The Ninja clans of feudal era Japan were famous for their martial arts system and their skill as spies, warriors and assasins. Today many people want to study the martial art of Ninjutsu which they developed, but perhaps even more fascinating are the other, more sectretive skills that the Ninja were famed for. What I am talking about, of course, are the mystical and occult practices of Ninja magic which helped to develop their fearsome reputation.

The most famous skill of ninja magic is the power of invisibility which has become synonymous in the popular imagination with the ninja themselves, but there are also many other aspects to their magic such as the kuji kiri hand mudras. Some of the skills that would once have contributed to the myth of the ninja and their magical powers can todays be understood and explained without any reference to occult powers, while other remain mysterious and unexplained.

Ninja Illusionism

The ninja themselves would have played up to their image as masters of supernatural forces as part of their strategy of psychological warfare against their enemies and would certainly have claimed to have occult powers which were actually the result of purely physical skills. The famed art of invisibility comes under this category. Many of the techniques discovered and pioneered by ninja magic would later be rediscovered in the western world by stage magic and illusionism. The use of techniques such as misdirection, slight of hand, and exploiting the existence of the blind spot in an opponents vision would all have added to the ability of a ninja assasin to go anywhere they pleased without being seen, and would also have been used in fighting as part of their martial arts arsenal to strike their opponents down with unseen attacks and to bring concealed weapons into play to strike witrh deadly force before the enemy could see anything coming. There are a few good books around which explain how this kind of illusionism was used in Ninja magic; I would recommend: Black Science by Haha Lung

Kuji Kiri

The Kuji Kiri exemplify the other aspect of the mysticism and magic of the Ninja clans, which remains mysterious and cannot be explained by modern thinking. There are 9 Kuji Kiri hand forms which the Ninja in training would have used in meditation to develop 9 levels of power. These 9 levels are:

1. Rin - Strength
2. Kyo - Direction of energy
3. Toh - Harmony
4. Sha - Healing
5. Kai - Premonition
6. Jin - Knowing the thoughts of others
7. Retsu - Mastery of time and space
8. Zai - Control of the elements of nature
9. Zen - enlightenment

Like other oriental martial arts systems such as Karate or Chinese Kung Fu the ninja would also have used techniques based on harnessing the vital life force of 'Chi', which can be used both to attack, but also for healing and other uses.

If you are interested in learning the kuji kiri and other practices such as meditations on the 5 elements and the use of chi energy in ninja magic then these are the best books that I would recommend for you to take a look at: Ninja Mind Control and  Kuji Kiri anbd Majutsu - Sacred Art of the Oriental Mage

Ninja magic really is a fascinating subject to study, so I hope that you find it as rewarding as I have.