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If a ninja combined walking and running techniques it was possible for him to cover in excess of 100 miles per day, a great tribute to his stamina.

All ninja were aware of the necessity of developing maximum body strength. Training for strength began early and one basic method required a trainee to hang suspended from an overhanging bough using only a double-hand grasp to do so. The older the trainee, the higher he would hang, some 30 to 50 feet being common. A fully trained ninja was expected to hang in this fashion, motionless, for about one hour.

To every intent and purpose the exercise was also a mental one by which a strong will, resistant to pain, could be developed, though physical benefits centered on the strengthening of fingers, wrists, arms, and shoulders. This ability later gave the ninja confidence in his ability to hang motionless among dense foliage even while his enemies camped directly below him.

Endurance training in youth.

SPECIAL SKILLS OF THE NINJA

It was the category of special skills that marked the ninja out as a near super-human person. No training or technique that might prove useful to him in his profession was overlooked.