Kunoichi the Female Ninja
You choke on the blood that is coming out of your mouth as you double over in pain, and grope for your sword. Your attacker was not another samurai and no intruder made it pasted your castles walls, but as you breathe your last breath you realize the female companion you brought home that night was more than she seemed.
The deadly art of Ninjutsu was not an exclusively practiced by men alone and the kunoichi or “Dragon Lady” wreaked havoc among the warlords of medieval Japan. Like their male counterparts, they often used camouflage and disguise, but the kunoichi often also used seduction and manipulation to make their way to their target. They would pose as maids, musicians, fortune tellers, and artists hiding weapons on their person or in instruments. Some women would pose as geishas, concubines, or even marry an intended target and poison or kill them in their sleep. Like other ninjas it was all about completing the mission, and though they were ready to fight, they avoided it whenever possible. It his hard to determine just how many warriors died because they let their guard down in the face of beauty.
A kunoichi was probably a girl recruited from a poor family or was a runaway who was recruited by an older kunoichi who would be both mother and instructor to the young girl. Saved from poverty the girl would be a devoted if a not fanatical student, and would learn early on the ways of the assassin. Ninjutsu training is often described as a mixture of Judo, Jujutsu, and swordsmanship training with the emphasis on stealth and concealment rather than brutality.
Because the women often went on missions alone and would go up against men their training focused on techniques that would allow them to fight off stronger and larger opponents. They learned all of the dirty self defense techniques like eye gouges, chokeholds, and strikes to the groin. They would purposely train in confined spaces, so they could practice practical close combat techniques, and practiced one-on-one fighting tactics rather than group fighting techniques.
The kunoichi also trained extensively with an array of weapons and poisons. One favorite weapon was the neko-te which were iron fingernails that would be fastened to the hand by leather straps. By themselves they could slash a warrior to pieces, but many times the women assassins would coat the blades with poison as well. Many of their weapons were designed to be conceals, but the kunoichi would also learn samurai and Okinawan weapons as well. The belief was that if you were using a larger weapon something had gone wrong, and it was being used for self defense.
Some kunoichi wouldn’t even train in the concealment tactics of their male counterparts because they hid so well in plain site. One female kunoichi trained her women to tend to holy shrines. They would kill their target and simply return to their work and never be discovered. Training also included many aspects of psychological warfare, and the women were prepared to survive interrogations and reveal as little as possible. Knowing they could be tortured and raped if caught the women trained hard at being effective spies, saboteurs, and assassins.
While few people are interested in becoming assassins outside of the military and espionage community there is a lot to be learned about self defense from the kunoichi. They took advantage of the fact that most men would dismiss a female as a threat, and they used an opponent’s strength against them in combat. They trained to fight men not other women and their training helped them learn how to deal with the worst case scenario. They learned how to employ concealed weapons effectively and how to be observant of details that might help them later. While these are all methods of an assassin they’re also useful to a woman who wishes to protect herself on the street. Shock a male attacker by knowing how to fight back with real self defense training, and turn the tide against them.
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