Ninjas Martial Arts of China

Ninjas Martial Arts Of China
Okay, I want to clear up one thing right from the beginning. We're not dummies, and we KNOW that the phrase "Ninjas Martial Arts" is a misnomer, but in the strange and sometimes illogical world of the internet, you can't always use the CORRECT phrasing if you want to be found. Considerations for technically correct phrasing aside, the practical truth is that you found this page, didn't you? One of the reasons for that is a little thing called a keyword phrase. Of course we want our website to be wildly successful, and that will only happen if we get lots of traffic, and THAT will happen only if we rank highly with the search engines. One of the ways we do that is to use keyword phrases that people are actually searching for, and it turns out that the phrase "Ninjas Martial Arts" is a WHOLE lot more popular than, say, Ninja or Ninjutsu, or Ninja Martial Arts. Sooo, you will see this technically INCORRECT phrase throughout this article, and my apologies for that, but we have to remember that even though the predominant language of the internet is English, the majority of the world speaks English, if at all, as their SECOND language, and in a case like that, spelling anomalies are bound to happen, so we opted to give the people what they are looking for, rather than what we THOUGHT they should be looking for.

Lin Kuei / Moshuh Nanren Ninjas Martial Arts of China

The roots of the Japanese Ninja lie in the fertile grounds of Historic China. They belong to The Lin Kuei. Lin Kuei (or Lin Gui - 林鬼 in Mandarin) is a Mandarin Chinese term meaning forest ghosts. Martial arts historians and others researchers have postulated such a group existed in the forests of China many years ago. This would have been long before the ninja emerged in Japan. ninjas martial arts of japan from Wikipedia

Tales of Lin Kuei have disturbed travelers and peasants for centuries. They were rumored to be night-dwellers possessing mystical powers. This mythical shroud of true identity precisely parallels the methods of the Japanese Ninja. The Ninja of Japan used secrecy, rumor, demon masks, and pyrotechnics to ignite man's combustible innate fear of the unknown, overcoming adversaries psychologically first and foremost. As a result of the Lin Kuei's way of utmost secrecy, very little beyond ancient stories and rumor exists today to shed a light on their society.

Approximately during China's Tang Dynasty, some of the Lin Kuei members traveled to Japan and diffused their secret martial arts and ways to the locals. These methods were eventually incorporated into the art of ninjutsu. It is believed that some Lin Kuei stayed in Japan and made a living as mountain hermits or priests, known as the Yamabushi (those that hide in the mountains). The term refers to isolated clusters (or individuals) of mountain hermits, ascetics, and "holy men", who search for spiritual, mystical, or supernatural powers gained through asceticism. Other Lin Kuei traveled to Korea and continued their teachings.

The Lin Kuei lived in forests for centuries. After the clan's decline, the last Shr-lin (grandmaster of the Lin Kuei) moved to the United States to reform the clan. The last Shr-lin died during the 1970's, and since then, a clan member known as Li Hsing, who claims to have been a friend of the last Shr-lin has come forward. Li Hsing has authored two books regarding the ninja of China: “China's Ninja Connection” “The Combat Skills of the Lin Kuei: Heritage of the Ninja”

Moshuh Nanren

A book called Knights of Darkness by Dr. Haha Lung which discussed about the world's deadly night fighters and commandos; it mentioned the term Lin Kuei under the category Moshuh Nanren.

The Moshuh Nanren were Lin Kuei whom worked as skilled assassins and bodyguards to the Chinese royal family. They would eliminate any dangers to the royal family employing the means necessary; such is the way of the ninja martial arts. The Moshuh Nanren have been called forerunners of the Japanese ninja. They worked for the services of the Chinese emperors during China's Warring States Period (453-221 B.C.E.).

The name Lin Kuei is most well-known as a faction from the Mortal Kombat video games, first released in 1992, in which the Lin Kuei were portrayed as a clan of Chinese ninja. The Lin Kuei known in the game are Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Sektor, Cyrax, Smoke, and Frost.

Not allot is known of the ancient Chinese Ninja or their martial arts. The Japanese Ninjas martial art, "ninjutsu", is much better commonly associated with the word ninja.