Is it to late to learn Ninjutsu at age 18-19?

If you are dedicated and are intrested?..|||Stpehn K. Hayes didn%26#039;t start until he was 25.|||Ninjitsu is such a suck balls art. It%26#039;s so passified. Ninjas were outlaws, assasins. They killed people, they stole ****, they worked behind the scenes to change things.





What are you morons gunna do sneak up on your cat and giggle about it? FAGS Report Abuse
|||Nah dude, it%26#039;s never too late to learn ANY Martial Art at ANY age, it was said earlier that shidoshi Stephen K Hayes learned it @ 25 yrs old which is true and he is now well into his late 50%26#039;s or early 60%26#039;s. and Ninjitsu is NOT a dead art (why must people who are so uninformed interject their opinion on what they know nothing about? **cough* cough, ninedemonsgod*cough*cough**)





As long as you stick with it, it%26#039;s cool. I%26#039;ve been a Martial Artist for the better part of 15yrs (Tang Soo Do and Hapkido) So trust me while Ninjitsu is not a a %26quot;popular%26quot; martial art, it is out there, and there are several schools that%26#039;d be more than happy to teach you.|||Not to late its never to late to learn an art... I started when I was 13-14... I am 16 and still learning... Ninjutsu is a good at. Yous should have fun!|||Yes but you wont be ready to face pirates for 10 years.|||no you have to want it you know the drive to do it. if you put your mind to it you can. and make sure you have fun while trying something new!!!!!!!!!!|||Never to late|||I would say not, I personally started training within the Bujinkan at age 16....and I%26#039;ve been with it ever since.





It%26#039;s not an art where you get quick promotions....it%26#039;s not an art that you have a million belts in, and it%26#039;s not an art that does a ton of silly Kiai! screaming for no bloody reason....





It%26#039;s an art that teaches survival mentality, combat mentality, and a number of....generally lost elements that transcend just fighting that many martial arts have lost in the dust.





Here%26#039;s some info for you : (it%26#039;s copied from one of my other posts....didn%26#039;t feel like re-typing it all again.)





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While there are elements of Ninjutsu still existing in certain branches of Japanese Koryu Bujutsu, Yagyu Shinkage Ryu (柳生新陰流) for example headed by the infamous %26quot;sword saint%26quot; Yagyū Muneyoshi Sekishusai (柳生宗厳)....the only existing martial arts system out of Nippon that teaches Ninpo in it%26#039;s entirety is the Bujinkan, headed by Soke (headmaster) Masaaki Hatsumi 初見良昭, who recieved his rank of Soke from Toshitsugu Takamatsu (高松寿嗣) the 33rd Soke of the 9 ryūha lineages. Termed the %26quot;Mongolian Tiger%26quot; due to his active combat experience against Chinese Gung-Fu boxers in China.





Toshitsugu Takamatsu is considered to be the %26quot;last combat ninja%26quot; by the Bujinkan.





According to historical accounts, his family had both samurai class and ninja roots. Toshitsugu Takamatsu studied under various masters of several ryu, and as a result, became the %26quot;only man ever to master all aspects of ninjutsu%26quot;.





When he was still a young man, Takamatsu gained his notoriety by %26quot;singlehandedly stopping a small riot%26quot;. When he was older, he was involved in espionage in Manchuria and, according to Masaaki Hatsumi, was in connection with Motojiro Akashi. Returning from China, he became a Tendai-shū abbot at Mount Hiei.





He also had ties with the Soke of the Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū (I%26#039;m not sure which Soke it was : so I%26#039;ll omit a name) founded by the infamous Musashi Miyamoto (宮本 武蔵) and in turn, tied in dual-sword wielding techniques into the Bujinkan compendium...


titled as such (Nito Seiho.)





Takamatsu passed on his knowledge and legacy to Masaaki Hatsumi, who founded the Bujinkan to continue Takamatsu%26#039;s teachings.





The Bujinkan (Warrior Spirit Training Hall or House of the Divine Warrior), or more properly the Bujinkan Dōjō (武神館道場.)





And even with the Bujinkan, only Togakure-ryū Ninpō (戸隠流忍法) is taught openly....but Gyokushin-ryū Ninpō (玉心流忍法), and


Kumogakure-ryū Ninpō (雲隠流忍法) are not.





Bujinkan training :





The training is generally referred to as taijutsu, and is composed of both armed and unarmed methods of fighting. Unarmed methods are broken down into three primary categories, dakentaijutsu (striking forms), jūtaijutsu (grappling forms), and taihenjutsu (body movement skills). Much of the basic taijutsu taught to beginners comes from six primary lineages in the Bujinkan compendium, namely Kotō-ryū, Gyokko-ryū, Shinden Fudō-ryū, Takagi Yōshin-ryū, Kuki Shinden-ryū, and Togakure-ryū.





A large variety of weapons are taught, such as sword (including daito, wakizashi and tanto, bamboo shinai, wooden bokken, iaitō a flexible aluminum replica sword that holds no edge, or swords made by soft modern materials are employed for safety such as padded bokken), staffs of various lengths (bō, jō, hanbō), rope, kusari-fundo (weighted chain), kusarigama (sickle with chain), yari (spear), kamayari (spear with 2 rearward hooking blades), bisento (similar to the naginata), kyoketsu shoge (similar to a kama except it has a dagger point and a rope of several feet attached to an iron ring), jutte (shaped like a sai with just a single prong, at a smaller distance from the shaft of the weapon) tessen (iron fan), naginata (Japanese halberd), kunai (a bladed digging tool), as well various form of shuriken including bo-shuriken and senban shuriken. Weapons are categorized into four primary classes - sticks, blades, flexibles, and projectiles.





Now, the principles of Taijutsu taught for our classical weapons translate into modern firearms as well. An example of this : I%26#039;ve had a concealed carry liscence for years.....but through the principles I was taught via my Shihan, I%26#039;ve learned how to draw/aim/fire and move with the handgun at a much higher peak performance level with more efficiency and accuracy.





18 disciplines of combat taught within the Bujinkan :





Seishin-teki kyōyō (spiritual refinement)


Taijutsu (unarmed combat)


Kyudo (archery)


Ninja ken (sword fighting)


Bōjutsu (stick and staff fighting)


Shurikenjutsu (throwing blades)


Sōjutsu (spear fighting)


Naginatajutsu (naginata fighting)


Kusarigamajutsu (chain weapons)


Kayakujutsu (fire and explosives)


Hensōjutsu (disguise and impersonation)


Shinobi-iri (Stealth and Infiltration methods)


Bajutsu (Horsemanship)


Sui-ren (Training in Water)


Bōryaku (Military Strategy)


Chōhō (Espionage)


Intonjutsu (Escaping and Concealment)


Tenmon (Meteorology)


Chi-mon (Geography)





Nine ryūha lineages of Bujinkan Budō Taijutsu:





Gyokko-ryū Kosshijutsu (玉虎流骨指術)


Kotō-ryū Koppōjutsu (虎倒流骨法術)


Shinden Fudō-ryū Dakentaijutsu (神伝不動流打拳体術)


Takagi Yōshin-ryū Jūtaijutsu (高木揚心流柔体術)


Kuki Shinden-ryū Happō Bikenjutsu (九鬼神伝流八法秘剣術)


Gikan-ryū Koppōjutsu (義鑑流骨法術)


Togakure-ryū Ninpō (戸隠流忍法)


Gyokushin-ryū Ninpō (玉心流忍法)


Kumogakure-ryū Ninpō (雲隠流忍法)





The only 3 of those that are ninjutsu schools are the last 3, and only Togakure-ryu is openly practiced. Soke prefers to keep the others relatively untaught until frankly...you%26#039;re mature enough for them. I think that%26#039;s a safe way of saying it.





There are derivative off-shoot systems called :





Jinenkan (meaning 自然舘 %26quot;Hall of Nature%26quot;), headed by Fumio Manaka (formerly a student of Soke Hatsumi%26#039;s.)





Genbukan (忍法武芸道場、玄武館), meaning %26#039;the place that nurtures the martial artist%26#039;, headed by Shoto Tanemura (formerly a student of Soke Hatsumi%26#039;s.)





Now, when it comes to the Genbukan and the Jinenkan....their claims of validity have been highly disputed.





Supposedly, Shoto Tanemura has been claiming to have obtained Menkyo Kaiden, a Japanese term meaning %26quot;license of total transmission%26quot; of ranking in several schools within the Bujinkan compendium : Kotō-ryū Koppōjutsu (虎倒流骨法術) and


Shinden Fudō-ryū Dakentaijutsu (神伝不動流打拳体術) for example.





As stated above, these claims have been greatly disputed and dismissed by Soke Hatsumi.





That%26#039;s about all I have on the subject....I hope it helps.





try looking in the %26quot;yellow pages%26quot; section of http://www.winjutsu.com for a Dojo directory.





Now, there are a lot of flakes within our art....sadly, but there are a ton quality instructors as well...just do your homework.





ninpo ikkan!





Ryan|||no not late|||It%26#039;s never too late to learn. I%26#039;ve known people in their thirties and forties who were starting to learn martial arts-even Ninjutsu. Just find a good sensei.|||Yes. It%26#039;s a dead art, you%26#039;re 150 years too late.|||It is too late because true ninjitsu ended hundreds of years ago.It never left Japan and was kept very secret.


You should read some old questions on here about finding a good school.





Quality and frequency of training far outweigh the style you are studying.|||Actually, you might be a little early. While physically, your body is ready, mentally you may or may not be. Are you ready to pretty much devote yourself to the art? Give that question serious thought.|||no, go for it|||No way dude. Its too late when you are like 45, not when you are 18.|||Never too late. Even people in their 50%26#039;s do it.