In 2012, Jinichi Kawakami emerged as the last surviving ninja grandmaster. Kawakami believed that the art of ninjutsu has no place in the modern age, as we have better weapons, the internet, and better medicines. Masaaki Hatsumi, another surviving ninja grandmaster, has not appointed an heir. Once Kawakami and Hatsumi pass away, ninjas will forever cease to exist.
It wasn’t until the age of eighteen, when he was given access to the clan’s ancient scrolls, that Kawakami finally realized the purpose behind his decades of training
The article is quite incomplete when it comes to Masaaki Hatsumi - he started teaching westerners Budo Taijutsu in the seventies. Since then, it spread to all corners of the world. Also, it’s fair to say that ninjas in their original form no longer exist, but the art lives on and continues to affect its practitioners’ lives in many ways; see en.m.wikipedia.org/…/Modern_schools_of_ninjutsu
For anyone who’s interested, Hatsumi-sensei’s school is called Bujinkan Taijutsu and is practised in Japan, the US, New Zealand and other places. It’s a serious self-defense style and students train without mats, because if you need it to defend yourself, you’ll probably be on concrete. It comprises kicks, punches, throws, joint locks, weapons and poking opponents in the most painful nerves.
You’d be surprised how hard it is to hit anything with a throwing star.
I knew a guy who trained in ninjitsu in highschool. I trained in Kung Fu for a few years before I met him. We used to spar after school and he was ridiculously hard to fight. All of his moves were deceptive. Even simple kicks and blocks were meant to decieve. As a result I was constantly trying to predict his actual motive instead of just fighting him straight-up. It’s a really neat style that seems to be very effective against other trained martial artists. Idk how it would fare against an untrained street fighter, but I’d guess that it is just as effective in that situation too.
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