What do you think?
Rate this book
The Ninja and Their Secret Fighting Art
Look past the legends and learn about the REAL ninjas of feudal Japan with this entertaining, illustrated ninjutsu guide.
Ninjutsu, the least understood of the Japanese martial arts, is an ancient fighting style emphasizing natural movement, responsiveness to adversaries, and absolute practicality. In feudal Japan, ninja were feared for their skill in espionage and, particularly, assassination. Masters of weaponry, stealth, and martial techniques, ninja were credited with supernatural powers because of the near-invincibility of their unique and deadly art.
In The Ninja and Their Secret Fighting Art , Black Belt Hall of Fame member, Stephen K. Hayes, reveals the secrets that lead to the perception of the ninja as warriors of almost sorcerous skill—the art of invisibility, special tools and weapons, and psychological training enabling the ninja to gain advantage in any situation.
Chapters
Ninjutsu, the least understood of the Japanese martial arts, is an ancient fighting style emphasizing natural movement, responsiveness to adversaries, and absolute practicality. In feudal Japan, ninja were feared for their skill in espionage and, particularly, assassination. Masters of weaponry, stealth, and martial techniques, ninja were credited with supernatural powers because of the near-invincibility of their unique and deadly art.
In The Ninja and Their Secret Fighting Art , Black Belt Hall of Fame member, Stephen K. Hayes, reveals the secrets that lead to the perception of the ninja as warriors of almost sorcerous skill—the art of invisibility, special tools and weapons, and psychological training enabling the ninja to gain advantage in any situation.
Chapters
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
48 people are currently reading
490 people want to read
About the author
Stephen K. Hayes
52 books57 followersStephen K. Hayes has spent his entire adult life in the pursuit of perfection through the study of the Asian martial arts and spiritual traditions, living and traveling throughout North America, Japan, Europe, the Arctic, China, Tibet, Nepal, and India.
Promoting the benefits of Life Mastery Through Martial Arts, he travels the world as teacher, seminar leader, and lecturer, inspiring others by translating his extensive background in martial arts and meditation into practical lessons for handling the pressures and uncertainties of life. Students, readers, and seminar participants have reported that his teachings have brought them deep encouragement and empowerment, and inspired them to achieve new levels of success in their personal and professional lives.
While a university student, he read a series of articles in Black Belt Magazine about Japan’s ninja phantom warriors he had first read about in a James Bond novel as a high school student. “Incredibly inspiring lore! Painful to know that such an art existed and was impossible for me to learn. Too bad that martial art was not taught in my hometown…”
On a hot steamy July day in 1975, Stephen K. Hayes stepped off a jetliner in Tokyo with the thinnest of hopes that he could find the Togakure ninja dojo. “What a miracle. I found them and they accepted me as an uchi-deshi student in the grandmaster’s home dojo. You can read the story of my search for the ninja dojo and how I got started training in Japan in The Ninja and Their Secret Fighting Art.”
In the early 1980s, American ninjutsu students often trained outdoors in the woods and rocks and dust, and usually wore tough durable military style attire rather than traditional Japanese martial arts suits and belts. “Since I was the only one in the western hemisphere to have studied in the Togakure ninja martial arts school, I rarely wore my black belt. People knew where I had trained, and I was happy to let my martial skill and knowledge determine any fame I might earn.”
From the 1980s right up to today, he has been featured in TV and film documentary projects with networks such as NBC, A&E, Discovery Channel, and Fuji TV
His 19 books have sold over 1 million copies – many volumes published in different languages around the world, translating the timeless knowledge of the East into pragmatic lessons for contemporary Western life.
Stephen K. Hayes was awarded the extremely rare honor of Ninja Taijutsu Ju-dan 10th degree Black Belt in 1993. He went on to found the martial art of To-Shin Do in 1997; he and his wife Rumiko are both known as An-shu, founder-directors of the Kasumi-An.
Stephen K. Hayes has demonstrated self-protection combat skills to military and law-enforcement groups including the U.S. Air Force Academy, the FBI Academy, the American Society for Law Enforcement Training, and members of Britain’s elite SAS. He has worked on special assignments with the United States Department of State Dignitary Security Services, and under contract with the United States Defense Intelligence Agency.
Stephen K. Hayes taught as Adjunct Professor in the Masters of Business Management program of the McGregor School of Antioch University, and serves on the University of Dayton Crotty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership Advisory Council, and the Union Institute & University Center for Clinical Mindfulness and Meditation.
An-shu Stephen K. Hayes is Chairman of the Board of SKH Quest and a network of licensed affiliate schools around the world. His personal school – SKH Quest To-Shin Do Central Training Headquarters – is located in Dayton, Ohio.
Promoting the benefits of Life Mastery Through Martial Arts, he travels the world as teacher, seminar leader, and lecturer, inspiring others by translating his extensive background in martial arts and meditation into practical lessons for handling the pressures and uncertainties of life. Students, readers, and seminar participants have reported that his teachings have brought them deep encouragement and empowerment, and inspired them to achieve new levels of success in their personal and professional lives.
While a university student, he read a series of articles in Black Belt Magazine about Japan’s ninja phantom warriors he had first read about in a James Bond novel as a high school student. “Incredibly inspiring lore! Painful to know that such an art existed and was impossible for me to learn. Too bad that martial art was not taught in my hometown…”
On a hot steamy July day in 1975, Stephen K. Hayes stepped off a jetliner in Tokyo with the thinnest of hopes that he could find the Togakure ninja dojo. “What a miracle. I found them and they accepted me as an uchi-deshi student in the grandmaster’s home dojo. You can read the story of my search for the ninja dojo and how I got started training in Japan in The Ninja and Their Secret Fighting Art.”
In the early 1980s, American ninjutsu students often trained outdoors in the woods and rocks and dust, and usually wore tough durable military style attire rather than traditional Japanese martial arts suits and belts. “Since I was the only one in the western hemisphere to have studied in the Togakure ninja martial arts school, I rarely wore my black belt. People knew where I had trained, and I was happy to let my martial skill and knowledge determine any fame I might earn.”
From the 1980s right up to today, he has been featured in TV and film documentary projects with networks such as NBC, A&E, Discovery Channel, and Fuji TV
His 19 books have sold over 1 million copies – many volumes published in different languages around the world, translating the timeless knowledge of the East into pragmatic lessons for contemporary Western life.
Stephen K. Hayes was awarded the extremely rare honor of Ninja Taijutsu Ju-dan 10th degree Black Belt in 1993. He went on to found the martial art of To-Shin Do in 1997; he and his wife Rumiko are both known as An-shu, founder-directors of the Kasumi-An.
Stephen K. Hayes has demonstrated self-protection combat skills to military and law-enforcement groups including the U.S. Air Force Academy, the FBI Academy, the American Society for Law Enforcement Training, and members of Britain’s elite SAS. He has worked on special assignments with the United States Department of State Dignitary Security Services, and under contract with the United States Defense Intelligence Agency.
Stephen K. Hayes taught as Adjunct Professor in the Masters of Business Management program of the McGregor School of Antioch University, and serves on the University of Dayton Crotty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership Advisory Council, and the Union Institute & University Center for Clinical Mindfulness and Meditation.
An-shu Stephen K. Hayes is Chairman of the Board of SKH Quest and a network of licensed affiliate schools around the world. His personal school – SKH Quest To-Shin Do Central Training Headquarters – is located in Dayton, Ohio.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 21, 2024
What a guy! What a subject! What a review!
March 12, 2010
Hayes has long been one of America's foremost authorities, or at least foremost writers, on ninjutsu and ninjas. My feelings on the man and his writing are mixed: on the one hand, he's written a great deal and he's spent a lot of time in Japan studying under some of the greatest living ninjutsu masters. He ought to know whereof he speaks, certainly. On the other hand, he rose to fame during the ninja frenzy of the 1980s and a lot of his writing has a New Age style of overwrought prose and absurd sense of anticipation that will make you wince.
You will gain some useful insight into ninjutsu from this book, certainly, and I admire Hayes as a man who has studied ninjutsu at great length and become a leading figure in contemporary martial arts. The problem is, in order to make a living off the martial arts beyond running your own dojo and writing here and there, you have to consult on films, maybe act in them, open multiple schools . . . all things that Hayes has done. Part of me would just feel more comfortable with a man who went to Japan, became very learned in the art, then returned to the States and ran one dojo and otherwise we'd not heard a peep from since. We learn at the onset of this book, by the way, Sensei Hayes majored in theatre in college . . . perhaps an astute measure given the famed-filled life he would wind up leading.
If you're seriously interested in ninjutsu, do read this book and Hayes' other works, but I think like myself you'll find them lacking in detail in many places. I am still searching for a really comprehensive book on the history of actual ninjutsu that also gets far into the tactical details of the art.
You will gain some useful insight into ninjutsu from this book, certainly, and I admire Hayes as a man who has studied ninjutsu at great length and become a leading figure in contemporary martial arts. The problem is, in order to make a living off the martial arts beyond running your own dojo and writing here and there, you have to consult on films, maybe act in them, open multiple schools . . . all things that Hayes has done. Part of me would just feel more comfortable with a man who went to Japan, became very learned in the art, then returned to the States and ran one dojo and otherwise we'd not heard a peep from since. We learn at the onset of this book, by the way, Sensei Hayes majored in theatre in college . . . perhaps an astute measure given the famed-filled life he would wind up leading.
If you're seriously interested in ninjutsu, do read this book and Hayes' other works, but I think like myself you'll find them lacking in detail in many places. I am still searching for a really comprehensive book on the history of actual ninjutsu that also gets far into the tactical details of the art.
June 20, 2024
Іншим не менш цікавим і важливим явищем японської культури були ніндзя.
"Той, хто крадеться", шпигуни, наймані вбивці, диверсанти, злочинці... а з іншого боку це майстри бойових мистецтв, які досконало володіли своїм тілом, різними видами зброї і мовчки виконували свої справи, були розвідниками, найманцями чи навіть охоронцями самураїв. Це поняття також змінювалось з часом.
Існує чимало міфів і стереотипів стосовно цього типу воїнів.
З фільмів ми часто бачимо образ вбивць в чорному одязі, які безшумно підібрались, когось вбили ну або намагались, закидали всіх сюрикенами і безслідно зникли😅
В силу специфіки природніх умов Японії, регіон відомий постійними катаклізмами і важкими умовами. За однією із версій саме ця тотальність і жага вижити, сформувала в жителів ось ці вміння, які сьогодні ми приписуємо🥷. Спеціальні дихальні вправи, бути непомітним і вписуватись в середовище, адаптуватись, постійна концентрація, тілесна і розумова підготовка, все це основа тренувань.
Ніндзюцу, найменш зрозуміле з японських бойових мистецтв, є стародавнім стилем бою, який наголошує на природних рухах і абсолютній практичності. У Японії ніндзя побоювалися за їхню майстерність у шпигунстві та вбивствах.
У книзі «Ніндзя та їхнє таємне бойове мистецтво» Стівен К. Хейз розкриває таємниці, які спонукають до сприйняття #ніндзя як воїнів із майже надприродними навичками — мистецтво невидимості, спеціальні інструменти та зброя, бойові точки на тілі, а також психологічний тренінг, що дозволяє ніндзя отримати перевагу в будь-якій ситуації. Тобто свого роду це мистецтво вижити в надзвичайно складних умовах з мінімальною затратою зусиль, дуже по-японськи, я б сказала.
Автор був чи не першим іноземцем, кому дали право навчатись і викладати #ніндзюцу.
Але всі ці навики були інструментами, які доступні кожному з нас. Головне це бажання, багато років практики і правильні техніки навчання. Хоча сьогодні і вважається, що справжніх майстрів не залишилось і секретні прийоми втрачені. Але хіба це колись стає на заваді справжнім воїнам🗡..
Сьогодні досить поширені змішані бойові мистецтва #будзінкан, які навчають в стилі ніндзя. Це специфічна філософія життя, контроль емоцій і довголіття
"Той, хто крадеться", шпигуни, наймані вбивці, диверсанти, злочинці... а з іншого боку це майстри бойових мистецтв, які досконало володіли своїм тілом, різними видами зброї і мовчки виконували свої справи, були розвідниками, найманцями чи навіть охоронцями самураїв. Це поняття також змінювалось з часом.
Існує чимало міфів і стереотипів стосовно цього типу воїнів.
З фільмів ми часто бачимо образ вбивць в чорному одязі, які безшумно підібрались, когось вбили ну або намагались, закидали всіх сюрикенами і безслідно зникли😅
В силу специфіки природніх умов Японії, регіон відомий постійними катаклізмами і важкими умовами. За однією із версій саме ця тотальність і жага вижити, сформувала в жителів ось ці вміння, які сьогодні ми приписуємо🥷. Спеціальні дихальні вправи, бути непомітним і вписуватись в середовище, адаптуватись, постійна концентрація, тілесна і розумова підготовка, все це основа тренувань.
Ніндзюцу, найменш зрозуміле з японських бойових мистецтв, є стародавнім стилем бою, який наголошує на природних рухах і абсолютній практичності. У Японії ніндзя побоювалися за їхню майстерність у шпигунстві та вбивствах.
У книзі «Ніндзя та їхнє таємне бойове мистецтво» Стівен К. Хейз розкриває таємниці, які спонукають до сприйняття #ніндзя як воїнів із майже надприродними навичками — мистецтво невидимості, спеціальні інструменти та зброя, бойові точки на тілі, а також психологічний тренінг, що дозволяє ніндзя отримати перевагу в будь-якій ситуації. Тобто свого роду це мистецтво вижити в надзвичайно складних умовах з мінімальною затратою зусиль, дуже по-японськи, я б сказала.
Автор був чи не першим іноземцем, кому дали право навчатись і викладати #ніндзюцу.
Але всі ці навики були інструментами, які доступні кожному з нас. Головне це бажання, багато років практики і правильні техніки навчання. Хоча сьогодні і вважається, що справжніх майстрів не залишилось і секретні прийоми втрачені. Але хіба це колись стає на заваді справжнім воїнам🗡..
Сьогодні досить поширені змішані бойові мистецтва #будзінкан, які навчають в стилі ніндзя. Це специфічна філософія життя, контроль емоцій і довголіття
July 21, 2018
Very informative and somewhat spiritual. A deep analysis in the ways, why, hows, of the Japanese breed of legends.
October 24, 2018
I liked this book it talked about all the different manifestations. and also the different espionage techniques and the seven disguises
March 1, 2021
69 - 2021
August 12, 2021
Enjoyed the grave detail of the fighting styles, however I would have enjoyed this book more if there was more history
May 11, 2015
Picked this one up purely for research purposes. The opening story was neat, but after the first history chapters, the early chapters on fighting were not what I was really looking for. I know, I know, it says "fighting art" in the title, but a lot of time passed between the time I found it and the time I started reading it, and my interests and purpose had changed. Oops.
I had given up and came back to write a review, but some of the other reviews mentioned the last chapter being interesting, the "spirit of the ninja," and that was more on what I was looking for, so I skipped to chapter 6 and read on. Helpful info on the infiltration and spy techniques--that, along with the spirituality, was really what I was looking for for my middle grade novel. Perfect. Ended up being exactly what I was looking for.
I'll add this seems to be more of a general overview on ninja fighting and spirituality, rather than a handbook. But the secrets are probably left with the ninja anyway. I liked the history lessons though!
I had given up and came back to write a review, but some of the other reviews mentioned the last chapter being interesting, the "spirit of the ninja," and that was more on what I was looking for, so I skipped to chapter 6 and read on. Helpful info on the infiltration and spy techniques--that, along with the spirituality, was really what I was looking for for my middle grade novel. Perfect. Ended up being exactly what I was looking for.
I'll add this seems to be more of a general overview on ninja fighting and spirituality, rather than a handbook. But the secrets are probably left with the ninja anyway. I liked the history lessons though!
August 12, 2012
Found this for sale at Tattered Cover for $5. It was so worth it. There are photos throughout, and it was a surprisingly engaging read for a book I bought just because of its title and cover (which is not the same cover that Goodreads is showing, sadly). My only issue is that it's not a very detail specific book as far as history goes. There are moments when the author mentions a battle, but instead of describing it in any detail, he just kind of says: and then they won! I wanted a bit more historical detail in my ninja book.
August 29, 2015
Stephen K. Hayes is an amazing Man and Martial Artist! His books are very deep but always written is plain English and more importantly written for Westerns! Stephen K. Hayes as always stated that his Books where never meant to teach the art but for away of Westerns to gain insight into the Art and as a platform for Westerns to seek proper instruction.
This book is a great way to get information and gain an basic understanding of the Art and its History and there are some great life lessons in here too.
This book is a great way to get information and gain an basic understanding of the Art and its History and there are some great life lessons in here too.
January 31, 2016
3.75/5
An American martial artist describes being outclassed by some of the last remaining masters of ninjutsu. Throw in a pro forma history lesson and the beginnings of actual ninja teachings, and you have this book.
An American martial artist describes being outclassed by some of the last remaining masters of ninjutsu. Throw in a pro forma history lesson and the beginnings of actual ninja teachings, and you have this book.
April 28, 2008
Very informative. Began my lifelong quest in the martial arts.
July 7, 2008
A great starting point to learn about the ninja. As far as I know this is THE source book which introduced ninja as they are, were and continue to be to America (?the west?).
Read
March 30, 2009Ninja and Their Secret Fighting Art by Stephen K. Hayes (1990)
September 30, 2012
very brilliant book!! finished it in one day! couldn't stop reading! if you're a fan of the ninja tradition and ninjutsu you will definately love this book!!
April 27, 2013
Good little book, reminds me of my childhood when i really believed i was a ninja. The last chapter on the spirit of the ninja is my favorite.
Read
July 2, 2013i am going to be best fight in the world
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews