The Original Mixed Martial Art: Why Ninjutsu Was MMA Before MMA Was Cool

The Difference Between JKD, MMA, and Ninjutsu

While the idea of combining martial arts for a ‘superior system’ isn’t new, we’ve seen this cycle before. Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do (JKD) was one of the first major modern attempts to strip down styles and build an adaptable system. Today’s MMA follows a similar philosophy. But unlike these approaches—both of which are still limited to the realm of fighting—Ninjutsu was never about fighting alone. It was and is about survival, protection, and the bigger picture of conflict resolution.

JKD, like MMA, is built on direct engagement, efficiency in a fight, and eliminating unnecessary movements. But that’s exactly where it stops: a system for fighting. Ninjutsu, on the other hand, has entire sub-systems dedicated to avoiding the fight altogether—through deception, psychological manipulation, situational awareness, and even legal and karmic considerations. In many areas within many Ninjutsu traditions—including those withing the various "-kans": Togakure-Ryu, Kumogakure-Ryu, and Gyokushin-Ryu—and contrary to the depictions of Ninja in movies and other media, practitioners were actually discouraged from fighting or killing unless absolutely necessary.

The reasons for this ranged from ensuring secrecy and survival of the clan to avoiding legal consequences, revenge attacks, or even the accumulation of negative karma that could impact one's life path, family, or future safety and success. While MMA and JKD fighters train for dominance and direct victory in "win or lose" fights, the true Ninjutsu practitioner trains for options, control, and strategic advantage—not just in combat, but in life itself.

This is why Ninjutsu isn’t just another hybrid fighting system—it's an adaptive survival strategy refined over centuries. While MMA and JKD require constant updates based on the latest fight strategies, Ninjutsu’s adaptability was built into its DNA from the start. Whether it’s physical combat, avoiding a fight entirely, or ensuring that an encounter doesn’t come back to haunt you legally or karmically, Ninjutsu is a complete system of warrior intelligence—not just different or "better techniques.”

🌀 Ninjutsu: The Original “Mixed” Martial Art

Most people think of Ninjutsu as just the art of the Ninja, filled with sneaky tactics and shadowy espionage. While that’s partially true, especially during certain periods of Japanese history, Ninjutsu is actually a complete combat system that blends multiple martial traditions, including:

🛡️ Gyokko-Ryu Kosshijutsu – Vital point striking and grappling.
💥 Koto-Ryu Koppojutsu – Bone-breaking and joint manipulation.
🌪️ Togakure-Ryu Ninjutsu – Evasion, psychological deception, and survival-based movement.
🦶 Shinden Fudo-Ryu Dakentaijutsu – Stand-up fighting and natural movement.
⚡ Kumogakure-Ryu – Tactical evasion and surprise counterattacks; Psy-Ops.
🧠 Gyokushin-Ryu Ninjutsu – Intelligence gathering and situational awareness.
🏰 Takagi-Yoshin Ryu Jutaijutsu – Defending in tight quarters, fighting from the ground, and protecting others.

🎯 What does this mean for you? A skilled Ninjutsu practitioner can adapt to any fight or attack scenario—whether it’s striking, grappling, protecting a loved-one or someone else of your choosing, or avoiding the fight altogether... and let's not forget about non-physical self-protection against the manipulator, gas-lighter, and those with other "pushy-salesman" tactics and/or hidden agendas.

It also means that other threats to safety, as well as the often unspoken problem with, well... aging, are covered within Ninjutsu's realm.  Wilderness survival, traveler safety, home security, and more than this are included in various forms within the Shinobi warrior's training and skill sets, that are nowhere close to being a part of a "fighter's" training regimen, unless of course he runs around and does what modern MMA is known for... adding things on to fill in the holes and gaps left between the fighter's realm, and that of the warrior seeking to survive.

⚔️ How Ninjutsu Prepares You for Real-World Combat (Where Modern MMA Alone Does Not)

I won't be the first one to tell you that MMA fighters are some of the best-trained athletes in the world—but their training is limited by rules, weight classes, and an emphasis on one-on-one competition. In the real world, self-defense has no weight classes, no referees and, in my experience on the streets both as a civilian and as a cop and undercover investigator... ABSOLUTELY NO GUARANTEES OF FAIRNESS!

Here’s how Ninjutsu gives you an edge where conventional MMA leaves gaps:

✅ Multiple Opponents: Trains tactics for defending against more than one attacker—a reality in most street attacks. Like it or not, MMA assumes a fair one-on-one scenario in a controlled environment with safety mechanisms built in.

✅ Weapons Defense: MMA fighters do not train to defend against knives, guns, or clubs—a huge gap in real-world combat.

✅ Evasion & Escape: Unlike sport fighting, Ninjutsu prioritizes escape—because the best fight is the one you don’t have to be in!

✅ Psychological Warfare: The Ninja understood how to manipulate an opponent’s perception, break their confidence, and disrupt their rhythm—MMA fighters don’t train for this.

✅ No Rule Restrictions: MMA fighters train within a system of rules and regulations. In Ninjutsu, everything is on the table—including strikes to the eyes, throat, and joints, muscle-tearing, AND the use of weapons.

🔗 The Evolution of Combat: Why Ninjutsu is Still Relevant Today

Many people assume that because MMA is modern, it must be superior. But in reality, the Ninja were the original mixed martial artists, long before modern fighters even considered blending styles.

🎯 Today’s best self-defense systems focus on adaptability, and that’s exactly what Ninjutsu was built for, only it's had CENTURIES to perfect itself against a wide array of attackers, fight styles, and scenarios. Whether it’s an unarmed fight, a weapons attack, home invasion where you're family's in harms way, or an emergency scenario that has nothing to do with human attackers... Ninjutsu gives you options—more than just punching,  grappling, and submission holds.

This is why Ninjutsu isn’t just another martial art—it is, and always has been, the original Mixed Martial Art. Long before modern MMA, before Jeet Kune Do, before hybrid combat systems became popular, the Ninja were refining an adaptable, ever-evolving system that seamlessly integrated striking, grappling, weapons, deception, survival tactics, and strategy. But more than that, Ninjutsu was never just about fighting—it was about surviving, thriving, and winning in any situation, whether against a skilled fighter, a battlefield enemy, an armed attacker, or an unseen threat. Instead of following trends, train in the system that has always been the ultimate evolution of martial arts.

🚀 Take the Next Step in Your Training

⚡ Final Thought

Sport training is great, if you're looking to win competitions. But, if your goal is real-world self-protection abilities across a variety of possible scenarios and attack threats... survival training is better. Most of our students are professionally-minded adults who want to protect themselves and their families from the danger they know exists in the world... without becoming "fighters" or "tough-guys" themselves.   That's why we say:

Train like a defender—but think like a warrior!

🔥 Start your training with the Foundations of Ninjutsu Self-Protection Program! This 16-week online training program is designed for those new to Ninjutsu-based self-defense and serves as Module 1 of the Warrior Concepts Black Belt / Ninpo-Mastery System. It provides a standalone self-defense curriculum or a strong foundation for those seeking long-term mastery. Enroll Now!

📢 Watch our weekly KUDEN! Podcast (Mondays @ 8 PM ET) and Warrior’s Whiteboard Wednesday Strategy & Tactics Training (Wednesdays @ 3 PM ET) for deep dives into these strategies. (See below to get on the notification subscriber lists)