The truth about ninjas is often blended seamlessly with legends and mythology, which makes it hard to decipher fact from fiction. Many tales about ninjas, which were covert mercenaries of Japan, claim that they could turn invisible, shapeshift and even fly. While these mystical powers are undoubtedly tall tales, the weaponry of ninja lore is just as far-fetched, but almost completely true. Here is more information on the weapons of ninjas.
Swords
While modern movies portray ninjas carrying Ninjatos, which are supposedly short straight-edged swords, the katana was usually the weapon of choice. The katana, also known as a samurai sword, is a long curved sword that was commonly affixed to a ninja’s back with a scabbard. Since the katana is so long, it is ineffective in close-quarter combats, which is why ninjas also carried a smaller blade like a tanto or wakizashi.
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Shurikens
The weapon most commonly associated with ninjas is the notorious ninja star. Along with stars, ninjas were actually skilled at throwing a variety of lethal objects, like darts and knives. All of these throwing weapons are collectively known as shurikens.
Bows
Engaging in espionage at night seems like a difficult task without having to carry a bunch of weapons and a bow just seems unwieldy. Many ninjas opted for smaller bows, so they could maintain a low profile in any situation. While ninjas were definitely skilled in most areas of combat, they also had specialties.
Explosives
It sounds hard to believe, but some ninjas actually carried handheld explosive devices to employ at opportune times. This definitely added to the mystique of the ninja because seeing a bright explosion probably made people associate ninjas more with superhumans.
Unconventional weapons
Even though we think of ninjas as the most stealthy and elegant fighters out there, they were actually pretty dirty fighters. An unconventional weapon of the ninja was pepper and dirt. They would sometimes stuff their scabbard with pepper and dirt, so when they engaged in battle and took out their sword, the stuff would go flying into an enemy’s eyes, temporarily blinding them.
Tim Martinez is a freelance blogger and writer. Aside from writing about ninja swords, he also blogs about a variety of topics like Boker knives and bird feeders.
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