Agreed. Ninjas (a.k.a. Shinobi) were spies. Plain and simple. Not great warriors or fighters but just plain old spies. I read a lot of Japanese history (in Japanese) and never are ninjas mentioned as something important or revered in martial arts or anything else for that matter. They just gathered information and sold it to the highest bidder. In fact, whenever a ninja was discovered and killed, the killiing wounds were usually found on the ninjas' back. In other words, ninjas ran away from fights rather than face opponents. Hatsumi has a descent reputation in Japan but is also known to sell his rank certificates to the highest bidder.
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Agreed. Ninjas (a.k.a. Shinobi) were spies. Plain and simple. Not great warriors or fighters but just plain old spies. I read a lot of Japanese history (in Japanese) and never are ninjas mentioned as something important or revered in martial arts or anything else for that matter. They just gathered information and sold it to the highest bidder. In fact, whenever a ninja was discovered and killed, the killiing wounds were usually found on the ninjas' back. In other words, ninjas ran away from fights rather than face opponents. Hatsumi has a descent reputation in Japan but is also known to sell his rank certificates to the highest bidder.