Ninja . . . that single word conjures up images of mystery and power. The ability to move swiftly and silently, to mesmerize one's victim, to strike infallibly, and then to disappear into the night--this is the legend of the ninja. These nearly sorcerous aspects of the ninja, as well as the exotic weapons they use, are the focus of The Mystic Arts of the Ninja. Its author, Shidoshi Stephen K. Hayes, is the sole American to be granted teaching credentials by the 34th grandmaster of the Togokure School of Ninjutsu in Japan. Going beyond the basic conditioning and training techniques of his best-selling Ninjutsu: The Art of the Invisible Warrior, Hayes explains the most sought after secrets of his ninja training:
Hypnotism: Saiminjutsu, the ninja's hypnotic powers are described and explained. Sample exercises are provided to help develop your hypnotic powers.
Invisibility: Stealth walking and camouflage are discussed. Hayes provides examples of how to move silently across various kinds of terrain and how to blend into your surroundings to become invisible.
Weaponry: The Hanbo cane, the sword, and the infamous shuriken throwing stars are ninja trademarks. Hayes fully describes their use in grappling as well as in attacking.
More than 400 black-and-white photos are used to illustrate the secrets and techniques that have been used by the ninja to surprise and outwit their foes over the past 800 years. The authenticity of Shidoshi Hayes's instruction is perhaps the most important aspect of this book: no other book represents the true ninja tradition.
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: judging the book from its cover and reviews here Comment: You get one guy saying it is the best, one not, and so on, alternating.. This says to me "this book is controversial".. Get it if you like pissing people in the martial arts off.. Great for evoking hell in any martial arts classroom, then you can use the book to defend you from swords and throwing stars.. It's not really thick enough though.
Customer Rating: Summary: Good and Great! Comment: This book had a great chapter on the Wind Element and techniques envolved. Customer Rating: Summary: Makes Ninjas Look Bad Comment: This is one of the few books I would give no stars. You will learn nothing from this book, and you will not have to read much in this book ( becuase there isn't alot of text). The most interesting thing about this book is that you can cut out the pictures, put them in order and make little bearded ninja flip books out of them. These will include crawling in the grass, climbing on a roof or walking past a guy with a big stick. Ooooh.
For elementary school kids. If Stephen Hayes is such a well respected ninja then he should stick to lurking in the darkness and throwing metal objects at peices of wood. Stop wasting paper! Oh yeah, don't buy this TP guide, unless you want to make those flip books.(Seriously, I couldn't even give this book away)
Also note, that all of you who gave this abomination five stars, I want you to know I will never buy a book you give a good review and I will ask Amazon to start screening it's book reviewers with a preliminary IQ test. Customer Rating: Summary: An Interesting Overview of the Exotic Arts of the Ninja Comment: The Mystic Arts of the Ninja begins with a discussion of the history of ninjutsu and some of its historical figures such as: Hattori Hanzo, Fujibayashi Nagato, and Kato Danjo. This historical view of ninjutsu is then compared with the limited conventional view of the day revolving around moonlit nights with black masked assassins murdering their enemies.
Following this discussion of history, Stephen Hayes then explains the Fu No Kata, and how fighting skills for self-protection are much different than the martial arts often taught in sport focused schools. Japanese ninjutsu evolved from the need for pragmatic self-protection under difficult odds in a time of continuous civil warfare.
The Mystic Arts of the Ninja then continues with a discussion of ninja aruhi ~ stealth and ningu ~ ninja tools to include the han-bo and ninja sword. Both of these sections contain several photos (as does the whole book) helping the reader learn the techniques described.
In-ton the art of concealment and camouflage is discussed next. This chapter includes a discussion on gontonpo ~ the five element concealing and escaping methods. Gontonpo looks at general combat and escape strategies as represented by the five elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water.
Stephen Hayes continues with a discussion of the shuriken. Although often thought of as a "ninja weapon" many other Ryu included shurikenjutsu as part of their training. Here however we see the way the shuriken is employed within the art of ninjutsu.
The book concludes with a brief discussion of saiminjutsu ~ the ninja's power of directing the mind.
I enjoyed reading The Mystic Arts of the Ninja, and found it to be well written and illustrated with numerous photographs. This book should be in the collection of any student of ninjutsu.
Customer Rating: Summary: Pretty good Comment: I was trying to decide whether or not to get this book or the Ninja and Their Secret Fighting art also by Stephen Hayes. I didnt buy it off Amazon so I was able to look inside the actual books and see what they were like. The other book kind of seems to be teaching you about ninjas.(I know duh)It looked to me like it was just telling you about ninja stuff but not how to do it.(some of it did but....)I looked in this book and it had pictures and how to do stuff and everything. This probably isnt the greatest choice if you are already involved in martial arts, but it was perfect for me. I like it so much I think I'll buy another one of his books sometime soon.
