In another thread, Fallen Ninja asserted that:
"I'm know I'm going to get trashed on this... but doesn't anyone else feel that he is a bit young to be a 15th Dan?" and then added the comment
"It just seems like we give out rank for no reason. I know other arts that some never reach Nidan but in ours after Shodan..."
In my opinion, this is the single largest issue for people who become disenfranchised with the Bujinkan. And it is an issue that comes up again and again and again and again.
SeattleTCJ posted a retort, saying:
SeattleTCJ said:
His confusion about rank is understandable. Most people see grades being a reflection of skill. You earn a doctorate in college by demonstrating advanced skill in your field. Not by earning the friendship of your professors, or by demonstrating other random qualities. You must be able to apply your skill at the highest levels in order to reach the higher levels. So, IMO a reasonable question, and reasonable confusion by Fallen ninja.
I believe that any instructor or institution who provides grades does so under the following premise, best summarized by Paul Dressel:
"A grade is an inadequate report of an inaccurate judgment by a biased and variable judge of the extent to which a student has achieved an undefined level of mastery of an unknown proportion of an indefinite material."
Unless you are taking mathematics, which has only "one right answer" (assuming you set aside implicit presumptions that you are using real numbers to solve the equation), almost every single grade (be it in "strategy" or "sociology" or "martial arts") falls under Dressel's definition. To pretend otherwise is simply simple-minded.
There is simply no way for SeattleTCJ to "pass" a test that I give him, but he may easily pass a test that his teacher gives him. Is it because I am a "bully"? Or because what we both look for is different? I proffer the latter. And this is precisely what Soke has empowered *EVERY* Shidoshi worldwide to determine individually.
If you cannot live with the fact that your teacher's grades cannot be compared to my grades, then you are in the wrong art. Period.
As I have stated, there are only three grades that can be "compared"--the Godan, the Judan and Jugodan. The Godan means that your teacher feels that you have the proper body and heart to sit the Godan test and be "touched" by Soke; Soke trusts that judgment and then tests whether the student actually has the proper body and heart. The Judan means that three other Judan or higher feel that you have the proper body and heart to be called a Judan. Soke (usually) trusts that judgment. The Jugodan means that Soke sees something special in you that others do not possess. If you consider the Bujinkan teachings as a puzzle, these puzzle pieces are scattered throughout the world in various bodies and hearts. It is your job as a student to seek out those pieces. Only these three levels have quantifiable requirements; everything else is a personal assessment by an imperfect teacher of how the teacher believes the person has progressed since last subjectively determining to make the assessment. And history is on the side of those who agree with this assessment of everything else, seeing how that is how Budo has *ALWAYS* been graded.
I will add one final point, because I cannot retort the comment on the original thread as per the mod's request. SeattleTCJ suggested that "As far as being bullied.....to say someone deserves to be hit in the jaw for asking what you see to be a naive question, is a bully tactic Ben."
I answered Fallen Ninja's original question without "bullying," but Fallen Ninja clearly was unwilling to chew on what we being written.
Instead, he quickly followed with these gems (reminiscent of high school chatter, or the idiot foreigner who shows up at Hombu that resident Don Roley is always banging his head about):
- "I just think it is so confusing and embarressing when we try and promote our art and show videos just for those that don't know to mock us and say it doesn't look real."
- "The world expects to see old gray men with high ranks... not 30 yr. olds that hold a judan."
- "I know a lot of people that will not train because our art to them looks watered down and slow."
Had Fallen Ninja said such things after a senior student in Japan took the time to explain what he should be considering important, there would be two reactions, depending on who was instructing.
Some instructors would just roll their eyes and ignore the individual for a few weeks. Online, this type of "social distancing" is obviously difficult to show and for the oblivious to become aware of....
Other instructors would request that the individual punch for a technique. Immediately, that individual would be knocked to the floor and told to keep training until he understood what was important.
My teachers have been of the latter type.
And seeing how I learned this art in Japan, I tend to take their perspective on learning (and getting through thick skulls...mine included).
Hope that clarifies....
-ben