The Deaf Test
In 2006 I was in Japan and when I told one of the resident foreign shihan that I was in the process of bringing in an amazing instructor for a seminar, 
his response was “Well, you know his rank is only 4th dan, right?” and during the course of the conversation he repeated that two or three times.
It really made me think because technically I had a higher rank than the instructor I was bringing in for the seminar but in terms of ability I was nowhere close to his level. Not even in the same game, never mind in the same league or on the same field. Neither, for that matter, was that shihan.
So something seemed wrong. Everybody knows that in the Bujinkan, dan ranks do not correlate very well with skill, so how can we know which instructors are worth learning from?
The short answer is obviously that we can learn something from everyone so everyone is worth learning from, but that doesn’t mean that all instructors have what it takes to be our main source of guidance and training, that all instructors are worth spending a weekend with at a seminar or that we should accept all instructors as authoritative sources.
So how do we know?
A while back, shortly after my discussion with that shihan, I came up with something I call “the deaf test”. All it is is a simple tool for attempting to identify actual ability and compatibility by separating movement from talk, stories and hype.
Here’s all you do:
Pretend you’re deaf for a few minutes and just watch the instructor’s movement. Then ask yourself: without the soundtrack, is the picture still compelling?
This way you can’t hear what he’s saying about how many monsters he’s slain, how much time he’s spent in Japan, how close he thinks he is to Hatsumi-sensei, how he can levitate when he’s in the right mood, how many students he has, how good you are, etc. You can’t hear all the verbal trappings that sound great but are ultimately of no value to you.
All that’s left is his movement - which is the absolute BEST case result for you if you choose to “follow” him.
And in my opinion that’s what matters and that’s why we need to choose carefully.
If the picture is still compelling without the sound track, then great!
If not, then that’s a pretty good indication that what attracts you to that teacher is something (or a set of things) that he can’t teach or share with you, something unrelated to his ability. And it’s OK if that’s what you’re after, as long as your decision is an informed one.
Everybody wants something different from their training and that’s ok. The point of this article isn’t to tell you what you should be looking for in your training. The point is just to give you a tool that you can use to help cut through some of the illusion that’s out there. Use it – or not – as you see fit.
As always, think for yourself, practice for the art and have fun with your training!