Title: The Ninja Defense
Author: Stephen K. Hayes
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Publish Date: 2012
Format: Paperback (DVD included)
Pages: 160
Cover Price: $18.95
There is perhaps nothing more enthralling in both pop culture and the realm of martial arts than the concept of ninja. As a kid, you might have dressed up head to toe in black garments as a ninja for Halloween. As a teen, you likely tried out some “ninja moves” on your friends during lunch break. Now, you have a book you can read that introduces you to the mechanics and methodology of the ninja, distilled for the twenty-first-century everyday person.
Content
Approximately a third of The Ninja Defense introduces the background of To-Shin Do Ninjutsu and its concepts and philosophy. The focus here is on morality and law, awareness and preparation before a fight ensures, and the types of harm an aggressor can attempt.
Following that, The Ninja Defense goes on to cover twelve different tactics from the style. Each lesson first explains the attack (and how it can be applied as a third-party member defending persons or property). The next piece of the lesson is on the defense and includes its correlating name in the To-Shin Do curriculum. Lastly, the tactic is shown as a drill against a pad holder (showing how the pad holder can accurately replicate the attack for training purposes).
Additionally, included with the book is a DVD, sharing video demonstrations of the tactics and drills presented in the book.
Pros
The Ninja Defense shares a holistic approach to what martial arts training can encompass. The book goes beyond covering defense against physical attacks. You’ll also find defenses against verbal abuse, psychological warfare, inner strife, and more.
In the beginning of the book, author Stephen K. Hayes mentions that he pushed down the desire to showcase the flashier ninja moves. What he presents instead is simple yet rich information. The self-defense and combat tactics showcased are straight to the point. This provides a great resource for modern people seeking simple solutions to violence.
The possibility of getting confused by the book’s techniques is greatly reduced with the aide of the accompanying DVD. In fact, there were many times I found the DVD not only made a complex technique easier to understand, it also gave me greater understanding of it. The DVD sprinkled in additional perspectives and tips not mentioned in the book. Thankfully, it also does this without sounding repetitive or redundant.
Cons
Unfortunately, while the DVD avoids being too repetitive, the book isn’t able to sidestep this pitfall completely. This became noticeable when the book delved into the description of a technique. There were many times it seemed the same block of text describing the situation or a movement was simply copy-and-pasted for each tactic. This lead to chunks of the book feeling unnecessary.
Perhaps this is a byproduct of a good thing however. Due to each tactic repeating the basic details each time, the reader can search for a technique and start reading the book wherever they need.
Though not extremely high-quality in terms of video or audio, the DVD does what it sets out to do: be an auxiliary guide for the reader to better understand the book. There are a few times the audio seems to fade too soon as the shot transitions to the next; however, that is a minor complaint. No audio cuts off completely.
Conclusion
Overall, The Ninja Defense carries many ideas and tactics that are good for the masses: non–martial artists, beginner students, and advanced practitioners wishing to delve into a different martial art approach.
This isn’t a book about learning how to maximize the damage you can dispense or how to kill somebody who attacks you. This is a book about dissolving 
aggression in whatever form it takes, with as little harm to every party involved as possible. The book doesn’t try to disguise itself as something it isn’t.
Despite a few refinements that could be made to the book and DVD, this is still a worthy read for the twenty-first-century ninja.
Overall score: 4 out of 5 Ninja Stars
Have you read The Ninja Defense? If so, let us know what you thought of it in the comments below!
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