Ninjitsu is a general name to an assortment of martial arts and techniques practiced by Japanese fighters knows as Shinobi fighters who engaged in espionage, scouting and assassination missions. Ninjitsu techniques can best be describes as survival techniques designed to enable the practitioners to survive in turoil war times in Japan. Among these techniques are surveillance, non-detection and misdirection. Ninjitsu is made of 18 disciplines, of which only the ones dealing with armed and unarmed combat are still practiced.