A ninja is a person skilled in the Japanese art of ninjutsu.He was a covert agent, mercenary, or guerrilla warfare expert in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja include reconnaissance, espionage, infiltration, deception, ambush, bodyguarding, and fighting skills in martial arts, including ninjutsu. Today we shall discuss the reasons for the scarcity of ninjas in MMA.
The emergence of Ninja:
The ninja emerged as mercenaries in the 15th century. They were recruited as spies, raiders, arsonists, and even terrorists. Amongst the samurai, a sense of ritual and decorum was observed, where one was expected to fight or duel openly to prove their worth
Ninja in MMA:
Ninja’s first foray into MMA was with Brazilian-based Meca World Vale Tudo (Vale Tudo means Anything goes/everything allowed), where he amassed an impressive 5–0–1 record before signing with Pride Fighting Championships. Ninja made his Pride debut against Daijiro Matsui in September 2001. The fight he won via referee stoppage after repeated kicks and stomps to the grounded opponent.
Murilo Milani Rua born May 22, 1980, in Curitiba, Brazil, also known as Ninja, is a retired Brazilian mixed martial artist who fought in Pride Fighting Championships.
Surviving Ninjas:
Despite the years and inaccurate depictions, there are still real ninja clans and shinobi today. Most notably, Junichi Kawakami heads the Banke Shinobinoden ninjutsu school. Kawakami inherited the Koga clan’s scrolls when he was 18. Also, he is the honorary director of the Iga-ryu Ninja Museum.
There are one or two surviving ninjas in Japan. Japan’s era of shoguns and samurai is long over. But the country does have one, or maybe two, surviving real ninjas. Ninjas are the experts in the dark arts of espionage and silent assassination. So they used to pass the skills from father to son as a profession. But one can wonder why the practice of ninjas dramatically declined.
The practice of Ninja:
The diverse range of skills practiced by the ninja is called ninjutsu. That means the art of stealth. It also includes training in armed combat, weapon techniques, military strategy, meteorology, geometry, and breathing synthesis.
Ninjutsu, sometimes used interchangeably with the modern term ninpō, is the martial art strategy and tactics of unconventional warfare, guerrilla warfare. And also espionage purportedly practiced by the ninja. Historically, ninjutsu was not a martial art system at all. The original ninjutsu consisted of various espionage tactics.
There are very few ninjas, nowadays, who fight as MMA fighters. Giga Chikadze, the Georgian Mixed Martial Artist, fought Calvin Kattar at UFC Fight Night on Saturday, January 15, 2022. He lost to another ninja Calvin Kattar by Decision at 5:00 of Round 5.
Ninja vanishes in Japan:
Despite Japan still training ninjas, the real ninjas are not born. There are still students being trained in the 49 ninjutsu schools in Japan today. But 67-year-old Jinichi Kawakami, who is known as “Japan’s last real ninja,” laments that present days’ ninjas’ skills such as vanishing in a cloud of smoke or blade-throwing have no real utility in modern life. The incredible ninjas that Japan was proud of were on the verge of extinction. Since ninja is armed combat, the techniques of this deadly art can hardly be included in MMA fights.
The deadly art of ninjas was invented for covert and illegal reasons. Ninja is not an honorable art as it is stealing craftiness. On the other hand, MMA is facing more challenges to be refined so that mixed