During high school, I picked up this book at a small shop in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I remember digging the name, Dawn Treader Book Shop, because of my affinity for the Chronicles of Narnia. I always read it on and off meaning to study and master the book's material. As I still am prone to doing today, I started reading it and never finished it.
But finally over the holiday, I was watching some Metatron videos and I got in the mood. I took it back off my bookshelf and read the WHOLE thing. It's a rather short book. It was ridiculous to not finish it before now, oy.
Anyway, The Ninja and Their Secret Fighting Art was written by Stephen K. Hayes. He was the first American to ever study ninjutsu at Japan's "last historically unbroken ninjutsu tradition."
This book does a good job of being a general overview. Hayes goes over the long history of the ninja and how they did the jobs the samurai code wouldn't allow the samurai to do. Hayes tells about his meeting of the Togakure-ryu master Masaaki Hatsumi and about his time at the school. He goes through fighting techniques and ninja tools and weapons. He parallels these explanations with stories of his experience learning about these techniques and tools. Finally, he ends the book with a section on the ninja's psychological tactics and the spiritual side ninjutsu.
I enjoyed all the combat and training related content, but what really made the book for me was that last section. Hayes does an excellent job at simmering down complex philosophy into a Sunday evening reading session.
For those of you who would like to read a well balanced overview of the ninja, including personal experiences of an American martial artist in the Orient, ancient weapons, and eastern wisdom, then I recommend this book.
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Shema Humata: Tass Sheshco
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