What are the origins of ninjutsu?

sometimes also called shinobi,and does it still exist in its original form.|||The origin of shinobi/ninjutsu were the Yamabushi - mountain warriors - of japan over eight centurys ago.





It began when samurai Nishina, having become disillusioned by constant battles, retreated to the hills to find solace. He came across a warrior priest - Doshi, and studied with him. While Nishina was still living in the hills, Japan underwent a form of unification, and the ruling warlords decided that everyone should follow the same religion. Those who refused, fled to the hills, and soon word spread of those following an alternative religion, and the powers that be decided that it was time to convert them. However, the worldly wise Doshi and Nishina had foreseen this and had trained all the refugees in the fighting system that they had created - Yamabushi.





It was many years before the yamabushi became known as Ninja. Because of their total split from society, the ninja families went underground and to counter-act the constant harassment, they formed various strategies from spy networks, to disguise and of course, assassination.





There are many Shinobi / ninjustsu clubs around (UK and US) and I suspect most claim to teach it in it%26#039;s original form. If you want to get the truest version though, I suspect Japan is the place to go where there are certain schools in most martial arts that are still quite isolated and believe in keeping things as they were, following tradition as a living record of their culture.|||well my ex believes so He teaches that|||check this site out!|||The first references to such unarmed combat arts or systems can be found in the earliest purported historical records of Japan, Descriptions of the techniques used during this encounter included striking, throwing, restraining and weaponry. These systems of unarmed combat began to be known as Nihon koryu jūjutsu (japanese old-style jujutsu)