Ninja Survival: Modern Lessons in Survival from Japan’s Greatest Survivalist (Wilderness Edition)

I have 23+ years of Military experience. I also have equally as many years within the martial arts, to include a black belt in the Bujinkan. The author is a student of Stephen K. Hayes who is the "Godfather of American Ninja." I'm a fan of Mr. Hayes and own several of his books, and DVDs. Hayes is also the reason that tons of "American Ninja's" got their start, but he's no longer with the Bujinkan and the reasons for this are cloudy to this day. Apparently Hatsumi gave him permission to branch off, and start his own training style (Richard Van Donk did the same thing). With that being stated, and much like his "Modern Hand to Hand Combat" book, Mr. Isler is "riding Hayes coat tails" for credibility in an attempt to sell more books (Hayes did the same thing with Hatsumi Sensei, and many other's have done this with Hatsumi. Some American's run web sites with training videos, and other's wrote books). As a career soldier, the other thing that immediately jumped out to me was how the author pawned off his Military background. This was also done in his Modern Hand to Hand Combat book. He served as a psychological operations specialist which does fall under the special operations forces (SOF) umbrella, but he tries to pawn himself off as tabbed "operator." Civilians need to understand the difference. He also mentioned a combat tour to Iraq, and Afghanistan which a ton of us did but people like to cling onto this to sell more books. Does this really matter? I know guys who deployed, and never left the base camp all deployment long. Fact check for yourself, and speak to someone who served overseas. Pro's: Good pictures, and drawings. A Ninja Practitioner will also enjoy how he applied the Go Dai 5 elements of Chi, Sui, Ka, Ku, and Fu to a survival situation. He hits the key points of survival to include shelter, food, fire, water, etc. and truth be told brought up some good points (i.e. how to test food by tasting it with the tongue and placing it on your skin to look for a reaction). Con's: The was way overpriced for $35.00; save some money and buy either the U.S. Army Survival manual, the SAS Survival Manual, or both! The Author took some principles from Military manuals, and reprinted them in his manual (i.e. using the hand to describe terrain features), and many other things. He also added a ton of japanese terms next to each english term. If that's your thing, great-but just like martial arts do you really need to learn the term or how to apply the actual skill? Just my boots on the ground, honest assessment....

I've been teaching wilderness survival skills professionally for over a decade and have been a life-long martial artist. This book beautifully melds the two together in a practical manner, and I enjoyed the many ninja life lessons. The skills and photos are all on point. I think what I loved the most about this was that it took me back to my childhood when I practiced my ninja skills in the woods. Well done and unique from other survival books; you'll not be remiss about adding this to your library.

I have quite a few books on survival but I feel this one is fairly unique in its approach. For one, I love the layout of the book, from its use of full color pictures and sidebars to the breakdown of each subject into component parts. Also, the very focus of the book is a unique one: using the ancient principles of ninjutsu to give you an advantage in a wilderness survival situation. This includes teachings on the mental and even spiritual aspects of survival (both of which are sometimes neglected in other books). Highly recommended.

This book breaks down an overwhelming amount of critical information about outdoor survival into useful lists, diagrams, and short how-tos. It can be used by a complete novice but for the experienced outdoorsperson it adds detail, and a wealth of interesting historical context. This can be a single go-to reference or training guide. Great stuff!

This is an extremely thorough survival book that is beneficial for all to read! Hakim breaks it down well for anyone to be able to understand and even recall easy when and if the need arises. I really like his take on building a shelter.... Your Body as a Temple & Shelter Template. Heart = You, Spine = Ridgepole, Ribs and Skeletal = Frame, Muscles and Fat = Insulation, The Skin = Waterproofing. That information alone will help if i'm ever in need of emergency shelter! Thank you Hakim for your time and dedication to putting out a high quality survival book.

Hakim Isler's Ninja Survival is a well-researched book that combines the principles taught in Stephen K Hayes' To-Shin Do martial art and practical survival. The layout of the content offers both a great read and a quick reference for survival and other aspects for living well in less than desirable conditions.

Well put together, good info

Thank you for compiling your words and vision into book form. I’ve been following the ninja movement since 1979, loved the wilderness survival skills that were being taught in the 80s and then they kinda disappeared as focus seemed to have shifted to Taijutsu. Your book rekindled that flame for me. Much thanks.

The first ten page's makes it more than worth the price.

This is a good resource. Ninpo Ikkan

I have 23+ years of Military experience. I also have equally as many years within the martial arts, to include a black belt in the Bujinkan. The author is a student of Stephen K. Hayes who is the "Godfather of American Ninja." I'm a fan of Mr. Hayes and own several of his books, and DVDs. Hayes is also the reason that tons of "American Ninja's" got their start, but he's no longer with the Bujinkan and the reasons for this are cloudy to this day. Apparently Hatsumi gave him permission to branch off, and start his own training style (Richard Van Donk did the same thing). With that being stated, and much like his "Modern Hand to Hand Combat" book, Mr. Isler is "riding Hayes coat tails" for credibility in an attempt to sell more books (Hayes did the same thing with Hatsumi Sensei, and many other's have done this with Hatsumi. Some American's run web sites with training videos, and other's wrote books). As a career soldier, the other thing that immediately jumped out to me was how the author pawned off his Military background. This was also done in his Modern Hand to Hand Combat book. He served as a psychological operations specialist which does fall under the special operations forces (SOF) umbrella, but he tries to pawn himself off as tabbed "operator." Civilians need to understand the difference. He also mentioned a combat tour to Iraq, and Afghanistan which a ton of us did but people like to cling onto this to sell more books. Does this really matter? I know guys who deployed, and never left the base camp all deployment long. Fact check for yourself, and speak to someone who served overseas. Pro's: Good pictures, and drawings. A Ninja Practitioner will also enjoy how he applied the Go Dai 5 elements of Chi, Sui, Ka, Ku, and Fu to a survival situation. He hits the key points of survival to include shelter, food, fire, water, etc. and truth be told brought up some good points (i.e. how to test food by tasting it with the tongue and placing it on your skin to look for a reaction). Con's: The was way overpriced for $35.00; save some money and buy either the U.S. Army Survival manual, the SAS Survival Manual, or both! The Author took some principles from Military manuals, and reprinted them in his manual (i.e. using the hand to describe terrain features), and many other things. He also added a ton of japanese terms next to each english term. If that's your thing, great-but just like martial arts do you really need to learn the term or how to apply the actual skill? Just my boots on the ground, honest assessment....

I've been teaching wilderness survival skills professionally for over a decade and have been a life-long martial artist. This book beautifully melds the two together in a practical manner, and I enjoyed the many ninja life lessons. The skills and photos are all on point. I think what I loved the most about this was that it took me back to my childhood when I practiced my ninja skills in the woods. Well done and unique from other survival books; you'll not be remiss about adding this to your library.

I have quite a few books on survival but I feel this one is fairly unique in its approach. For one, I love the layout of the book, from its use of full color pictures and sidebars to the breakdown of each subject into component parts. Also, the very focus of the book is a unique one: using the ancient principles of ninjutsu to give you an advantage in a wilderness survival situation. This includes teachings on the mental and even spiritual aspects of survival (both of which are sometimes neglected in other books). Highly recommended.

This book breaks down an overwhelming amount of critical information about outdoor survival into useful lists, diagrams, and short how-tos. It can be used by a complete novice but for the experienced outdoorsperson it adds detail, and a wealth of interesting historical context. This can be a single go-to reference or training guide. Great stuff!

This is an extremely thorough survival book that is beneficial for all to read! Hakim breaks it down well for anyone to be able to understand and even recall easy when and if the need arises. I really like his take on building a shelter.... Your Body as a Temple & Shelter Template. Heart = You, Spine = Ridgepole, Ribs and Skeletal = Frame, Muscles and Fat = Insulation, The Skin = Waterproofing. That information alone will help if i'm ever in need of emergency shelter! Thank you Hakim for your time and dedication to putting out a high quality survival book.

Hakim Isler's Ninja Survival is a well-researched book that combines the principles taught in Stephen K Hayes' To-Shin Do martial art and practical survival. The layout of the content offers both a great read and a quick reference for survival and other aspects for living well in less than desirable conditions.

Well put together, good info

Thank you for compiling your words and vision into book form. I’ve been following the ninja movement since 1979, loved the wilderness survival skills that were being taught in the 80s and then they kinda disappeared as focus seemed to have shifted to Taijutsu. Your book rekindled that flame for me. Much thanks.

The first ten page's makes it more than worth the price.

This is a good resource. Ninpo Ikkan

I love this book!Very awsome and informative.A must,for off the grid enthusisats.Five stars hands down!!!

Very interesting information.