Customer Reviews

Ninja Shadowhand: The Art of Invisibility

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

History abounds with groups who sought to wrap themselves in secrecy and stealth. In the Dark Ages of Northern Europe `wolfshirt warriors' (Ulfhednar) the stealth oriented companions to the dread Berserkers; the Knights Templars, an order so secret that their history is still debated; the Cult of Assassins (Hashishin); and of course Japan's elusive Ninja all practiced the `Art of Invisibility'. The Japanese Ninja became so adept at collecting and perfecting methods of stealth movement and fighting that theirs became a martial art unto itself.

In Ninja Shadowhand; The Art of Invisibility, Dr. Haha Lung and Christopher Prowant explain the basics of seeing. We learn how our eyes work, and gain an understanding of how shape, silhouette, movement, and color effect what we see and what we don't see. We also learn about point of view, obscuring a foe's perspective, and psychological blind spots.

After explaining how we see the authors show us how we may apply this knowledge in martial arts applications. This is explained through the basic application of ukemi, misdirecting attention and disguising movement.

Ninja Shadowhand then mentions `shadow weapons' such as the yawara (short stick), manriki (10,000 power chain), shuriken (throwing star), and application of modern hidden weapons such as the handkerchief, lapel weapons, and walking sticks.

Ninja Shadowhand will not turn you into the invisible man. Embracing the attitude and application of Ninja Shadowhand will not guarantee you perfect safety, but what it will do is sharpen your character and hone your wits providing you with an edge your enemy lacks.

In the words of Sun Tzu - "Ethereal, a master leaves no trace to be seen, mysterious under Heaven, he leaves no sound to be heard. By these two, a master seals his foe's fate.

An excellent overview of Shinobi Ninja shadowhand (taisavaki-jutsu) techniques, this book has great practical application for any who study the martial arts. It was recommended by a friend in the military as a way to hone and enhance both defensive and offensive skills. The methods of invisibility discussed and detailed in a very "how to" manner work extremely well and can be rapidly learned. Moves are explained by narration, schematics, and body drawings.

It appears that some of the other amazon reviewers are looking for either an historical review of Ninja tactic, or a cartoon parody. This book is neither. Rather, it is for those who seek a primer for invisibility, disguising or misdirecting attention, and shadowhand striking styles. "Avoid being seen... Seen, avoid capture... Captured, avoid being held.".

I give it five stars because it gives you some good history and manipulation methods. The person who wrote the review before me was obviously a complete idiot. He gave it one star, he must have no appeciation for the great techniques in martial arts. Buy this book if you are interested in self-defense!!! Its only ten bucks !!

I bought this book off of Amazon a year ago and just now realized that I never left a review. LOL This book and the KNIGHTS OF DARKNESS, also by Lung, are my 2 favorite books!! These books go hand and hand. If you really want to be super serious then I highly recommend 3 books!! Ninja ShadowHand, Knights of Darkness, and a well written book by Peter Jenkins called ADVANCED SURVEILLANCE:The complete manual of Surveillance Training. I don't think I need to explain how all three of these book tie in together. These 3 books are my pride and joy, so to speak. I refuse to get rid of any of one of them. If you are as serious as I am about learning these techniques, you will buy or borrow from someone all three of these books. Remember, 2 are from Dr. Lung and the Surveillance is Jenkins. Enjoy!!

this is a great book , with lots of pictures and it goes in to very good detail , it tells and shows you how to do alot of things from practicing the art of invisibility and learning how to be out of your targets line of sight , and what spots to attack and tells you and shows you how to attack them and shows you and tells you the right footwork , and gives you alot of very helpful exercises to do , its a great book , you should buy it while you have a chance !!!

this book is just ok,the art of stealth is much more than illustrated in this book. as an expert in the art of ninjutsu stealth, i can tell you,you cannot expect to show the true aspects of stealth and clandestine movement by not showing methods of silent walking, proper hiding and camouflauge, and so on so forth. it explains a few helpful tips, some of which really are just plain common sense to be honest. maybe i might recommend it to someone now beginning in stealth training...MAYBE. i actually rather recommend getting stephen hayes' book "the mystic arts of the ninja". it shows a few ways of walking as well camouflauge and escape

These two authors are fairly knowledgable. but not in the field they are writing about. the information in this book is rediculous. good for entertainment though. you can tell they researched this material with a more scientific approach, but ninpo cannot be described through science.

After reading this book I personally think that the term "shadowhand" refers to Dr(?) Haha Lung's ability to write a 150 page book without telling you a single thing. If there is anything of any usefulness that you will find in this book you will also find it in any women's self defense magazine sans the ridiculous illustrations.
A one star rating is being way too generous.

I gave this one star, because negative stars are not allowed. The previous review has to have been written by someone closely related to the book.

I was a teen-ager during the '80s Ninja Craze and even then, this book would have been seen as a complete joke. I think I was expecting a Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon to turn up somewhere in the book, but was disappointed to not see one.

Bottom-line - Stay away from this book. If you are really interested in something about ninja, look into Stephen K. Hayes.