KATSURA OTOKO

Book excerpt: Since the time of the "Second Ninja Boom" of the 1980s, the "ninja experts" have led novices to believe by that Taijutsu is Ninjutsu. Ranked instructors, who one assumes would know otherwise, have also perpetuated this erroneous notion among their student followers. Thus, the actual elements of Ninjutsu-intelligence-gathering, strategy, invisibility, among many others-are disregarded and omitted from contemporary training. The purpose of this book is to provide the reader with a more authentic and balanced understanding of what traditional ninjutsu was-and of what it can still be. It will be of value to - readers without a dojo affiliation who are nonetheless interested in ninjutsu training - practitioners who may be disillusioned with the authenticity of training, and - active ninjutsu practitioners, regardless of dojo affiliation, seamlessly complementing their training and providing them with an ancillary curriculum to broaden their skills.