Dim mak is the art of delayed death. Impact of delayed death Fatal points on the body causing delayed death

In July 1973, Bruce Lee died in Hong Kong. He was 32 years old. The idol of millions of moviegoers and the martial artist who first introduced kung fu to the world died of cerebral edema. But debate about the cause that led to the swelling continues to this day. Official medicine believes that it was provoked by taking a strong drug. According to another version, unofficial, an ancient mysterious weapon was used against the actor. martial arts dim mak, also known as the art of delayed death...

The death of famous people always causes a lot of rumors and gossip. Let's make allowances for this and move on.
According to one of the unofficial versions, Bruce Lee was “ordered” and killed. And this was done by a certain old kung fu master who owned the dim mak technique and was hired by the Chinese triad for something to take revenge on Bruce Lee. He inflicted several hidden blows on the movie star, which after some time led to impaired cerebral circulation and the death of the actor.

Whether the authors of the mysterious version are right or wrong, we will never know. This secret, as they say in such cases, was taken to the grave by Bruce Lee. If, of course, you were aware of it. But after the death of the great actor, the entire modern Western world heard about the deadly art of dim mak for almost the first time. And I got scared.

LIFE IN CHINESE

The first mentions of dim mak are found in Chinese treatises thousands of years ago. And yet, little is known about this style of kung fu. There are only a few masters who master the art of delayed death. They do not advertise their skills and are in no hurry to share knowledge with the uninitiated. But the fundamentals and principles on which this deadly style of fighting is based are not a closely guarded secret. Actually, the same thing underlies traditional Chinese medicine - the ancient ideas about human anatomy and physiology. And in the Middle Kingdom, as in the East in general, they have always been very different from you and me. So...

At the heart of everything that exists, to put it very simply, is the energy of qi. Literally from Chinese this word is translated as “air, breath, life force.” Everything that exists was created from it and with its help, it permeates everything around, lives in all objects and organisms. And it is in motion all the time, flowing from material substance to energy substance and back. The internal qi of an individual constantly interacts with the external qi of everything that surrounds us.

In the human body, qi circulates through meridian channels, which are energetically connected to all the most important human organs. There are 14 permanent meridians, 8 non-permanent ones are activated during illnesses. On the surface of the body, a meridian is a conventional line that connects acupuncture points located on it.

Acupuncture points (by the way, all over the world they have long been called BAP - biologically active points) are, according to Chinese doctors and philosophers, a kind of meridian gateways that go to the surface of the body. Currently, there are about seven hundred such BAPs, with most of them in the area of ​​the face, neck, ears, hands and feet. And each of the acupuncture points is very important for the proper circulation of qi energy in the body.

The human body is, roughly speaking, a complex system of communicating vessels filled with constantly moving internal qi. It is believed that the work of all organs and systems of the body depends on this ubiquitous substance, or more precisely, on its proper circulation along the meridians.

In 24 hours, a full circle of qi circulation in the human body is completed. During this time, the state of maximum qi tension in each meridian is replaced by a state of minimum tension. During this process, our qi interacts with internal organs, blood, lymph, and at acupuncture points - with the external environment. This interaction is also cyclical. Moreover, qi energy can both enter the human body from the surrounding space and flow out of it.

Why are we explaining all this? And to the fact that if the circulation of qi and its interaction with internal organs is disrupted, their normal functioning is disrupted, and certain symptoms of diseases appear. And the more significant the disruption of the circulation of this energy, the more serious the disease.

And the main task of traditional Chinese medicine is precisely to normalize the circulation of qi. It was for this purpose that the ancient aesculapians developed methods of influencing acupuncture points through pressure, cauterization and acupuncture. All this together is called Zhen Ju therapy.

HEALS AND MAIRES

Now let's get back to the fun part. Majority oriental styles martial arts are aimed primarily at harmonizing the internal qi of a person with the external qi of the Universe. And not just for harmonization, but for developing the ability to manage one’s own energy. And this is not fantasy. The use of specially developed complexes of physical and breathing exercises in combination with many years of meditative practices and mastery of Zhen Ju therapy, it allows the most diligent and diligent adherents to achieve results that modern medicine simply cannot explain.

Thus, a person who has learned to direct and strengthen his qi energy can influence the circulation of qi in the body of another person. And, of course, not only to treat, but also to cripple. After all, we should not forget that the goal of martial arts is superiority over an opponent, victory. Moreover, the energy impact on the enemy does not look like a punch. This can be a light touch or no contact at all. There are no visible bruises or abrasions left. But internal injuries and disorders can be quite significant.

THREE STEPS

Chinese methodology describes three levels of point energy influences.
The easiest to achieve (relatively, of course) is called dim ching. Impacts of this level are aimed at damaging vulnerable areas human body: nerve nodes, tendons, joints. In principle, strong blows to these areas also incapacitate a person, but brute force should not be confused with energy influences.
The next level is dim xue. These are impacts aimed at immediately damaging the enemy’s internal vital organs: heart, liver, spleen, intestines, nerves and lymph nodes. This level is very difficult to achieve and requires many years of training and special knowledge and skills.

And finally, dim mak. The most complex art, shrouded in secrets and legends. Energy impact on acupuncture points in order to disrupt the circulation of qi in the enemy’s body. Attack energy applied to right time and to right place, can seriously or slightly disrupt the patency and voltage phases of the corresponding meridian. This will lead to a gradual disruption of blood circulation and lymph flow, which in turn will inevitably lead to ischemia or, conversely, apoplexy of the corresponding organ. The person will look absolutely healthy, only minor ailments will gradually increase, and in the meantime the internal destructive process will be in full swing. And at one moment, not at all wonderful, against the background of almost complete health, women - a serious illness or painful death...

THE ART OF KILLING

This is exactly what happened to Bruce Lee, according to some martial arts experts. A few weeks or months before his death, the actor had a short run-in with some random middle-aged bully. Bruce emerged victorious from this nonsense scrape, not paying attention to the old Chinese's somewhat strange, gentle touches. Meanwhile, the meridian that regulates cerebral circulation was apparently blocked, which led to cerebral edema. An indirect confirmation of this version can be the fact that a few weeks before his tragic death, Bruce Lee began to complain of sudden and causeless headaches. A medical examination did not reveal any significant diseases or disorders at that time. And the attending physician could not come up with anything better than to prescribe the actor a strong painkiller.

They later blamed everything on his overdose. Modern medicine has refused to accept that the cause of fatal cerebral edema could have been exposure 2-3 weeks ago. Confidence generated by ignorance?.. Well, it’s a matter of business, as they say. And Chinese wisdom says: without hearing the testaments of your ancestors, you will not recognize the greatness of learning.

ALONE WITH THE SECRET

According to traditional Chinese philosophy and medicine, the art of delayed death is not a fiction,
but a very real way to achieve victory. But...

Do not rush to buy a tutorial or download it from the Internet. To master dim mak, it is not enough just to practice a lot. It is impossible to learn the art of delayed death from a book or by studying for a couple of years at a fee-paying school at the Shaolin Monastery. Some masters say that this knowledge cannot even be transferred to a student, since it comes along with the unity of a person with the cosmic energy qi, and this is a very intimate and individual process. And not everyone who has spent decades of their life on it manages to achieve the coveted knowledge. And the one who has nevertheless comprehended this art is unlikely to ever use it, since he has already gotten rid of the need to fight, much less maim or kill anyone.

So for you and me, ordinary people, ancient art dim mak will still remain a mystery, an ominous tale. After all, in real life he and I - pah-pah-pah - will never collide...

Steps No. 22 2011

– Yaroslav Yarky

You've seen the Five Finger Strike in Kill Bill and you've seen Spock perform the Vulcan Nerve Grab a million times. Are these techniques just fantasy - or can someone really mysteriously take down an attacker with one well-placed strike?

One of the martial arts techniques has earned itself the name "Touch of Death" - but is such a technique actually possible? Here's everything you need to know about the art of Dim Mak and the damage it can cause.

Touch of Death

The technique called "Touch of Death" is historically known as Dim Mak. In Chinese, Dim Mak means a blow that puts pressure on an artery. Practitioners of the art claim that the blow can have a delayed effect, causing the victim to die months later - and conspiracy theorists link the delayed effect of the Dim Mak punch to the death of Bruce Lee.

This technique has historical roots, as a similar crippling strike is mentioned in the Bushibi, a classic martial arts text. The exact details, point of impact and expected results, however, are hidden behind a veil of secrecy.

The term "Death Touch" gained popularity due to the marketing efforts of Count Dante and the Black Dragon Society. Count Dante considered himself the deadliest man who ever lived, but he is best remembered for a series of full-page advertisements for a martial arts manual in Marvel comics in the 1960s and 1970s.

Medically justified touching of death?

"Touching Death" can be linked to a medical phenomenon known as commotio cordis. Commotio cordis is sudden death caused by a sharp blow to the chest that interrupts the natural rhythm of the heart. The heart itself is not damaged, but the electrical stimulation behind the heartbeat is disrupted. The electrical interruption must occur within a very short period of 10-30 milliseconds between heartbeats to have its effect.

There are more than 125 reported cases of commotio cordis, including several teenage hockey players who died from being hit in the chest by a puck.

Some supposed Death Touch masters may have simply known that a blow to the chest could cause commotio cordis and kill a person. However, this scenario does not imply the possibility of a delayed effect.

One form of the Dim Mak punch may derive from its literal translation. Prolonged pressure on the carotid artery reduces blood flow to the brain and leads to loss of consciousness. The carotid artery is located on the side of the neck, so it is easy to reach.

But this will require quite a long period of pressure, since loss of consciousness (and possible brain damage) occurs within a few seconds. Manipulating the carotid artery, however, also eliminates the possibility of delayed effects - unless you damage the artery itself, which can lead to long-term problems with blood clots forming in the main bloodstream.

Shrouded in darkness

All techniques related in one way or another to Dim Mak are shrouded in darkness, so it is very difficult to say how real they are. While a commotio cordis strike or arterial squeeze can produce results similar to Touch of Death, its mysterious nature and lack of details about the technique itself make it difficult to say with certainty whether they have anything in common with the Dim Mak strike. .

And in general, it is quite difficult to imagine a blow that does not cause any visible damage at the time of execution, but kills after some time. You would have to assume that he must have some symptoms. And if you are so interested in delayed death, then it is much easier for you to use more effective and subtle methods, such as poisoning.

Can this work?

The possibility of a lethal strike is closely related to the complications that develop at the point of impact. Of course, if you claim to be a Death Touch master and run around stabbing people in the chest, there's a good chance that one of your hundreds of victims will suffer commotio cordis and die. However, this result stems from mere chance, and not from special skill.

And by the way, there is precedent for charging a person with manslaughter after a sports kick causes the death of his opponent due to the commotio cordis effect, so hit people in the chest with great caution.

The most likely application of this technique is a prolonged hold in a situation similar to fighting in a freestyle fight. Applying prolonged pressure to an artery can render your opponent unconscious. This is similar to Spock's Vulcan Nerve Trap, but longer lasting and potentially dangerous as prolonged exposure to the carotid artery can lead to a stroke.

Few people know about this forbidden fighting technique, only to selected students of the master, who mastered Dim-Mak - the art of delayed death, passed on their secret knowledge, allowing them to kill a person with a light touch of the hand. Moreover, the death of the enemy could occur both immediately and after hours, days, weeks - at the exact time specified by the master.

In this regard, it is logical to recall a strange incident that happened to Bruce during the shooting of one of his last films. He practiced one of the tricks for a long time and could not achieve what he wanted. Suddenly, a stranger approached Bruce from the crowd and offered him a very effective version of the trick. Interested, Lee went with him to the set. They were standing opposite each other when the stranger suddenly gave Bruce a short but very swipe to the head. The actor lost consciousness and collapsed like a wreck.

During the pandemonium, when everyone rushed to the lying Bruce, the person who struck the blow seemed to vanish into thin air. It turned out that no one knew him, and he was not registered as an extra. Later, one of the make-up artists recalled that a man came into the dressing room that day, took his clothes and said a strange phrase: "He must die!"

Many believe that the stranger was a Triad hitman who wielded the technique of delayed death strikes. After such a blow, a person can die in 2 months or even years from the moment of the blow, it all depends on what program the death touch master introduced into the body of the victim. Perhaps it was this blow of a mysterious stranger that caused the death of Bruce Lee.

Some celebrity biography researchers believe that Bruce regularly paid tribute to the Triad mafiosi, who once may have given money for his first films. But the day came when the Little Dragon decided that he had given everything with a vengeance and refused the "guardianship" of the mafia. That is why his early death seems very strange, because it followed almost immediately after his break with the mafia.

A monstrous experiment.

In the East, after the sudden death from "natural causes" of any celebrity, rumors often arise that this is another victim of killers who own the secret of "delayed death touch". The fact that such rumors are not groundless was convinced in 1957 by martial arts master John F. Gilby. During his stay in Taiwan, boxer Oh-Hseung-Yan gave in to a foreigner's urgent request and introduced him to some of the details of this highly classified martial art.

As a demonstration "allowance" the Chinese boxer chose... his son Al Lin. In Gilbley's presence, he lightly punched his son in the stomach. More precisely, it was not even a blow - just a harmless touch that did not bring any pain or any visible harm. After that, O-Hsyn-Yan invited the foreigner to watch his son.

For two days, Gilby literally did not leave Al Lin, but the guy felt great and did not show any signs of illness. But at the beginning of the second half of the third day, the guy suddenly lost consciousness and fell. However, O-Hsyn-Yan instantly appeared next to him, as if he knew the day and hour when his help was needed. Through massages and infusions of healing herbs, he brought Al Lin to his senses, but it still took him about three months to fully restore his son's health.

A monstrous, albeit revealing experiment! Despite the fact that the real master of Dim-Mak, who was Oh Hsyn-Yan, certainly knows how to neutralize the death program he launched, such a risk to the health of his son will seem reckless to many of us.
"The Art of the Poison Hand"

A victim of the use of Dim-Maka dies of seemingly unknown causes, but an autopsy usually shows a natural disease, although it is not clear how it occurred. That is why a killer who owns such equipment is a real find for any criminal community. You can eliminate very influential people, and at the same time it would never occur to anyone to call their death a murder.

Dim Mak is sometimes called "the art of the poisonous hand." The analogy with poison in this case is quite understandable. Poison can kill both immediately and after hours, days, weeks - it all depends on its type and dosage, Deathtouch acts like a poison injected into the body, depending on the point chosen on the human body, it can also kill instantly or hit the victim through a certain period.

That is why the ancient masters of Dim Mak taught this art only to selected students, paying main attention not only to their physical training, io and on the moral qualities of their personality. The student had to have a balanced character and a sense of justice. Such deadly knowledge was not supposed to get to those who would use it for their own selfish purposes.

At first glance, it may seem to an uninitiated person that it is impossible to call such a technique art. Well, what's wrong with that? - I learned a couple of dozen, albeit secret, points, touched where it should be - that's the whole "science" ... However, such a view is fundamentally wrong.

This is actually the real art!

The points on the human body that the master should know are not two dozen, but hundreds: the number of points connected by nerve endings with the most important organs is more than 700. True, Dim-Mak masters mainly use about 150 in practice. In addition to the points that were used to defeat the enemy, the student also learned the points for healing a person, and devoted a huge amount of time to the study of ancient Chinese medicine.

It was not enough to know only certain points, it was also necessary to remember the exact time of their activation, it was not for nothing that the masters had a proverb: "Before you hit, look at the Sun." The fact is that blood supplies the internal organs and body surface at different times of the day.

Therefore, depending on the time of day, to defeat the enemy, an organ was chosen that was maximally supplied with blood, or a part of the body where the fov was closer to the surface.

It was necessary to know with what force and at what angle to hit this or that point. The healing effect during treatment also depended on the angle, direction and force of pressure. In addition, it mattered with which hand and which finger the impact was made on the point! The fact is that each finger corresponds to a certain element: the big one - the elements of wood, the index finger - earth, the middle one - water, the ring finger - fire, the little finger - metal.

To become a Dim-Mak master, one had to master the energy of one's body to perfection, be able to control the vital (mental) energy - the so-called "qi" (sometimes it is also called prana, "chi" or "ki"). With the help of qi energy, you can kill with the gaze of a wild beast or a person, you can not freeze naked in the most severe frost.

Therefore, it is extremely important to learn how to accumulate this vital energy, if necessary, it can be used according to your desire for the day of defeat of the enemy, your protection or healing of others. This energy is necessarily used in combat practice. The master mobilizes qi, concentrates it, and when touched by the enemy, it seems to be discharged into his body. Such an energetically saturated blow to its consequences is much more dangerous than the usual one, even if it is very strong.

If the flow of qi is disturbed in the body, and this can happen after the influence of the Dim-Mak master, the person’s energy field becomes unbalanced, and as a result, illness comes. In a duel, with the help of qi anergy, a fighter can, without stopping the fight, reanimate the organ struck by the enemy, relieve acute pain. Having accumulated a sufficient "portion" of qi, a fighter can use it as a kind of shell to protect himself from the enemy's energy attack.

The importance of chi energy in martial arts is clearly evidenced by the lesson that the black belt in karate Hirokachu Kanazawa once taught to his students. First, this master broke three bricks laid on top of each other with one blow, and then took three new bricks, laid them on top of each other again and said that now he would direct his ki (Japanese designation for qi) only on the middle brick. Followed sharp blow, accompanied by a furious cry, and the students saw that only the middle brick had cracked...

Perhaps it is already clear that a real master of Dim-Mak must have colossal knowledge, including not only the above, but also much more, in particular, the ability to see and "read" a person's aura, to have an idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe effect on his organs and health of the Moon, the Sun and planets, being able only by psychological influence to inspire such fear in the enemy that there was no need for any duel.

It should be noted that in the East, mastery of martial art was considered not only as acquiring the skills of defense and attack and improving physical condition your body, but also as a way to develop your spirit and discover amazing possibilities human body. This must be remembered by everyone who wants to become invincible.

A. Sidorenko "Interesting newspaper. The world of the unknown"

The ninja mastered this terrible art. A light touch to the enemy's body - and after a while he unexpectedly died. Could have died right away. He could have died even in a year. But death was inevitable...

The effect of the death touch was not caused by a blow at all - there was a release of energy at a certain point of the body, the energy of the body was disrupted.

The art of slow death is the most mysterious part of the Yamabushi teachings. Any ninja who would reveal this secret to mere mortals was to be killed, and his soul was doomed to eternal damnation.

The technique of striking the most vulnerable points of the body formed the basis for the training of warriors of the night. The ninjas of Ikeoosaki succeeded most in it. Each of their blows, hitting vital points, led to death.

Science is not yet able to explain the mysterious “art of slow death”.

However, even orthodox medicine today recognizes that through individual points on the body it is possible to influence the internal organs of a person. A Chinese medicine has been successfully using “spot treatments” for centuries. Most likely, ninjas used similar techniques.

The most amazing thing about the art of slow death is how the ninja managed to “postpone” death.

Here we can assume the following. Perhaps the touches of a ninja did not so much “kill” a person as “disturb” the coordinated functioning of the body - something like how you can turn off a powerful and complex motor by throwing an ordinary nut at it. And after a physiological “failure,” a person died from his own illnesses - depending on the predispositions of the body.

UNCHILDREN'S CHILDHOOD

All clan babies were awarded the honorary title of ninja immediately after birth. Child's career, i.e. promotion from genin to chunin depended solely on his personal qualities.

From the first days of birth, a long journey of learning began.

The cradle with the baby hit the walls when rocking. The push forced him to instinctively shrink - this was the first grouping.

The one-year-old child already knew how to deftly walk on a log (later he was taught to move along a rope). Until the age of two, reaction training was the main focus.

The babies were given a special massage using strong painful blows and pinches - this is how future warriors got used to pain. Later, the body was “treated” with a faceted stick to get used to it.

Serious training began after eight years. Until this age, children learned to read, write, imitate sounds made by animals and birds, throw stones, and climb trees.

The children of the clan had no choice. Since childhood, they played with real weapons, moreover, they were taught to turn everything that came into their hands into weapons.

They were taught to endure the cold, walking in bad weather without clothes and sitting for hours in cold water. Trees and thorny bushes served as jumping trainers. By hanging little ninjas by their hands at a great height for more than an hour (!) they were instilled with endurance.

Night vision was developed through many weeks of training in dark caves and a special diet of foods high in vitamin A. By the way, the sensitivity of ninja eyes was fantastic. In the pitch darkness they could even read.

Some exercises were particularly cruel. For example, to develop dexterity it was necessary to jump over a strong grapevine covered with sharp thorns. Each touch to the vine immediately tore the skin and caused severe bleeding.

From infancy, children were taught to swim. In water they were like fish: they could silently cover long distances, fight in and under water, with or without weapons.

Every year the exercises became more and more difficult, cruel and painful. The little ninja could turn his foot or hand in any direction - exercises for free dissection and supernatural mobility of joints began at the age of four. These were very painful exercises, but they were the ones that saved the lives of warriors more than once - by freely turning their foot and hand, the ninja easily freed themselves from the strongest bonds.

Push-ups, pull-ups, weight lifting - everything was so commonplace that any child raised in a ninja clan could easily outperform a modern athlete.

At 10 years old, the ninja child could easily run more than 20 km a day. His speed was tested in very original ways, for example, a straw hat, pressed to the runner's chest by the oncoming air flow while running, was not supposed to fall. Or a strip of fabric about 10 meters long was tied around the ninja’s neck, freely falling to the ground. Speed ​​was considered normal when a ten-meter strip of fabric fluttered in the wind while running and... did not touch the ground!

What the children were taught to modern man seems incredible: from the sound of a stone thrown from the wall, they should have been able to calculate the depth of the ditch and the water level... with an accuracy of up to a meter!

The breathing of the sleeping people should indicate their number, gender and even age, the ringing of a weapon - its type, the whistle of an arrow - the distance to the enemy. They learned to feel the enemy with the back of their heads - how “telepathic contact” was established with an enemy sitting in ambush is impossible to explain. But adult warriors could actually deliver and repel blows without turning around. Their intuition always preceded reason. “The body itself knows how to move if we leave it alone,” great mentors taught.

SECRETS OF THE NINJA

At the age of 15, the childhood that never existed ended. From this age the time of a real warrior began. Now the secrets of martial art and psycho-training of the Yamabushi monks became available to young men and women.

Not everyone could reach sky-high heights in this matter - much depended on their innate abilities. But everyone had basic skills.

A real warrior must “feel” like he’s dead, the mentors taught. This eliminated the fear of death.

The most experienced ones studied the art of lightening body weight. The highest degree of skill was the ability to walk on a rolled out sheet of the thinnest rice paper without breaking through it, and to stand on fragile porcelain cups. Some could even stand on a piece of paper stretched above the ground.

How they managed to do this is completely unclear, but the fact remains that confirmation of such ninja abilities is found in a variety of historical sources.

Ninjas could always rely not only on themselves, but also on their knowledge of nature.

Time was determined by the length of the shadow, and the month and day were indicated by the position of the sun and moon. Sometimes the time was found out using the method “ cat's eyes"(i.e. according to the shape of the cat's pupil changing during the day).

The direction was determined by the stars - ninjas took astronomy and astrology seriously. They had a device similar to a modern compass: a strip of metal was placed on a sheet of wood (which was lowered into the water) and the metal turned towards the north.

The ninja's first ally was bad weather. The shadow warriors tolerated it well (unlike their enemies). When the ninja left the chase, he tried to run against the wind and sun. His eyes were accustomed to strong winds and bright light (and indeed to everything that disturbed his pursuers).

Secret codes

The ninja's connection with each other was established by a system of colored rice grains - red, yellow, white, blue and black, they were mixed according to a special pattern and left on the side of roads, between stones, in bird nests - there were many such places.

Using a flute and banjo, ninjas communicated with each other at a distance. The melodies and order of notes were coded - there were 48 of them, and this code resembled Morse code.

There were also messages written in colorless ink, which could only be read by... running your tongue over the message! Legends say that ninjas knew how to eat their messages in such a way that, if necessary, they could remove the letter from their throats intact.

Acting

Ninjas were able to completely transform themselves. Trader, peasant, monk - they could do anything and be anything. My favorite role was playing “beggar”.

By the way, not everything was so simple here. Before becoming a beggar, you had to take poisons for some time, which did not kill, but made the body outwardly weak. The face became wrinkled, with bags under the eyes. For believability, the ninja even deliberately pulled out their teeth. And fish scales were placed on the eyelids to imitate a cataract.

There is nothing softer and weaker than water, but no one can defeat it! This principle has always been followed by wise ninjas. They have repeatedly used the tactic of powerlessness: I’m retreating, I’m too weak. Amazing pretenders often deceived the enemy by pretending to die. What they did could convince anyone that the enemy was dead.

The death rattle - and the mortally wounded ninja fell to the ground. His body was shaken by convulsions. The enemy was in no hurry to believe in the death of the indestructible; he was on guard. But when blood suddenly began to flow from the ninja’s throat, the enemy, deprived of vigilance, still approached... and immediately received a fatal blow with a knife or shuriken. Who would have thought that this blood... was sucked out of the gums!

Cunning inventors

A ninja warrior could run more than 100 km a day over rough terrain. Without stopping, the ninja ate, drank and urinated - for the latter, the ninja clothes even had... special pockets.

Sometimes at night, ninjas used a lantern - a strip of metal rolled into a tube with a candle inside, placed on a rotating support. He kept the candle upright all the time.

To move faster, ninjas wore special straw sandals, under the soles of which metal plates with jagged edges were attached. Nowadays, athletes wear spiked running shoes or cleats and don't know that their shoes are the great-granddaughter of ninja sandals.

In addition, cunning scouts attached wooden plates of various shapes under their sandals, which created animal tracks, traces of a person walking in the other direction, traces of a fat person, a thin person, a cripple, etc.

Mysterious disappearances and appearances

There was nothing supernatural about the ninja's ability to "instantly" disappear and appear (as if out of thin air).

It was all about tricks that caused almost mystical horror among the poorly educated guards. Inventive ninjas used clay grenades filled with gunpowder and magnesium. A bright flash blinded everyone around, and the ninja disappeared in those seconds.

If there was water nearby, camouflage was also not difficult for the shadow warriors. Ninjas could sit underwater for hours, breathing through a tube made of reeds or bamboo. Sometimes they even used the sheath of their sword for this.

The story describes an unusual case (those who have read the famous “Diamond Chariot” by Boris Akunin will probably remember it; we hasten to notify them - this case is by no means the author’s fantasy, it is quite historical).

So. Among the ninjas was the dwarf Unifune Jinnai. He was given the task of sneaking into the castle and killing its owner. In general, nothing special. There was one “but” - the castle was guarded in such a way that it was impossible to get into it. Even for ninjas.

And yet, Jinnai coped with the task: through narrow sewer drains he entered the cesspool and hid in it, waiting for the owner to come to relieve himself. Unfortunately for Dzinnaya, the owner was away, and the dwarf had to sit in a dung heap for several days.

But, in the end, the owner appeared. The samurai preliminarily searched all the premises where he entered. We also looked at the latrine - at that moment Jinnai dived headlong into the sewage, and the samurai did not notice him.

When the owner of the castle sat down to relieve himself, the dwarf pierced him with a spear and immediately plunged headlong into the sewage again, breathing through a pipe.

The Lord let out a wild cry and immediately gave up the ghost. The guards who came running found no one in the room and decided that internal bleeding was to blame.

The ninja sat in the cesspool for some time, and then calmly climbed out of the castle through the same sewers.

Walking on water

There is also no mysticism in the ninja's ability to run on water. The ninjas ran along flat stones covered with water, which they had dug in advance at the ford.

Water skis-rafts woven from reeds were also used. They slid along the surface of the water as the warrior pushed off the bottom with a long pole.

And for scuba diving, webbed sandals were used, reminiscent of modern flippers.

Freeing yourself from traps

While tying the ninja, he tensed his muscles with all his might. Then, when he was left alone, he imperceptibly relaxed his muscles, the rope weakened, and the ninja, thanks to the hypermobility of his joints, easily freed himself.

In those centuries, moving around the castles of the shoguns was not easy. Everywhere there were so-called “singing” floorboards - at the slightest pressure they emitted a terrible creak.

The ninja found a way out - they learned to climb along the walls and ceiling.

Of course, not even a ninja can walk across a completely smooth ceiling. But before, Japanese ceilings were decorated with relief beams and rafters. The ninja rested his hands and feet on them and “walked” along the ceiling.

Outside the walls of the shogun's castle, deep holes with sharpened bamboo stakes at the bottom were dug in large numbers and bear traps were placed. We came across ninjas quite often in the latter. However, sawing off his own leg to save himself was not the only thing a ninja caught in a trap could do. Some managed to free their wounded leg, stop the bleeding and, overcoming the pain, escape from their pursuers.

Even while in a burning house, the ninja managed to survive. They knew well that at a short distance from the floor there was always enough air to prevent suffocation from smoke. In a house engulfed in flames, ninjas dismantled the floors and dug a hole. In it they... waited out the fire.

Amazing fabric

During the day, the ninja dressed as a monk, traveler, peasant, or beggar. At night he wore a gray, dark brown or dark blue “uniform.” Before the battle - blood-red clothes, the color of which could hide the blood if wounded.

By the way, black robes, familiar to us from movies, were rarely worn by ninjas. The appearance of a man in black on the street attracts attention, which the ninjas least needed. The black color could also give away in an ambush - it is rare in nature.

A piece of cloth covered the back, chest and arms. The other two pieces were wrapped around each leg and tied at the waist. The ninja wrapped his head with two meters of fabric, leaving only his eyes open.

The reverse side was colored depending on the time of year and the area where the spy went.

The fabric was soaked in the juices of antiseptic herbs and served as a bandage for wounds. Dirty water was also filtered through this fabric. And if necessary, wet and heavy, it was also used as a weapon.

The belt was wrapped with a wide piece of fabric. There was a first aid kit with medicines and poisons. Ninjas knew how to cure a dangerous insect bite, intestinal volvulus, and severe wounds. The latter were treated with a special mold, which was applied directly to the wound.

normal clothes

Ninjas did not always use a piece of cloth - they also had normal clothes: a jacket and pants.

They had a lot of different pockets in which even more necessary items: a snorkel for being underwater, incendiary and fragmentation bombs and rockets, a raft chamber and even rodents (to distract the enemy). The pockets contained food, water, medicine, poisons, weapons...

The jacket, of course, had a hood. They covered their faces, filtered water, and protected themselves from smoke.

These strange ninjas...

In modern terms, ninjas had a clear specialization.

Each clan passed down its own tradition of martial arts and its own signature methods of combat from generation to generation.

For example, the Fuma clan was famous for sabotage and terrorism. For water operations, he used "dragon boats" similar to submarines. Through a hatch in the bottom, soldiers left the ship and damaged the bottoms of enemy ships.

Ninjas of the Gekku clan specialized in defeating techniques pain points using your fingers.

The Coppo clan mastered the techniques of gripping, dislocations and fractures.

Ninjas from the Hat-Tori clan were excellent with spears.

Koga ninja specialized in medicine and explosives. Among them there were many inventors - many devices and types of weapons used by ninjas appeared in the Iga clans.

All clans had their own “specialization,” but any ninja was fluent in:
- techniques for entering any premises;
- all known types of weapons;
- the art of camouflage;
- fight with bare hands;
- technique of signaling using fires and colorful smokes;
- art and psychophysical training (protection of nine syllables).

Sanju Gorobei, chunin of the Iga clan, left notes for his descendants that surprised everyone who read them. Completely new information about these mysterious warriors has been revealed. It turns out that there were clans that undoubtedly caused bewilderment among contemporaries.

Let's take the ninjas of the Mumei clan. Their name, with great difficulty, translates as “ninja with a heavy clay hibachi stove tied tightly to his left leg.”

These ninjas were known to be the noisiest. Hibachi, tied to her left leg, constantly clung to everything, making a terrible noise. IN hand-to-hand combat this hibachi was also more trouble than it was worth. And only a few mastered their “weapons” perfectly - they could accurately throw a stove with their feet, hitting the enemy’s head.

In the end, it was the hibachi who destroyed the clan. All the clan's ninjas drowned in a flooded river during the retreat from the troops of Shogun Nobunaga. They were drowned by non-removable hibachi.

The Seiko clan were known as the "mourning ninjas." Their black and white robes were decorated with sewn bones, skulls and gravediggers' tools. Sometimes, instead of robes, ninjas “dressed” oblong wooden boxes and set up ambushes in cemeteries. By the way, they have survived to this day. Only their clothes became different, and their fighting skills were lost a long time ago.

The modern robes of the Seiko clan are trimmed with plastic roses, they have black and gold headbands with the inscription “From Friends and Family” on their heads, their faces are heavily whitened, and there are fake tears on their cheeks. Each “mourning” ninja has a player with recordings of funeral marches.

Onomachi clan. This is a “ninja in birch bark”. Only the indigenous population of the northern Japanese islands were accepted into this clan. Their training was grueling.

As a result, everyone had to tear off the bark from a thick birch tree with their bare hands in a single piece, cut holes in it for the eyes, wrap themselves in it and spend the rest of their lives like that.

The clan was small, and when unprecedented winter cold came in 1560-1563, many ninjas simply froze in the forest in their birch top hat. In addition, woodcutters often mistook these warriors for logs and cut them in half. So the clan died out.

The Dofu clan was famous for its "glamorous ninjas." They did not accept disguises and dressed in a deliberately provocative manner: huge blue wigs, bright pink robes with fur, patent leather high-heeled slippers. Despite such an elaborate appearance, these ninjas were feared no less than the others.

Dofu had a special battle ritual - the ninjas screamed loudly and pitifully about the short nails and unfashionable clothes of the enemy.

The death of the clan was also absurd. When retreating from the troops of the same Nobunaga, the famous ninja fighter, Dofu refused to cross the river. Sanju Gorobei writes that the leader of Dofu touched the water with his finger, and then noticed that it would ruin his lovely suit. As a result, the mod ninjas chose to be hacked to pieces by the samurai.

The Odori clan are the "Ninja Turtles". I revered large land turtles and imitated them in everything. They had huge copper armor fastened with straps to their backs, and on top they wore a tight, shapeless black robe. Their slowness drove the enemy to white heat. This clan mastered camouflage to perfection - the sentries were so tired of looking at the practically non-crawling ninjas that then they simply lost sight of the “turtles”.

And there were also ninjas “covered in tar and chicken feathers”, “warriors with wooden spoons”, “stenchfully breathing garlic stew on the enemy”, “like devilish parrots”, “wild bees living in dugout logs and eating honey”...

In general, for every taste.