Ninja sword: of unknown origin

In Japan, there existed mercenaries of the feudal period. They were termed Ninjas or shinobi. These ninja warriors specialized in the unorthodox ways of war. They were trained for dangerous missions whose origins are still unknown up to present. They were termed as stealth soldiers that operated with deftness during espionage, assassination, infiltration and sabotage. They dressed in black garbs and disguised themselves to hide their faces allowing them the ability to spy.

Some people regard to ninjas as super human bearing super human strength and powers. They were believed to have possessed a great many legendary abilities. Among the many things that they could do skillfully was they could take flight, become invisible, and even shape shift. They were very different from a Japanese samurai whose life was dedicated to honor and battle.

The ninja warriors had a mysterious nature with their disguise and all. They were equipped with different tools that they used with great agility and dexterity during espionage and infiltration in their missions. Their only similarity with the Japanese samurai was that they were also equipped with a sword as their main weaponry. A Japanese ninja sword was called a Ninjato or Ninjaken. Sometimes, it is even called a shinobi gatena which meant “short sword” when translated into English.

Japanese ninja sword usage, advantages, and techniques

The sword techniques that the ninjas have were very special in many ways which was best explained by a Hatusmi sensei. These ninja swords came in different shapes and sizes. A typical Japanese ninja sword’s blade was shorter in length and the scabbard longer; so unlike the traditional samurai swords of Japan. The scabbard was longer because it was often used by ninjas to hide messages.

Due to the size of a ninja sword, it became very convenient for a ninja to carry. It was almost like a wazikashi that fit quite well inside the scabbard of a katana but was shorter than one. They did this to deceive their opponent into thinking that the drawing of their sword would take a longer time thus surprising their opponent in the process by attacking earlier than expected.

Although not historically precise, modern Japanese ninja swords appear differently. They are straight unlike the old shape which was slightly curved with a square hand guard (tsubi). It was called the Ninja ken. These short swords had greater advantage when in close combat or close battle.