Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

A ninja must be trained in the following disciplines:

1) Seishin-teki kyōyō (spiritual refinement)
2) Taijutsu (unarmed combat, using one’s body as the only weapon)
3) Kenjutsu (sword fighting)
4) Bōjutsu (stick and staff fighting)
5) Shurikenjutsu (throwing blades)
6) Sōjutsu (spear fighting)
7) Naginatajutsu (naginata fighting)
8 ) Kusarigamajutsu (chain and sickle weapon)
9) Kayakujutsu (pyrotechnics and explosives)
10) Hensōjutsu (disguise & impersonation)
11) Shinobi-iri (stealth and entering methods)
12) Bajutsu (horsemanship)
13) Sui-ren (water training)
14) Bōryaku (military strategy)
15) Chōhō (espionage)
16) Intonjutsu (escaping and concealment)
17) Tenmon (meteorology)
18) Chi-mon (geography)

Steps towards becoming a ninja:

1) Relax and reflect inward (meditate). Decide upon a series of ideas, morals and philosophies that you truly can live by.

2) Master all of the above disciplines so that you can become a real shinobi (ninja).

3) Be honest to yourself and others. Control over your emotions is important. Only act when absolutely necessary.

4) Learn to control people and manipulate events not by force, but by words and actions, so that you can obtain a goal without having to resort to any manner of violence. Use people’s desires, needs and wants against them. Humans need security, wealth, pride, strength and to have their lust satisfied.

5) Learn how to move silently and hide with stealth. You’ll need to know how to enter a situation without becoming the focus of it, and looking as though you belong when you don’t. Blending in with your surroundings may mean blending in with a crowd of people.

6) Learn to use martial arts weapons. These include, but are not limited to sais, shurikens, katanas, knife, the steel fan, and the ninja-to. It’s also important to learn to use modern weapons and concealed weapons.

7) Run a mile or more every day to build up your endurance. Run with lightweight clothing in colder weather and heavier clothing in warmer weather, in effort to help you endure different ranges of temperature.

8 ) Do exercises such as running and crawling, running and hiding, obstacle courses, pull ups, sit ups, push ups, rope climbing, swimming, and weight training. Focus your training on stealth, infiltration, endurance, agility and misc skills. Learn how to climb trees and fences. Try to climb up faster each time, and time yourself as you do it.

9) You need to have a “Nido” which means you will never go back on your words once you say something.

10) You will never be able to control others if you cannot control yourself.

11) Understand that Ninjutsu is not the only martial art that you should master. No martial art style is perfect and complete. Consider learning Tae Kwon Do (it has the strongest kicks), Hap Ki Do (joint manipulation and the deadliest of locks and throws involving each of the limbs and even the head), Aikido, Judo, and Kung Fu.

12) It is not really an art of stealth and secrecy, but one of endurance; enduring all of life’s obstacles and hardships.

13) Study human anatomy. The best way to defeat something is to know its weaknesses. In the event that you need to defend yourself it’s best to know how to incapacitate your opponent long enough to escape.

14) Ninjas don’t always wear black, but also wear green, white, blue, and grey. Blue allows versatility, because it is the general color of the night, green is best for Ops involving only wooded areas, white for snowy regions, and grey for Ops only involving urban settings.

15) Smoke bombs are useful if your cover is blown and you need to get away. But keep in mind that the body of smoke will be bigger than you are, and people farther away will be attracted to your direction if they didn’t know at first.

16) Learn to respect yourself and others. Control is necessary when appropriate.

17) Realize that Ninjutsu is a life pursuit. You can never fully master something. There is always room for improvement. Don’t expect to become a true ninja in a week (shinobies usually start at the age of 5 or 6 until they are about 20 and keep on going to become better.