قلب المؤمن دَليلÙÙ‡
(The heart of a believer is his guide)After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.So you want to be a Ninja? It would be nice if anyone who wanted to be a ninja could simply fill out a form and mail in a check. Unfortunately, mastering ninjutsu isn't like becoming a minister in a church advertised in the back of "Rolling Stone." This is one tough job. The history of the ninja isn't as glamorous as you might imagine. Many believe ninjas were peasants who, by law, weren't allowed to study samurai techniques. Instead, the castoffs created a new martial art that utilized espionage, disguise, and weapons that they could carry without arousing suspicion.Unlike samurai, ninja are largely mythical, having left behind little proof of their existence. Our modern perception (silent assassins dressed in black) is based largely on video games and movies. As far as we can tell, there's no present-day governing body to check your qualifications. You just gotta have the love.That said, we did find several sites offering "ninja lessons." Who knows, you might learn a thing or two about the art of incapacitation. Also, the Iga-ryu Ninja Museum offers tips on living the "modern ninja life." If studying the pressure points in your ears and hands doesn't sound too fun, you could always live like these guys. Real ultimate power!ShinobiNINJA MAGIC - KUJI-IN Kuji-in is the spiritual and mental strength the ninja possessed in the form of hand signs. These hand signs were believed to be able to channel energy. The hand signs were taken from the practices of the early Buddhists.The Kuji-in was used to build confidence and strength in the ninja. It was also believed to enhance the senses of danger and foresee death for the ninja.In Kuji-in the thumb represents the source of power (Ku), and the fingers represent the four elemental manifestations. They are Chi (earth - solids), Sui (water - liquids), Ka (fire - combustion) and Fu (wind - gases).There are 81 hand symbols, total, but there are 9 primary ones: Rin, Hei, Toh, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, and Zen. Each symbol invokes different strengths and abilities in a trained ninja. Rin brings strength to the mind and body; Hei generates psychic power in order to mask one's presence; Toh enables the ninja to reach a balance between the solid and liquid states of the body, which leads to a greater harmony with the universe; Sha is used to heal oneself or another; Kai gives complete control over the body's functions, enabling one to slow the heart rate, endure extreme heat and cold, etc. Jin increases the mind's telepathic powers, giving a highly trained Ninja the ability to read the character of another; Retsu gives telekinetic powers, enabling a ninja to stun an opponent with a shout or touch. Zai extends the harmony gained by merging with the universe. Zen brings enlightenment and understanding. These symbols take an entire lifetime to truly master.Knowledge in Ninja stealth 1. Maintain balance control by allowing your body weight to sink and be carried by deeply flexed knees. 2. Remember to breathe along with your movement. Unconsciously holding your breath can unknowingly produce unneeded muscle tension, and could result in gasping release of breathe if you are startled or accidentally unbalanced. 3. Stay alert to the entire scene. Do not become so engrossed in watching your feet that you do not notice other people an elements entering the surroundings. 4. Use all joints for movement, emphasizing fluidity through the engagement of the ankles, knees, and hips for stepping. Avoid the lazy and dangerous habit of stiffening knees and swinging the entire leg from the hip. 5. Maintain your weight and balance on your grounded leg while you move the other leg into position to bear the weight. When absolute silence is a must, avoid distributing your weight over both legs at the same time. 6. If practical, allow your hands to float lightly in front of and beside your torso, one arm higher and one arm lower, to detect possible obstructions before your committed body weight encounters them. 7. Pause and hold your position if you feel that you have accidentally caused too much noise. Listen for signs that you were heard, such as the movement of others or the immediate silencing of background noise following your slip. Sink a little lower on your knees to physically relax that could normally jump into your body with alarm. Take a deep breathe and release it slowly to further relax. Continue your pause for as long as you feel is necessary to regain composure and allow possible listeners to decide they did not hear anything after all. 8. Be as patient as possible. If speed of travel is not important, take as much time as you can. Impatience and the resultant hasty movement that it encourages are the greatest dangers to the person who must move silently without detection. 9. Keep your movement appropriate to your surroundings. Do not go to greater lengths than necessary to conceal your movement, while at the same being aware of what others entering the area may see if they cannot hear. Total silence may not be needed when moving through wooded or densely populated areas where scattered noise is a natural part of the environment. Also be aware that low profile crawling or sliding ma be the only way to move silently without being seen in some locations.Ninja ClothingThe ninja uniform was called a shinobi shozoko. It was typically one of three colors. Black was used for night missions when being seen would mean certain death. White was used for winter missions so they could easily blend in with the snow. The other color used was a green kind of camouflage pattern so they could blend in with the forest surroundings.Besides the typical ninja uniform, the ninja would use any type of clothing that would get them closer to the mission goal. Sometimes the ninja dressed up as priests, peasants or even samurai. Whatever the mission required, they did.When dressed fully in the shinobi shozoko, the ninja's flesh was completely hidden, all except for a small slit around the eyes and his hands. The tabi boots had a slit in between the big toe and the second toe. The reason for the split was to make it easier for climbing ropes and scaling walls.The shinobi shozoko had many pockets all through it, inside and out. This was for storing all the small tools and weapons he needed, such as poison, shuriken, knives and so on. The ninja also carried a small, primitive, first aid kit, filled with potions and solutions.Ninja Etiquette * Ninja never bring a gun to a sword fight. Ninja don't use guns. Ever.* The only way to end a ninja clan is to break the head ninja's sword.* Ninja never show their real face. If the need to show a face arises, it should be a very shiny mask. This is the only possible substitute.* When attacking a single ninja with a clan of ninja (more than 4, less than that is only a posse), it is proper ninja etiquette to fight with only one ninja at a time. This makes for a much nicer fight to the death. * NOTE: if you are planning to fight the mack daddy ninja, be sure to bring lots of lesser ninja to warm him up for your grand entrance.* When fighting with bow and arrows, a proper ninja will always destroy his bow if one of his arrows is cought in mid-air, and then broken over one knee of another ninja.* Ninja stars and sake are a perfectly good currency for ninja payments.* Ninja always use 4 pointed ninja stars. The fancy stars with more than for points are for the lesser ninja.* Ninja can only use their special dissapearing powers in combination with a smoke bomb. This is not negociable.* When training with other ninja, it is proper to group off into different colors. Stay with your color at all times! Failure to keep with your color results in a circle kicking, where you are in the center of the circle.* Ninja always wear tabi boots. Even when they sleep.* When confronting other ninja, always try to wear a different color than that of the ninja you are attacking. It is proper ninja-ettiquette to give "home" color to the defending ninja.* Ninja don't sleep. I know I said they do above, but I lied.* It's expected that ninja will lie from time to time.* When encountering large falls and leaps it is appropriate to always give the right-of-way to the first ninja to jump.* With that said it is equally appropriate to give the needed time and space for the following ninja to jump and catch up. * Ninja never wear headbands with the word 'ninja' printed on them. This would be a dead give away when trying to blend in. NOTE: Sometimes as a joke the elder ninja make the geek of the clan wear such a headband. Sort of like a "dunce" cap. A wise person makes his own decisions, a weak one obeys public opinion.