Of you want to lead learn to follow... Another discussion on Rank & Politics.

I was sitting here watching over past Game of Thrones seasons. And, I came across a phrase I heard many times in the military, "If you want lead, first learn to follow."

Most people don't get this but, you will hear it in team sports as well. What does it mean? It means that you must first learn to do things you would not enjoy doing. To place a greater focus on duty, to follow orders to fulfill a goal, then do what is comfortable or desired. You learn to do this under the command of someone else.

But, the thing is this person doesn't just command, they lead. Leaders lead the way, as the saying goes. A leader sets the example by action. They don't tell you to suffer being cold, wet, tired and hungry. They do it with you, suffering in silence as they place duty above comfort. They take satisfaction in things they have suffered through. They set the example. They might be telling you what to do but, they are following someone else's orders. Someone else is telling them "go here be miserable and do it for a reason they may not fully understand." More important then leading you is following the orders they are given to reach goals needed to fulfill the mission.

That kind of experience prepares you to lead. Leading means you set the example. In terms of martial arts this is seen as instructors who lack the discipline or resolve to lead by setting the example. Setting this example can go from lying about others, drawing out conflicts and drama and, making up stories about themselves.

A self-styled "master" or "Soke" is not so much a concern to the martial arts world, it is often other frauds declaring others to ne frauds. Nor do they really matter, as far as that goes that someone is legitimate or not. What is a legitimate martial art anyway? A system useful for self-defense is legitimate to some. A system with a long lineage is legitimate to others. A system with aliveness practiced in sporting competition is a legitimate martial art to others... What someone considers legitimate is of no real consequence.

Why? I know your mind is riddled with that word, that question of why not? Or why this or what if that? It doesn't matter because by and large the martial arts is a joke. Rank is not of much concern as ability. A boxer with no rank and a certain amount of ability holds a great deal more respect in a fight then someone with a belt or a piece of paper saying they are 10th Dan grand guru.

When discussing the matter of rank, I have heard people argue which is better the Kyu/Dan system or the Menkyo system. This is honestly a pointless debate. A Menkyo license was simply a means of controlling a trade within a geographic area by means of granting certain members of incorporated families to practice a trade and to what standard. Menkyo could be given or taken away based on internal politics and carried as much weight as a grade in the Kyu/Dan system.

In the Kyu/Dan System, martial arts rank and a teaching license among the various organizations are regulated by the parent organization. Much like the Menkyo system, a license to teach must be issued by the parent organization. If a person doesn't have the ability to follow someone who taught them their art, they don't have character or experience to make a good teacher. They were never a student.

If you want to lead, you must understand how to follow. We've covered how a good leader leads by example. A good teacher doesn't just show you techniques, they build you up and set the example by doing it themselves. Of you want to teach, you must understand what it is like to learn.

This is vitally important for a teacher to do this because, they must put themselves in a position of a student. Rank is not a sign of skill, it is a sign of position. The only sign of skill is ones ability to fight... A good fighter doesn't aways make a good teach but a good student makes a great teacher.

You see, the Kyu/Dan system is based on the grades in the Japanese public school system. Each belt, each grade is a level of training based on learning certain material. Using this system you would learn certain techniques, principles and forms at each grade. A person who was studying and practicing advanced levels of training (Dan or Black belt grade) students. Much like the Menkyo system a licensed instructor would have a teaching license issued by the parent organization. They would meet certain qualifications and standards.

In Brazilian Jujitsu, rank is awarded based on the standard of how well one does in competition. Now there are a host of things competition doesn't prepare you for. But, there are a host of things competition does provide.

In some styles of Karate, competition and kata are part of the standard for gaining rank. In other styles of karate only kata are used to determine rank. Some styles of karate use non-contact or light contact sparring, something common during the early years of karate in the 40s to the 60s, others are more concerned with full contact sparring (something pioneered by the late Count Dante/John Keehan).

What you study produces the results for skill and knowledge. I could easily point to "legitimate martial arts" which are utterly useless in real life self-defense situations. The simplest truth is that, rank has no bearing on skill. Rank is much like going to college, before you can have the rank to teach you must first "pay your dues."

A student learns the basics, gains the knowledge just as a college professor must start with kindergarten when they are child, graduate from basics of grade school to attend Jr High and High school. Graduate from high school attend college. The more vital the course and harder to requirments to graduate. Martial arts are no different the harder the training the higher the standards placed on the student.

In my little country state of West Virginia we have people who graduate from the school of hard knocks. Often many street fighters having been raised in violent homes and associating with violet people they develop traits that most martial arts, except for the full contact competitive sports, don't produce.

So in viewing martial arts as physical skills with technical knowledge akin to automotive repair or being an electrician. Rank is either a social position within an organization or a grade of learned knowledge and physical skill.

In terms of tradesmanship, I have friend who would make an excellent example. She is a wonderful mechanic. She is a better mechanic then her husband and while he has a certification in automotive repair she has years of working on cats with her father. She lacks the certification to get a job in a autoshop but, she has the knowledge to repair a car and could as an uncertified mechanic open her own automotive shop.

It doesn't matter what the rank structure is Kyu/Dan system, Menkyo Kaiden System or a simple system of titles. Perhaps a hybred system of all three...

The reflection on rank is also a reflection on attitudes and political ideologies. Those obsessed with rank and titles are often obsessed with what rank others have or claim. Who cares if a person claims to be a grandmaster in a martial art? I don't remember Royce Gracie claiming to ne a grandmaster or even claiming to ne a master. We know je is a master by his competition record and demonstrated skills. I don't think he is a master as Tae Kwon Do style jump spinning back kicks or Wing Chun style trapping. I also don't want a proctologist doing my open heart surgery either. I mean they are both doctors right?

In American politics we have seen a similar argument about professional politicians and how Donald Trump isn't one. We see an idea of "experts" being used to declare someone without said and presumed "expert certifications" as a basis for taking away said "non-experts" rights. This is seen in the justifications for the anti-Trump rioting and for every 2nd Amendment Argument where it was said people don't need guns (non-experts) because we have police officers (experts). Yet even the experts have issues with exessive force and wrongful death based on mistakes that have been made.

When addressing rank does the rank matter or the context of the knowledge and context of the claimed expertise? Do you demand the world comform to your desires for how they should think and act, like the millions rioting because they did not get the president they wanted or, do you make the best of what you have and accept the ranks of others as imperfect productions outside the context of your martial arts system?

A Prisoner in a World of Specialists

I have to thank two people here, one is my liberal tree hugging socialist leaning liberal buddy and the hippy tree hugging socialist leaning liberal who wrote this... No, in all seriousness the image of a world of artificial order of our claimed advanced society was brought to me by a liberal friend of mine and to be quite honest we agree on the "What's Wrong" one-hundred percent but, we don't always agree on the solutions.



So my liberal buddy posts on facebook this article by a well known feminist, environmentalist and liberal thinker. Now I was curious (Lets see what insanity liberals have come up with today) and I'm reading and thinking "Shit she's right..."



Now in AA they tell you to rely on the "God of Your Understanding" and I support this concept for a lot of political issues. Environmentalism for example is simple... I think Climate Change is bunk, but I don't think dumping toxic waste in our air and water, destroying eco-systems, all that other stuff that gets washed aside should because it is more important then the "Global Ice Age" of my parents age (the 70s), Global Warming of my childhood (the 80s & 90s) or the "Climate Change" of now. The "environmentalism of my understanding" is simply to not shit were you eat... i.e. don't poison yourself by poisoning the food, air and water you need to live. So I read this with a sarcastic but open mind.



We live a structured machine of society(artificial social order) all the while trying to call it order, civilization and society. We do so at the risk of the natural order of the world. Lets be clear when I say, natural order I mean natural bio-mechanical and biological order of the world. Our social construct of a society were everyone is specialized in their task is a prison for the mind and is killing our humanity. Our food is grown by specialists (not ourselves), are healthcare is maintained by specialist doctors (not ourselves) and specialist advisers to our carrier politicians (who specialize in politics) making laws about which herbs and plants are "legal" for our own good, we are protected by specialists (police and the military), our cars are fixed by specialists and we all most likely have a job where we specialize in a single task...

Human relevance and life has been reduced to an "Assembly Line" philosophy of you do this and I do that... The whole of human growth and existence has been reduced to the life of an insect. Insects specialize, animals specialize but humans... God forbidden no... And we call it progress and civilization. Perhaps we should add a new crime, becoming civilized. Of course people demand Universal Healthcare... Their own ability to take care of themselves has been reduced to stance of "a child asking Mommy for Band-Aid for a Boo Boo." They are not taught to care for themselves they are taught to depend on some "Specialist."


Nor can we live as we are able or desire, are homes by size and function must be zoned, constructed and regulated by specialists of different levels. In essence, the growth of human existence has been cut off with dependency on a system of so called "experts" starting with our "expert" career politicians who decide what is "legal" (a code word for what is right) and tell when and how we can grow our own food, what food is proper to be grown or why, how and against whom we can defend ourselves.

I present you with a choice... One only you can make, Do or Do Not. What you read, what think, how you think and why you think is all on you... but what you do with it is a different story, either you act or you don't act on it... Allow me to present to you the Universal Healthcare of the Free Man (Women if you like...), allow me to Present to you the Mechanic, the Engineer and Preacher of the Human Condition. Yourself...

Your choices presented are Do or Do Not. More Specifically, Do for yourself or Do Not. If you Do for yourself here is what you will need to know... A bit of everything. Medical Herbs and Martial (Fighting) Arts is a start, so is basic automotive repair, wiring, carpentry and plumbing. Grow your own food, produce your own power, tend your own wounds and be free from a life of dependency on a bunch of Specialists, who are unable to function without the Specialist they depend on.

I don't have kids but, I have friends who do and I was a team leader in the Army. The simple truth, your kids live by your example... What example are you setting for them? Willing slavery because you don't invest in yourself...

Most of us know the Sheep, Sheep Dog and Wolf metaphor from Grossman. It is a disguise of the roles of victim, hero and villain. I HATE IT... And all the people calling themselves "Civilian Sheepdogs" are idiots, morons, keyboard commandos and fantasy camp professionals (did that just piss you off, good and here is why...). In Grossman's analogy we are either Sheep (Victims) who depend on Sheepdogs (Heroes) or Wolves (Villains). Problem is the Sheep are only protected by the Sheepdogs so the Shepherd (Government ran by Politicians, another class of Specialists) can fleece us (tax us) and asking the Shepherd to give us more anything means we loose more wool. And yes... Wolves do eat Sheep (Criminals do victimize Civilians) but so does the Shepherd and Sheepdog feed from his table scraps (Police paid for by taxes taken by the Politicians).

Wolves don't need to eat sheep... Not every criminal is violent out to harm you type of person. Some wolves prefer rabbit, squirrel and deer. The enjoy deep dark woods the Sheep would never go, they have their own teeth to protect themselves, they have their own fur to keep them warm and life isn't easy but it is the freedom to exist as they wish on their own terms. There are dangers in the deep dark woods, but they know them... Nice thought but were does this fit into the Grossman Analogy, right?

It fits in here... Moonshiners, Drug dealers, Black Marketers and People who work under the table (Don't pay taxes, like Al Sharpton). Wolves do what they do to survive, they are a bit off the beaten path and the fringe types. These are people who just want to be free, new age hippies and violent criminals a like. Some people want to grow their own food, live in a hippy commune and just "be cool." Some people just want to watch the world burn, I won't deny it or justify it.


Yes, some Wolves are Villains, they victimize the Sheep. The problem is the animal we identify with or are identified by in the big pasture of Government Labels, is not up to us but to the Shepherd with his pack of Sheepdogs. You see most of you wouldn't think it matters too much of a drug dealer has issues with the police? What about people who home school their kids? Don't want their kids to eat GMO foods or take vaccines that are linked to birth defects and mental illness? A couple who wants to live off the grid with solar and wind for power and collect rainwater as opposed to buying chemically treated water?


Ha those are wolves to because they don't want to fit into that little pin of perpetual victimhood. And if you think you are Civilian Sheepdog who isn't going to depend on his Sheepdogs for protection, well guess what you are wolf too... Because in this system, we are all either Prisoners to a system of Specialists... dependent on someone else to do the task we could do ourselves Sheep waiting to be fleeced (and to some degree that includes the sheep dogs) or we are Wolves doing for ourselves. Worker Ants each with our task on the Assembly line of Society or thinking men and women who invest in themselves to take care of themselves...


We all face one threat, within our own minds... To be a prisoner of a World of Specialists or be free but, freedom comes with a price.

There are no experts... Only people with opinions

I never claimed to be an expert, only to have knowledge and a willingness to share it. Thing is much as I explain to my fellow preppers, if you have a plan and are prepared before problems occur you become the defacto community leader because you had a plan. Likewise, when you attempt to give an opinion or make a statement you become a defacto "expert" by planting your flag on the mountain or mole hill of knowledge. Which I have done and have been called an expert by others. So I will wear that title, I am an "expert."

Since I am an "expert" who has questioned other "experts" let me add I do not think any "expert" is beyond questioning. Quite honestly, experts must be questioned. Like Obama-care's experts who pushed it through, there are experts who offer their expertise (or point of fact reputation as an expert)for sale. Many such experts, associate with fellow experts who agree with them and there by use the old gang mentality of peer pressure (called peer review) to push their agenda. Here politics plays a role as well, as one will support the other for some agreed upon mutual benefit.

Many times, people allow the term expert, like the term leader, to confuse the reality of the matter. They are not totally removed from the other, however. A leader doesn't just tell people what to do but sets the example. An expert is someone who has planted their flag on the mount of knowledge and by doing so is expected to lead others to that mount. In the martial arts and self-defense world, this comes about in two main forms;

1. High Rank Experts: These are people with high rank or claimed high rank in a particular martial arts system. Various martial arts corporations and cults, have added rank above 10th Dan due to the need for higher rank to draw out more claims for knowledge to be taught. Usually this is because of the high amount of 10th Dan ranked instructors running around, and to push the idea of secret knowledge. In my experience "secret knowledge" doesn't exist, its an excuse to make more money keeping people chasing after unicorns, and other fictional trophies.
2. Experience Experts: Then you have those who claim expertise based on their experience, most often those are people who have a military or police back ground. The problem is making that knowledge fit into your world as a civilian. This is sometimes more creditable from those with a law enforcement background then a military background. Either way, these are people claiming to have used what they are teaching. Like the high ranks, these claims can be made up... Thus, we approach the sport fighters claim that a competition record is required.

I don't claim to be the best, oh hell yeah I do... I'm the best at what I do and what do I do? I live my life, I've been set up, falsely arrested, falsely accused, lied on, lied to, assaulted, shot at being unable to return fire and had been handcuffed and beaten by a cop. Basically low intensity warfare of non-military sort. So in that regard I am the best. For what its worth & how it might relate to your life, I'll let you decide. In that regard I've used my martial arts knowledge to defend myself and I've used my ninjitsu training to do likewise.

My highest rank is a 6th Dan in Black Dragon Ninjitsu/Omoto Ryu Budo from Ashida Kim, given ceremonially for the book Army of Shadows, the only Ninjitsu manual on the subject of small teams tactics and choho no jutsu (Art of Espionage) based principles. I've fought in an underground fighting contests but they don't hand out certificates, been involved in a gang (less criminal and more protectionist) from Charlotte NC. I've taught hand-to-hand in the Army and was even awarded for it, have years of time logged in jail dealing with felons and other dangerous criminals without a luxury of a badge for protection. I don't claim to have much more then experience using what I know, and I've used it against martial artists, criminals, punks and even a few blue collar working stiffs.

At the end of the day you have to consider do I have more experience using my ninjutsu systems manipulations, tactics and strategies in the real world then academic study from a book or in a class room. I've also used principles of espionage (called Choho no jutsu in ninjutsu) to beat a corrupt legal system. At the end of the day, I'll leave you to make the choice. Does that experience make me an expert or just someone with knowledge? And, if I have that experience and knowledge am I an expert to someone who doesn't have it?

Think what you like, its your life and yu have to live it...


There is a Difference in Knoing the Path & Walking the Path...

While the words come from a movie the Matrix, spoken by the stories mentor to main protagonist Neo a fictional character they are no less true. There is a difference between knowing the path & walking the path....

But what is your "Path."

Paths take us to many places and are often more important then were we end up. Many times people place more importance on the path then the lessons of the path. Living your life, is your choice no one can do it for you. While my life has been largely linked to the practice & sadly the politics of the ninjutsu community is a basic reality. However, as I said there is a difference between knowing the path & walking the path.

I have used my skills, addressed in various blogs how I used Chikari no Jutsu (The Art of Entering the Circle) to become familiar with the family and associates of those I am at war with in West Virginia. I abstained the direct tactic of war fir the indirect tactic until such time and place as such as it is required. However, I followed the second principle of Espionage Warfare in that I have "[Subverted] anything of value in the enemy's country. Implicate[d] the emissaries of the major powers in criminal undertakings; [to] undermine their position and destroy their reputations..." as well.

I have even applied the third principle even enlisting the aid of those who sought subvert my efforts from within using Fukuro-Gaeshino Jutsu (the art of feeding an enemy false information using a doubled agent) tactic known as Hotarabi no Jutsu; giving the enemy supposedly "secret information" via informants and snitches. As well as Karsura Otoko no Jutsu is a art of limiting the enemy's intelligence resources and spreading false information. Even using Kamigakure no Jutsu the art of seeing what is hidden by God or seeing with the eyes of god; analyzing personality types, facts and information to options to predict the mostly likely outcomes, actions and objectives. 

While some of my friends see this as negative, I do not... I am simply walking a path I was destined for. Destined is such a strange word and perhaps this is my ego speaking; as I find the likelihood of these people coming head to head with someone using my skills as an uncommon and unusual in the least. Honestly, my skills are mostly academic & in this case I am inexperienced in its application. Ninjutsu is not a path, it is not a finger pointing to the moon. Ninjutsu is the act, the means of pointing to the moon and my choice to act the finger.

It is not in my choice to act that matters, it is not how I choose to act that matters, it is in understanding that my path is reaching apex where my will is achieving results. Ninjutsu is not my path, my path is life. In my life I stand behind certain ideas; freedom, justice, honor & self-discipline. You see my outburst in Full Disclosure served several points; one of which was to excite the internet trolls whom I've already outed as spreading lies and half-truths.

The truth is Ninjutsu for the most part is a Joke...  All the cheerleading trolls deserve is a dishonorable mention and the point in past blogs outlining their lies. The reality is ninjutsu is so full of frauds because as a whole the system is full of recreations and false lineage claims. I've outgrown that but picked up a few very useful skills & have used them. My path is my own choosing. I do not believe I am simply meant to be a ninjutsu instructor & this chaos and drama serves to prove my own actions serve a purpose and seek results.

What is my path, my life... what is the goal of my life? I haven't decided, I am an adventurer. I live for the adventure & I'm perfectly happy being blow about by the wind. My path is one that I walk alone, seeking  self-improvement and to find a honorable. I desire to neither follow or be followed for the path I walk is one of my own content. However, the world is changing around us and I find that my skills and actions (even though they seem a bit silly & flamboyant) is used to draw the spiders out of the center of their webs in the shadows and expose them openly in the spot light with me on display.

Being displayed is not where one wants to be while plotting and politicking. Being on display is not where one wants to be when trying to subvert another. So don't confuse the puppet show with the puppeteers. You see I put out just enough evidence to prove criminality in the State Government. And no matter how outrageous or silly I appear its all for show...

You see this spider weaves his webs in the spot light & under your nose. Because while you're here in the spot light with me, you have more to hide then I do. After all I've admitted my faults and wrong doing... However, there is more then my life at stake & for the 8 years I've lost others have lost whole lives. For the shame & disgrace I'm supposed to feel at false charges and wild accusations, other have very real things to feel ashamed and disgraced for. The fact remains my path is to fight however I can, because others will not or cannot. My path is more important then ninjutsu or making money, my path is my own.

Knowing the path means one is not walking the path... this is called learning.
Walking the path means one is living their lives to fulfill a goal in service to forces beyond themselves... this is called experiencing.
Finally, one helps others along the path... this called being a fellow traveler/a friend.
We never reach the end of our journey until we shed this mortal coil or stop learning as human beings.

Decided what your path is and walk it... only you can decide how much your path/your life is worth. But in martial arts we get so caught up by titles like master, grandmaster & so on, that we forget its not the skills you have that define but the direction your life takes you.