Move Like a Ninja

Moving like a ninja involves learning how to travel stealthily and silently on foot while simultaneously making use of your environment to conceal you. The ninja spent years of their lives training to develop these skills. With a little practice, you will be well on your way to learning to move like a ninja.

Steps

Walking Like a Ninja

1. Get in a standing position and slightly bend your knees. Your feet should be about a shoulder's width apart. Bring both hands up to approximately waist height. Make sure they are a few inches in front of you and keep your palms facing the ground.
   • Bending your knees and lowering your body allows you to balance yourself better.
   • Remember to breathe slowly and evenly.
   • Avoid the tendency to hold your breath in an effort to move silently, because it will end up having the opposite effect.
2. Shift your weight to your right leg. After you’ve carefully shifted your weight to your right leg, slowly raise your left foot. Use your right leg to maintain your balance as you lift your foot as slowly as you possibly can.
   • Once you’ve raised your left leg so that your knee is approximately at waist level, stop.
   • Continue using your right leg and the placement of your hands to help you balance on one foot.
3. Extend your left foot forward without moving your knee. Do this as slowly as your balance will allow. Keep extending until your left foot is hovering over the ground at approximately a stride’s length in front of you.
   • As you steadily extend your left foot forward, gradually begin shifting some of the weight from your right leg to your left.
   • When you begin shifting your weight to your left leg in mid-air, your right leg will require a little more effort and muscle control to keep you balanced.
4. Lower your left foot to the ground gradually. Using slow, measured movements, start lowering your foot to the ground. Continue to slowly shift a little more weight from the right to the left leg. Point your left toes slightly downward in anticipation of making contact with the ground.
   • Keep your knees loose through the entire process and try as hard as you can not to stiffen them.
   • Maintain balance and control by allowing your body weight to sink and be carried by deeply flexed knees.
5. Touch the ground with the pinky toe of your left foot. No other toe should be touching the ground yet. Once you’ve steadied yourself, shift a little more weight to the left, controlling your balance with the pinky toe and your right leg.
6. Start touching the rest of your toes down to the ground. You will start with the smallest toes first. As your slowly and silently put down another toe, shift a little more of your weight to the left.
   • Continue shifting your weight and controlling your balance as you touch down the other left toes, ending with your big toe.
   • All of your left toes should be touching the ground at this point. No other part of your foot should be on the ground.
7. Balance yourself on your left tip toes. You are now in mid-stride, with your weight evenly distributed to the left toes and right leg. Start shifting more weight to your left toes while you simultaneously begin to flex your right foot forward, bringing your heel off the ground in preparation of the next stride.
   • Try to keep your movements as controlled as possible while you’re in mid-stride.
8. Raise your right leg until your knee is at approximately waist level. As you raise your right leg, simultaneously start to slowly roll your left foot down from the toes to put weight on the ball of your left foot. Continue to lower until your heel is finally touching the ground.
   • You are now halfway through the next stride. Almost all of your weight should now be shifted onto your left side, with your right leg in mid-air.
   • This is the hardest part, since it requires the most balance and muscle control.
9. Extend your right foot forward without moving your right knee. Keep extending until your right foot is hovering over the ground at approximately a stride’s length in front of you. Move as slowly as you can.
   • As you gradually extend your right foot forward, begin shifting some of the weight from your left leg to your right.
   • Maintain muscle control and balance as you shift your weight.
10. Lower your right foot to the ground slowly and silently. Touch down first with your right pinky toe. Slowly begin touching your other toes to the ground, going from smallest to largest. As you bring your toes down, transfer more weight to your right foot.
    • You should now be balanced evenly. Your right foot is forward with only the toes touching the ground. Your left foot is back, with your toes and heel on the ground.
    • Hands should still be facing with the palms down, a few inches in front of you, at about waist height.
11. Continue taking strides slowly forward in this way. Be as silent as possible and keep using the same method of moving from one tip toe to the next, shifting your weight back and forth and maintaining your balance as you do so.
    • This was the most common ninja style of stealth walking. The goal was to move as slowly and silently as possible.
    • It is called “Shinobi-ashi” which means “quiet feet.”

Being Stealthy

1. Slow down and control every movement. Practice controlled movements of all kinds whenever you have free time if you want to move like a ninja. The idea in ninja training was to move so slowly and so quietly that your movements wouldn’t catch the enemy’s eye, even as you approached them.
   • If you see anyone while moving around, especially if they are facing in your direction, freeze in place immediately to consider your next move.
   • Silence and slow, controlled movements were at the heart of all ninja techniques and required a lot of patience and practice.
2. Stick to the shadows when you’re on the move. As you move slowly and stealthily around, make every effort to stay silent and in the darkest shadows. Be mindful of light sources so you can navigate the shadows adequately.
   • Ninjas almost always moved under the cover of night, but there were still other light sources to contend with, such as moonlight, enemy camp fires and so on.
   • You will have many other light sources to contend with in the modern world, so keep that in mind as you practice moving in shadows.
3. Maintain slow, rhythmic breathing at all times. Remember to breathe along with your movement. Unconsciously holding your breath can produce muscle tension, possibly resulting in a gasping release of breath if you are startled or accidentally unbalanced. Controlled breathing also keeps you calm and focused.
   • Practice rhythmic breathing with simple breathing exercises.
   • Consider practicing yoga, which emphasizes controlled breathing during movement.
   • Yoga will also make you more flexible and help you move more fluidly.
4. Use any unforeseen noises to your advantage. Take advantage of any natural noise happening in your environment. Planning movements that may cause noise to coincide with the natural sounds. This way, any movement you make that makes a sound will be drowned out by the natural noise.
   • You can also create false sounds to distract the enemy or divert their attention.
   • For instance, try throwing a rock in the opposite direction of where you’re hiding in the dark. It will make a sound, causing your enemy to look away from you and in the direction of the noise.
   • The ninja called this “Joei-on jutsu” – the art of concealing sound.

Concealing Yourself

1. Blend in with your environment. When forced to stop, use the silhouettes of your surroundings to blend into and conceal yourself. The objects can be anything – trees, rocks, furniture, shrubs, etc. Simply freeze in place in a position that blends you into the natural contours and shadows of the elements around you.
   • Blending in and hiding behind objects were common tactics, along with hiding inside objects, such as ditches and holes.
   • Make use of any natural or many-made objects in your environment in any way that you can.
2. Hold positions for long periods of time. Occasionally you will be forced to stop moving to avoid being seen, so you will need to learn to hold yourself perfectly still for long periods of time. By freezing in place, you are attempting to make yourself invisible to the eyes of the enemy.
   • One method the ninja used was called “Uzura-gakure” (hiding like a quail). It involved crouching very low to the ground with your arms in front of your face and being absolutely still.
   • When there was nothing to hide behind, the ninja would employ “Uzura-gakure” to try to blend into the darkness and be as still as a stone.
   • This skill takes a lot of practice and muscle control, so yoga would be an extremely way to train for this.
3. Hide in available bodies of water. Water concealment was a large part of ninja training and they would hide in lakes, ponds and streams whenever forced to. Be prepared to control your breathing to the point that you can stay underwater for longer than usual amounts of time.
   • Make use of reeds, bamboo shoots or any other devices on hand to help you breathe when forced to be in the water for long periods of time.
4. Be as patient as possible. The art of concealment calls for extreme patience. Speed of travel was not emphasized unless the mission specifically called for it. Take as much time as you can. Impatience and hasty movements are two of the greatest dangers to anyone trying to conceal themselves.
   • Wait for the perfect moment before trying to move, advance or escape.
   • The ninja also used controlled breathing to help them maintain patience and composure in stressful hiding situations.

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Sources and Citations

See also

• Be a Ninja
• Learn Ninja Techniques
• Train to Be a Ninja Easily
• Be a Samurai
• Be Stealthy Like a Ninja
• Ninja Fight
• Disappear Like a Ninja
• Be a Modern Ninja
• Make a Ninja Star
• Be a Ninja Spy

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