What is his current rank?
Since the answer seems to have significance for some people: Shane is currently ranked 4th dan by Kevin Millis sensei and Hatsumi Soke. Apart from the considerations mentioned above, another reason why rank is largely de-emphasized in the Bujinkan is that even the most senior teachers are still very much Hatsumi sensei’s students and are continuing to learn from him. Some in the Bujinkan reflexively refer to those at 10th dan as “shihan”, an honorific term implying “one who teaches teachers”; however, this term is not linked to any specific grade. It also is the height of arrogant bad manners for a teacher of Japanese arts to refer to himself, or to ask others to address him, by honorific titles such as shidoshi or shihan.
