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Description
From the sketchbook. Ink and mixed coloured pencils. Shinsengumi officer, ca. 1865.

Contrary to popular belief, "ninja" and "samurai" are not mutually exclusive terms. In military context, ninja or shinobi ("hidden away") simply denotes a scout - comparable to how "recon" is used today - while samurai refers to a caste of warrior nobility. A ninja is simply an intelligence field agent, regardless of individual social class. As such a ninja might be a peasant (presumed to have been the most common case), craftsman, merchant or samurai, or even imperial royalty.

While there is a traditional curriculum of skills a ninja should be proficient in, these would concern camouflage, acting, intelligence gathering, and - additionally - handling of poison and explosives, rather than any specific martial arts. To my knowledge "ninjutsu" is a 20th century invention. Historical ninja would have had no need for specialised martial arts since per definition, the entire mission profile was based on either avoiding detection altogether or hiding in plain sight.

Likewise, the image of ninja using a number of unique weapons has been greatly exaggerated. There is no record of a "ninjato", the famed "ninja sword", from before 1950. Indeed the premise of the ninjato is nonsensical: Not only would wearing a weapon identifying them as such be counterproductive for an agent, but the idea of the ninjato being straight due to its lower quality compared to the katana is incorrect. In Japanese sword production curvature is in part a result of the tempering process; blades with shallow curvature are difficult to produce, and thus considered status symbols.
However, it should be mentioned that the Tokugawa era saw an explosion of fanciful sword furniture, especially after the elevation of some of the more affluent merchants to lesser nobility. Additions included slots for knives, skewers, coins, medicine and other accessories, something which has become a staple in the modern image of ninja. So perhaps it is more appropriate saying the modern "ninjato" is a descendant of weapons ninja (and others) may have used in the previous three centuries rather than an outright fabrication.

Lastly ninja did not wear uniforms, but would simply have worn whatever regular clothes was appropriate for the occasion. And when said occasion involved running around at night and avoiding being seen, never black.

Description
From the sketchbook. Ink and mixed coloured pencils. Shinsengumi officer, ca. 1865.

Contrary to popular belief, "ninja" and "samurai" are not mutually exclusive terms. In military context, ninja or shinobi ("hidden away") simply denotes a scout - comparable to how "recon" is used today - while samurai refers to a caste of warrior nobility. A ninja is simply an intelligence field agent, regardless of individual social class. As such a ninja might be a peasant (presumed to have been the most common case), craftsman, merchant or samurai, or even imperial royalty.

While there is a traditional curriculum of skills a ninja should be proficient in, these would concern camouflage, acting, intelligence gathering, and - additionally - handling of poison and explosives, rather than any specific martial arts. To my knowledge "ninjutsu" is a 20th century invention. Historical ninja would have had no need for specialised martial arts since per definition, the entire mission profile was based on either avoiding detection altogether or hiding in plain sight.

Likewise, the image of ninja using a number of unique weapons has been greatly exaggerated. There is no record of a "ninjato", the famed "ninja sword", from before 1950. Indeed the premise of the ninjato is nonsensical: Not only would wearing a weapon identifying them as such be counterproductive for an agent, but the idea of the ninjato being straight due to its lower quality compared to the katana is incorrect. In Japanese sword production curvature is in part a result of the tempering process; blades with shallow curvature are difficult to produce, and thus considered status symbols.
However, it should be mentioned that the Tokugawa era saw an explosion of fanciful sword furniture, especially after the elevation of some of the more affluent merchants to lesser nobility. Additions included slots for knives, skewers, coins, medicine and other accessories, something which has become a staple in the modern image of ninja. So perhaps it is more appropriate saying the modern "ninjato" is a descendant of weapons ninja (and others) may have used in the previous three centuries rather than an outright fabrication.

Lastly ninja did not wear uniforms, but would simply have worn whatever regular clothes was appropriate for the occasion. And when said occasion involved running around at night and avoiding being seen, never black.