One of the things I do my best to avoid is politics, especially in the Bujinkan. There can be a wide variety of things (mostly childish) that can cause rifts and breaks between students and teachers alike, this is a common occurrence in the Martial Arts and sometimes unavoidable.

There are ways to avoid these issues but it takes a clear heart to see what is real. There are some students even after five years of training that don't see as clear as they think they do and same goes for instructors. One way to inspire more clear thinking is for instructors to stop promoting too fast or too early and to be mindful of a student's thoughts and attitude.

I also think its important to find a good teacher, one who has a good sense for Hatsumi Sensei's Budo and who can guide you on the path not just physically but on a mental and spiritual level as well. If all a student wants is to learn techniques they should go study Karate.

There are so very few good teachers in the Bujinkan, they are out there, but don't expect to find the right teacher if you yourself do not have the right heart. When the student is ready, the Master will appear, not the other way around. A Master doesn't concern themselves whether or not, a student finds them or not. The only thing they want to know is will the student finish what they started and do they have the correct heart for training. It's pretty much all on the student.

There are of course bad teachers in the Bujinkan that you have to watch out for, I like Sensei's thought on this - we need bad teachers so that bad students have a place to go :)>

Issues dealing with a teachers integrity is a no brainer, many of us in the Bujinkan including myself have had our share of bad teachers who didn't have any integrity. I was fortunate to have been guided by Hatsumi Sensei and other Japan Shihan since the rank of Shodan, I've seen all the good, bad and ugly and it's been a great experience for me.

It's really nothing new that there are bad teachers in the Bujinkan, some of these bad teachers produce black belt videos and try to sell them to unsuspecting new students with the promise of givng them licensing, it's nonsense but no different than anything else in life. It's important to understand Kyojitsu (truth and falsehood).

One thing about Bujinkan is everyone is allowed to play even the bad teachers so its good that students get a sense of which instructors will provide an authentic transmission of Hatsumi Sensei's Budo.

Another thing I take to heart is everyone in the Bujinkan is my Buyu, even those who I may not like or disagree with, I may even at times refer to some individuals as a PUG, only I know what is meant by this saying as to prevent others from making assumptions of what I meant. I purposely use this term when I feel it important not to take any sides or make any distinctions to something.

At our Dojo, we tend to weed out any bad apples during the first two years, even longer in some cases depending on the student. As an instructor, it's important to know which students are only looking for something and which students really want to train. As a student it's important to understand the difference between Ukemi (heart training) and lack of integrity, there's a difference between knowing the path and walking it.

If you want to find good training, you should be a good student then you will find it.