Ninja Origin

Do you believe that Ninja orginated from China?

spies and assassins originate everywhere.

You have to remember Ninja weren't originally spies and assassins.
According to my instructors the first Ninja were an exiled Shaolin Monk sect calling themselves The White Eyebrow.
They were exiled from their temple for hiring their warrior monks as mercenaries and body guards to wealthy warlords and this was forbidden.
Shaolin monks had served as mercenaries during numerous civil wars but mainly to achieve a goal rather then make profit for themselves.
The White Eyebrow are said to have gone to Japan where they abandoned being monks and literally opened for business employing their services to wealthy Daimyo.
It is believed but not proven that after garnering some amount of wealth the former monks split up and founded schools in two areas of Japan.
At this period, in time Shaolin monks were almost considered mystics. Some people believe that Ninjitsu was founded from the Gung Fu stylings of these monks although many Ninjitsu practitioners will literally have a coronary if you tell that to them.
Originally Ninja were hired as personal bodyguards as mentioned before as well as mercenaries.
Long after the chinese masters had perished and the Sengoku Jidai began, the Japanese were now the masters and teachers. The Chinese monks are literally believed to have been bred out, taking Japanese wives.
The Ninja of the Sengoku Jidai really form the beliefs of what Ninja's were as this period was their highest period of activity.
For the most part Ninja's were not assassins. In fact it has only been recorded that Ninja assassins were quite rare and actual successful assassinations even rarer.
The Ninja of the Sengoku Jidai took on the term Shinobi. Wealthy Daimyo who could afford them hired them in bulk. The Shinobi were first and foremost intelligence gatherers and Daimyo would create a webwork of these agents in enemy provinces, armies, villages, and castles.
The Daimyo also employed special Shinobi who literally became their "Secret Police". Their job was primarily counter-ninja/shinobi. They protected their masters from political subterfuge in their own territories as well as weeded out discendants, rebels, and anyone who disagreed with their masters goals.
Another branch of these Shinobi were actually counter assassins. They were the personal bodyguards of Daimyo and actually employed to live near the Daimyo himself to protect him from ambushes, or infiltrators.
Now of course the Samurai did not approve of this at all. The Samurai loathed the Ninja and believed it was foremost their duty to be in charge of protecting their retainers. Firstly Ninja were not of a noble class. Ninja could be recruited from the peasentry and be just about anyone. Secondly a Ninja's job was deceit, trickery, and subterfuge. Things a Samurai did not particularly like.
Also Ninja posed as Samurai to infiltrate enemy armies for the purpose of sabotage, information gathering, or possibly even to assassinate a general or officer of some established rank.
The other branch of Ninja are basically compared by todays special forces. They worked in small groups behind enemy lines and were masters of guerilla warfare and sabotage.
Also as hollywood has portrayed Ninja's is quite inaccurate and they are believed only to have ever dressed in black on rare night time occasions. Most of the time they could be dressed as anyone. A servant, a drunken peasent, a Samurai. Part of their job was to blend in.
Also it is true Ninja did formulate numerous tools of their trade such as poisons and weaponary, although most would be assassins would have carried a wooden sword to prevent themselves from being cut while maneuvering or light from reflecting off the blade. The wooden sword would be used as a club.
Ninja assassinations on ranking people were quite rare and even rarely successful, however their are many instances of successful assassinations on lower level Samurai and other people as well as a few high ranking people.
When researching Ninja try the name Hanzo Hittori. He is regarded as one of the greatest Ninja masters to have ever lived and is often regarded to have the same kind of seemingly mystical abilities the Shaolin possessed.

Thanks for your information I did heard that countries like China and Japan have ninjas doing all sorts of different missions. I also that Korea has ninja, but I don't have enough information. I was wondering how this ninja culture travelled to Korea?

Don't forget that all of the arts actally originated in India! From India to China..then to Japan and elswhere.

Yes they did come from India all thanks to Buddhism.

I also have the story on how Gung Fu began from a combination of Middle Eastern animal exercises and 'Chinese Boxing' taught to Shaolin monks when a certain individual (name too long and hard to pronounce let alone write)came to China to enlighten and modernize the Buddist practices and assist the beleaguered poverty stricken monks and their often pillaged temples.

di ninjas first come from india???i thought that ninjas came from china or japan,we all know that spies live,but ninjas...are they still in motion(probably)

Of course the actual Ninja came from and originated in Japan....But the Japanese refined other's culture. Something they are still masters at.
I would think that groups like the Thugees of India could be considered the predecessors(sp?) of Ninja...they were a sect of Kali worshiping people in the Calcutta area that were notorious for lurking in the shadows and stealing people from their homes to be sacrificed..... Certainly NOT Ninja.....but if you are looking for where the techniques and ideas started...India is the motherland of asia.

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Watashiwa Yagyu Jubei desu! Ganbate!

The Thugs were a bit later me thinks..you may give reference to the 'assassins'/'hashashin' (not just the reference to hashish...although some connection to the drug can be made)... the Islamic sect..'the old man of the mountain'...they killed for pay...they originated in Syria.

But the Ninja did come from China...and the monk story may be true....didnt the monks split up after time in Japan...and these rebel monks are also the foundation of the Yakuza (Japanese mafia)

and the world wide links go on and on and on!

Yes the monks did split up.

The Yakuza derived from the Samurai.
http://w1.313.telia.com/~u31302275/yakuza5.htm

LOL Well the British's recognition of the Thugees came later that is for sure,,,,but hardcore Kali worship has gone on for thousands of years!