Customer Reviews

The Ancient Art of Ninja Warfare: Combat, Espionage and Traditions

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I was lucky enough to have bought this book used in mint condition for a very small amount of money. I cannot believe this title is selling for as much as it is to collectors. The book is excellent, but the same material can be found elsewhere for a lot less. I will give a breakdown of each chapter, which there is, only five of:

Chapter One - History Behind The History. This part is a background and discussion of terminology and its history. This chapter also briefly covers over the major clans. It sets the pace for the rest of the book. A good alternate to this is Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi book "Ninjutsu - History And Tradition", which covers the same in greater detail.

Chapter Two - Religious And Spiritual Influences. This small chapter covers overviews of Hinto, the original faith of the Japanese people. As well as Buddhism and how it filtered into other spiritual aspects of the warrior breeds. A book with much of the same type of topic information is Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi book "Essence of Ninjutsu".

Chapter Three - Ninja Combat Tools. I was a little disappointed in this chapter it only discussed two items. The Bojutsu (six foot staff) and Kunai (a casual banged out piece of iron, in the somewhat form of a blade or tool edge), Hayes went into great detail of both items techniques and employment. I was hoping to read more information on other tools and weapons but the book did not come through. I am not going to recommend a book on the staff because the titles are vast, but I will recommend a few titles on ninja weapons. Hayes book "The Ninja and their Secret Fighting Art", "Traditional Ninja Weapons" by Charles Daniel and "Exotic Weapons of the Ninja" by Campbell.

Chapter Four - Ninja Espionage Networks. This area covers traditional techniques used to get close in to targets, with the use of disguise, theatrics and other forms concealment of one's true identity and purpose. Again this is one of the Hallmarks of the Ninja and Hayes uses a mere nine pages of text on this subject. A good alternate to this is "Ninja the Invisible Assassin" by Adams and again Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi book "Ninjutsu - History And Tradition".

Chapter Five - Ninja Guerrilla Warfare Techniques. I do not know where he came up with this title for this chapter. He covers this chapter in four pages of text, which goes into a hand full of ruses and stratagems. I found nothing unusual or different from other works here again a better alternate is Sun Tzu "Art of War" and "Ninja the Invisible Assassin" by Adams and again Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi book "Ninjutsu - History and Tradition".

This title had no end matter (bibliography, glossary, and index). The book is heavily illustrated one of its high lights. The illustrations and B&W photos were clear.

As a final note, the book overall is good and ideal for novices of the study. This is and old title, which I am sure, was ahead of its time when published, but now many books have come out (as I already listed above) that cover this material much better then Hayes work here. I noted to myself after receiving and reading this book, realizing why he (Hayes) has not reprinted this title, sadly it is definitely not one of his best works.

the author is a man who doesn't bluff and who tells you in a plain and clear way about the ninja arts. Especially peculiar is that he calls the weapons: 'tools'. And he has a good point there because ninja weapons can be used in more ways than ordinary weapons, they have multiple purposes. Good pictures, well written; a very good book; also suitable for someone who is very sceptic about ninja stuff. So put this one back in print! it's worth it!

I was a little disapointed that the cover has something hard stuck to it and the pages were yellowed. I would have liked to know the condition of the book with a little more specifics. The book itself is interesting.

I FOUND THIS BOOK VERY INTERESTING. I THINK IT'S ONE OF THE BEST BOOK FOR NINJUTSU BEGINNERS! DO YOU WANT TO LEARN SOMETHING ABOUT NINJA WEAPONS? THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU!