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Apart from lurid green Kawasakis, and silly turtles where does Ninja originate and what does it mean…
Well according to our friends at Wikipedia:
In Japanese history, a ninja (#24525;#32773;, ninja?) was a warrior specially trained in a variety of unorthodox arts of war. These include assassination, illusion, and espionage.[citation needed]
The exact origin of the ninja is a matter of debate. It is known that ninja appeared in 14th century Japan and remained active from the Kamakura to the Edo period.[citation needed] The role of the ninja may have included sabotage, espionage, and scouting.[citation needed] Such actions may have taken place at the service of a feudal lord (daimyo, shogun), or other entity waging guerilla warfare.[citation needed]
Contents [hide]
1 Etymology
2 Period of origin
3 Clothing and image
4 Modern organizations
5 In popular culture
6 Self-styled modern groups
7 Notes
8 References
9 External linksEtymology
Ninja is the on’yomi reading of the two kanji #24525;#32773; used to write shinobi-no-mono (#24525;#12398;#32773;), which is the native Japanese word for people who practice ninjutsu (#24525;#34899;, often erroneously transliterated as ninjitsu). The term shinobi (historically sino2bi2 written with the Man’y#333;gana #24535;#33021;#20633;), has been traced as far back as the late 8th century to a poem[1][2] to #332;tomo no Yakamochi. The underlying connotation of shinobi (#24525;) means “to steal away” and—by extension—”to forbear”, hence its association with stealth and invisibility. Mono (#32773;, likewise pronounced sha or ja) means a “person.”The word “ninja” (#24525;#32773;) in Sino-Japanese kanji scriptThe word ninja became popular in the post-World War II culture. The nin of ninjutsu is the same as that in ninja, whereas jutsu (#34899;) means skill or art, so ninjutsu means “the skill of going unperceived” or “the art of stealth”; hence, ninja and shinobi-no-mono (as well as shinobi) may be translated as “one skilled in the art of stealth.” Similarly, the pre-war word ninjutsu-zukai means “one who uses the art of remaining unperceived.”
Other terms which may be used include oniwaban (#12362;#24237;#30058; “garden keeper or gardener”), suppa (#32032;#12387;#30772; “thief”), rappa (#20081;#30772; “ruffian”), mitsumono, kusa (#33609; grass) and Iga-mono (“one from Iga”).
In English, the plural of ninja can be either unchanged as ninja, reflecting the Japanese language’s lack of grammatical number, or the regular English plural ninjas.[3]
Period of origin
“Ninjutsu did not come into being as a specific well defined art in the first place, and many centuries passed before ninjutsu was established as an independent system of knowledge in its own right. Ninjutsu developed as a highly illegal counter culture to the ruling samurai elite, and for this reason alone, the origins of the art were shrouded by centuries of mystery, concealment, and deliberate confusion of history.”[4]A similar account is given by Hayes: “The predecessors of Japan’s ninja were so-called rebels favoring Buddhism who fled into the mountains near Kyoto as early as the 7th century A.D. to escape religious persecution and death at the hands of imperial forces.”[5]
Clothing and image
This section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (September 2008)There is no evidence historical ninja wore all-black suits. Some ninja may have worn the same armor or clothing as samurai or Japanese peasants.[citation needed]
The stereotypical ninja who wears easily identifiable black outfits (shinobi shozoku) comes from the kabuki theater.[6] Prop handlers dress in black to move props around the stage. The audience sees the prop handlers but pretend they are invisible. Building on suspension of disbelief, ninja characters came to be portrayed in the theatre as wearing similar all-black suits. This made the audience unable to tell a ninja character from the prop handlers until the ninja character distinguished himself from the other stagehands with a scripted attack or assassination.
Boots that ninja used (jika-tabi), like much of the rest of Japanese footwear from the time, have a split-toe design that improves gripping and wall/rope climbing. Ninja also attached special spikes to the bottoms of the boots called aishiki. The spikes that were attached to their hands for climbing trees are known as shuku or tiger claws.[citation needed]
The head covering suggested by Masaaki Hatsumi in his book The Way of the Ninja: Secret Techniques[citation needed] uses sanjaku-tenugui, three-foot cloths. It involves the tying of two three-foot cloths around the head to make the mask flexible and securely bound.
Modern organizations
Main article: Schools of Ninjutsu
There are several organizations currently purporting to teach ninjutsu, or to provide neo-ninja training. Claims of authenticity are disputed, with some sources stating that none of the modern schools have kory#363; origins.[7]In popular culture
A man wearing a stereotypical ninja costume.Main article: Ninja in popular culture
Ninja appear in both Japanese and Western fiction of may formats include books, television, movies, videogames and internet media. Depictions range from realistic to the fantastically exaggerated both fundamentally and aesthetically and often portray ninja in non-factual ways for humor or entertainment. Some examples of ninja in works of fiction are Ask a Ninja, Naruto, Ninja Warrior and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.quote:
Originally posted by benji_zx10r im in real danger of learning here LOL I am bored waiting for TG to come on and the Mrs is watching Heartbeat or the Royal (not sure, are they the same??)
im in real danger of learning here 
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