It is certainly no surprise that Ninjutsu does not have a clear lineage or history, especially given its dealings with extreme amounts of secrecy, stealth and escapism. More than likely, the early founders of Ninjutsu did not necessarily want many people knowing where this art came from, considering they were trying to remain concealed and as unobtrusive as possible. We do know, however, that Ninjutsu originated in the country of Japan when early mountaineers needed to devise complex methods of survival.

Silent assassins, vagabond thieves, master less samurai, and all round bad guy. That's the image portrayed of the Ninja in movies and the media ever since the Ninja Boom of the 1980's, and it's an image that's hard to shack off.

Like most things that come out of Hollywood, they tend to go for the flashy, most over hyped parts, and then blow it up a bit more. You only have to look at the most recent World War II films released in the past few years to see that.

This is based on something that I wrote in my "KUBOTAN: Self-Defense Keychain" ebook. And, although the discussion was aimed at the weapon that served as the focus of the book, in actuality, any weapon, modern or traditional, can be substituted.

In the philosophical teachings of the Ninja's Mikkyo mind-science that forms the foundation for our Warrior Concepts Life Mastery Program, there are three areas of focus that allow the Ninja Warrior to always achieve his or her goals. Each of these so-called '3-Keys of Success' can be focused on in-and-of itself, but the real 'magic' results when the three are brought together and aligned with the Ninja's vision.

A major pivoting point in my ninjutsu martial arts learning process happened when I realized that there was something more going on than just the punching, kicking, and what-not, that makes up conventional martial arts and self-defense training. In fact, once I saw it happening, my mind shifted away from the typical orientation toward this "style" or that, and started looking beyond the techniques themselves to...

...what was being "done" by each move in a technique string.

In the ninja's martial arts, just as with everything else in life, experience brings many benefits. The more a person does something, the greater the level of confidence, understanding, and proficiency they will have with that 'thing.' This is a truth but as with any medicine, is often hard to swallow.