Ninja weapons include the Ninja To short straight blade and hanbo 3 foot staff.
Ninja weapons also include the longer staves, spears and halberds.
However Ninpo also includes some specific tools more or less unique to the Ninja.
Shuriken are throwing blades.
The most commonly know type are the shaken star shaped blades, although there are also throwing knives and stillettos included in this method.
Chain weapons include manrikigusari and kusarifundo.
There are also kusari-kama chain and sickle weapons.
Shuko are "ninja claws". Designed as climbing tools they are deadly in hand to hand combat as they turn your hands into lethal weapons.
Tessen is the "war fan", part of the kunoichi accessories.
I'll be bringing these weapons into class from time to time for information and demonstration purposes.
As we have evolved the STMA view to Ninjutsu, we show exactly how the stick weapons we use correspond to blade weapons.
This is more obvious in Kali as the stick is also a practice sword and we regularly train with knife
However we are training for self defence and the intention is not to take a blade weapon out to kill an enemy
It is intention that drives action
Swords:
Daito - katana - longsword
Shoto - wakizashi - short sword
Tanto - knife
Staff:
Bo
Jo
Hanbo
yari - spear
naginata - halberd
bisento
kusurigama - chain and sickle
kyoketsu shoge
kusarifundo - manrikigusari - chain
hojo - rope
Jutte - iron truncheon
Tessen - war fan
shuko - iron claws
Shuriken - throwing blades/weapons
Metsubishi - blinding/distracting powders/weapons
Shuriken and throwing blades as mentioned.
The bow and arrow have always been used by Ninja - the art of what we call archery over here is called Kyujutsu in Japan, and has become the more modern sport Kyudo.
The bow is called Yumi arrows are called Ya
A counter technique called Yadome - Arrow Stop - using a weapon such as your sword or staff to deflect an arrow is also employed
There is a theoretical practice of catching an arrow with your hand but it is unlikely this was ever really developed - a better use would be to employ Escaping rat form taisabaki and throw shuriken while either closing the gap or escaping
yadome also applies to defending a shuriken with your sword or staff
The Japanese never employed shields in warfare - in fact the further east you go the rarer they become for some reason. Despite what "experts" and historians theorise nobody has come up with a plausible explanation - which indicates nobody knows.
As for firearms they came very late to Japan so never really got absorbed into the practice of ryu before we hit "modern" times.
Teppo is the name for a gun, but refers to primative single shot musket of the time.
A crossbow would be as much a Teppo weapon as a Yumi.
