Who Was the First American Ninja?
The history and activities of Japan's feudal age ninja have long been steeped in myth, mystery, and no small amount of misconception. Japanese films and novels have celebrated the stealthy deeds of these warrior wizards so it was only a matter of time until Americans, too, “got the bug” and began studying the ninja's art—ninjutsu. As a consequence, there are today thousands of men and women throughout the United States who train in ninjutsu in its various stylistic iterations. Who, however was the first American to begin training in the art to a level of note?
Readers will be divided as to what ninjutsu is, and which are the legitimate lineages of the art; and while I concede that there may be several proposed “authentic” lineages in existence, for the purposes of this article I will only be looking at the better-known traditions, specifically those that are legacied from Takamatsu Toshitsugo (1889-1972) and Fujita Seiko (1898-1966).
Before attempting to explore any topic that can be subject to interpretation and dispute, it is best to begin by agreeing on the meanings of the terms to be used. This however poses an immediate problem when discussing the ninja arts because, as we know too well, if we ask nine instructors what “ninjutsu” means, we will get eighteen different answers! Therefore, we will begin by defining what the terms ninjutsu and ninja mean as used in this article—with the obvious understanding that the reader may personally agree or disagree.
What
is Ninjutsu
Ninjutsu, as
the term is used here, will refer to shinobijutsu (or shinobi-no-jutsu),
which is the Japanese art of espionage and intelligence-gathering
as codified around the 15th century. Ninjutsu was developed and
formalized in accordance with the tenets set down by Sun Tzu in his treatise, Sunzi
Pingfa—The Art of War. As originally intended, ninjutsu's
principal focus was on military espionage and strategy and not on physical
combat, as has become its mistaken focus today. While the term ninjutsu is
generally best avoided, it will be used
in this article due to its greater familiarity.
What
is a Ninja
Ninja, as the term is used here, will refer to one who demonstrates the traits, or who practices the unique actions, associated with ninjutsu or shinobijutsu. Those traits are generally secrecy, stealth, concealment, and constancy (which is often mistranslated as “endurance.”) Ninja is also a term that should be avoided, as it is actually a recent word, invented by the Japanese marketing industry in the 1950s to facilitate the sale of commercial products, such as “ninja” movies, “ninja” dolls, “ninja” toys, and “ninja” manga. However, it too will be used in this article due to its greater familiarity.
What Identifies a Ninja?
During Japan's bloody Warring States Era (1467-1603), the presumed golden age of ninjutsu, there were actually very few outward indicators that distinguished a shinobi[1] from a bushi[2] or from a commoner. Such being the case, the question then becomes, what specific actions, activities, or skills identified a person as a practitioner of ninjutsu?
Responses to this question invariably lead to lengthy arguments about differences in codes of conduct, training focus, combat arts, discrete strategies, and so on. Yet such differences were not always pronounced or definitive because samurai and ninja wore similar attire, utilized similar combat arts[3], and often employed the same types of weapons. To blur the lines further, samurai at times engaged in espionage and ninja at times fought in open battle!
The one area that would seem to most distinguish the ninja from the samurai was the types of activities they engaged in. Reputedly, the samurai's actions were guided by Bushido, the Path of the Warrior while the ninja's actions were not restricted by that code. This is what made the ninja a necessary and valuable resource: he could perform actions that the samurai was proscribed from undertaking.
In turn, what guided the ninja's actions was Shinobi-no-Michi, the “Path of the Ninja.” It was the Way of Secrecy, of Patience, and of Stealth. While samurai might swagger and boast of the family mon[4], or the proud keizu[5] they descended from, or their mighty deeds—ironically, like most ninjutsu practitioners do today—the historical ninja did not swagger, boast, wear his crest openly, or reveal his lineage. He concealed his skills by affecting humility and practicing anonymity. So, returning to our main question, who are the contenders for the title of “First American Ninja?”
Stephen K. Hayes
Another seeming contender for the same honorific is Michael D.
Echanis (1950-1978), who developed a loyal following among military SpecOps
operators, many of whom were leery of learning special skills from “little
brown stant-eyed men.” Such military specialists didn't care that Echanis did
not teach a legitimate Japanese martial art because “they all look the same to
me.”
Normally a Korean arts stylist would not be mentioned in an article about Japanese ninja. Mr. Echanis, however, may be able to make a claim to the title, as he was trained as a Sul Sa. The Sul Sa were allegedly the Korean equivalent to Japanese Ninja. Echanis was teaching his brand of “Korean ninjutsu” to the United States Military in 1975 after having learned the art from Hwa Rang Do Grand Master Joo Bang Lee. Under the banner of sulsado, the way of the sulsa, Echanis taught camouflage, infiltration and exfiltration techniques, sentry removal methods, hand to hand combat and a slew of other espionage and combat skills in his courses.
If, for the moment, we are willing to accept that the as-yet
unverified Korean sulsa methods are comparable to ninjutsu, then Mr.
Echanis clearly predates Mr. Hayes on the who was first timeline.
Stephen K. Hayes established himself as
a student of ninjutsu in 1975, by which time Michael Echanis had
already been instructing United States military in infiltration,
espionage, and combat skills for several years.
If we look back further into the chronology of ninjutsu in
America, we find the name of Grandmaster Ronald Duncan (1937-2012) as an
established instructor of the ninja's art. A decade prior to the arrival of
either Echanis or Hayes on the American martial arts scene, Ronald Duncan
presented the very first demonstration on record of ninjutsu in an upscale New
York venue in 1966.
Duncan was very enigmatic. For reasons about which we can only speculate, he was not always forthcoming regarding his ninjutsu lineage. This inevitably sparked much debate over the decades.
Mr. Duncan began training in ninjutsu under Naraki Hara. Naraki Hara was an alumnus of the now-infamous Rikugun Nakano Gakko, often referred to as the "Nakano Spy School". Rikugun Nakano Gakko was a special academy established by the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) for training already-accomplished officers in recruiting foreign/enemy assets, gathering intelligence, conducting espionage, and engaging in unconventional warfare. One of the instructors in residence at the Nakano School was Fujita Seiko, who had been called on to instruct the ninjutsu component of the academy's two-year curriculum.
Sometime in 1964 Ronald Duncan opened a martial arts dojo in downtown Brooklyn. The dojo offered training in a variety of Japanese disciplines, including jujutsu, karate, knife-fighting and throwing, as well as ninjutsu. Around the same time, Duncan was selected to assist Naraki Hara with the daily martial arts demonstrations sponsored by the Japanese Pavilion at the New York World's Fair. Despite whatever questions that may remain unanswered, one thing is certain: Ronald Duncan had a clear and established lineage to Fujita Seiko via Naraki Hara.
Duncan had an enormous presence in the martial arts community [1], particularly on the East Coast. He was well respected in the community [2] and established Ninjutsu in the United States. He was the earliest instructor of ninjutsu on record, predating both Echanis and Hayes by a decade. The title of “First American Ninja” seems almost assured for Mr. Duncan. There is however one last and unlikely contender we must look at first.
Donn F. Draeger was one of the most influential and respected
American martial artists of all time.
Was he, however, a ninja? While Mr. Draeger authored a book[6]
on the subject of ninjutsu and had made some contact with Masaaki Hatsumi, he
is not generally recognized as a student of the art. There is evidence however
that confirms that he was.
As a menkyo kaiden in the Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu, Draeger was most certainly exposed to the formal ninjutsu component contained in that ryuha. While it has been difficult to establish exactly when Draeger began his training in the Katori Shinto-ryu, we do know that he was an advanced practitioner of the system well before 1970. In fact he gave demonstrations in the United States in 1969. In a 1981 interview, Otake Risuke, Draeger’s mentor headmaster of the Katori Shinto-ryu reported that Draeger had joined their school 15 years prior. Depending on the month, this places the start of Draeger’s Katori Shinot-ryu training in late 1965 or early 1966. In an interview with George Garties In the November 2nd 1981 edition of the Honolulu Advertiser Garties states that Draeger “has called Otake, sensei or teacher, for almost 20 years”. This statement could potentially place Draeger’s start in the system even earlier than 1965.
Hall of Fame sports journalist Steve Sneddon wrote a piece on Mr. Draeger in the Reno Gazette Journal (Fri Aug 14 1970.) In the article, Sneddon lists Draeger’s credentials; among them is a 6th dan in ninjutsu. Even more interesting is a direct connection between Draeger and Japanese ninjutsu instructor Fujita Seiko. In an interview with Australian journalist Allen Trengrove in the San Bernardino County Sun in 1966, Draeger is quoted as follows:
“After I had been in Japan a few years and had established my
sincerity, Fujita Seiko, the last of the living Ninjas took me in as a
disciple. "Later he brought Bill Fuller in as well". "Fujita Seiko died earlier this year. But he taught me much of what he
knew and I am writing a book on Ninja teachings.”
One should take note of Draeger’s choice of words; he refers to himself a “disciple.” This would lead one to believe that his relationship with Seiko was more than a casual acquaintanceship. While many westerners of dubious credentials have claimed lineage to Seiko, none have been taken seriously by the general martial arts community. What makes Draeger’s claim credible is his acknowledged impeccable reputation for integrity in the martial arts. Liar, fraud, fake, and charlatan are not words one associates with Mr. Draeger. The man has earned the right for his words to be taken at face value.
Two facts would have prevented Draeger from training with Fujita Seiko any later than 1966; the first and most obvious being that Seiko passed away in 1966. The other is that by 1966, Draeger was involved in the Katori Shinto-ryu, where tradition would have obligated him to cease training in other ryuha. This timetable gives us an unspecified pre-1966 start date, and the exact dates of Draeger's began training with Seiko are may never be known.
Stephen Hayes and Michael Echanis both have their start in ninjutsu in the 1970s. Despite both making enormous contributions in the field of martial arts, and ninjutsu in particular, neither goes far enough back on the time line to be considered for the title of “First American Ninja.” We are thus left with the older two contenders, Ronald Duncan and Donn Draeger.
Duncan was openly teaching ninjutsu in 1964, and reason would stand that his training began well before that year. He is documented as performing the first public demonstration of the art in American history in 1966. For Draeger we have an unknown pre-1966 date for when his training began with Fujita Seiko. Since we may never know exactly when Draeger began training in ninjutsu, the title therefore remains in contention between these two Americans. Perhaps future revelations will bring to light new evidence that will help establish which of these two men indisputably merits the title of “First American Ninja.”
About the Author:
Fernan Vargas is a martial
arts instructor and author based out of Chicago Illinois.
[1] The original term for ninja; a person trained in the practice of shinobijutsu
[2] A warrior from the samurai class.
[3] All based on the Bugei Juhappan.
[4] A crest or coat of arms
[5] The lineage of either their family or of their combat style
[6] Ninjutsu, The Art of Invisibility
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