what shape some objects are in, but motion can still be detected. If a sentry had noticed a movement and fixed his gaze on the source, an observant ninja would notice and freeze for however long it would take, entirely unmoving. An example of this skill is practised by people today; if you go to larger cities, you might sometimes find "human statues". These people will dress up in one way or another and sit or stand in one place so still that you are entirely convinced that they are a statue and no else. Those who have seen it for themselves know what I'm talking about, but if you haven't you might find it hard to believe.

Two famous elements of nindo have also been weaponry, but as katanas are abviously no myth I will skip them and move on to the shaken, throwing objects. Amongst these are the kunai knife, senbon, and shuriken, the last of which is derived from shaken and technically refers to any object that is thrown to inflict damage on an enemy, but has been assigned in such detail as this to be the name of what some know as the ninja star. Out of the three, senbon were by far the weakest and least effective, although useful at close range for targetting small, direct points on the body. Shuriken would be the most effective longer range, as it could not hit without inflicting some kind of wound if thrown properly, where as both the kunai and the senbon could have not hit point/blade first. Kunai were a good compromise between the other two, as they could function as well it close range as they potentially could longe range. They could also be tied onto rope or attached to a chain and be used in medium range; when the foe was too far away to slash and too close to waste a throwing weapon on. If the string/chain was long enough, it could even be thrown and retrieved without moving to a new position.

In addition to these jutsu and weapons, an assortment of other items completed the shinobi arsenal, including the grappling hook. Herbs and plants with poisoning effects could be used to directly kill an enemy or put them in a state where they would be easier to succesfully attack. An air of mystery, confidence, and invincibility combined with knowledge of human psychology put the final razor edge on the shinobi, making them weapons to be feared. Ninja would be hired as assassins by local warlords or anyone with enough money to handle their fee.

In conclusion, ninjas still appear to be something out of a myth, the stuff of legend, but it is far from the truth. I have pointed out the areas in which ninjas appear to have possessed "supernatural powers", but it was indeed the imaginations of the people fed by the shinobi's shroud of mystery that gave them such powers.