New rant, new subject...
What I'm about to say here might be seen as a slam against people of Western origin who have taken up residence in Japan, I apologize for that in advance. Those of you who know your true worth probably also realize that this is not intended towards you.
There's this certain individual in the Bujinkan who left his native country to come and live in Japan somewhere around the early 90's, and who has recently relocated back to the Western hemisphere. His reputation as one of the best the Bujinkan has to offer stretches all around the world, and though I've never trained with him personally (I did however meet him several times in Japan), his teachings heavily influenced the training at my dojo the last year and a half by way of my instructors, particularly in the areas of spear techniques and Kukishinden dakentaijutsu. Admittedly, I've never seen him in action with my own eyes, but if my current teacher says that he's the freakin' man, then as far as I'm concerned he's the freakin' man.
There are two aspects of this individual's persona that continue to fascinate me.
To begin with, it's the ongoing usage of what I as well as others have referred to as a behavioristic approach to training - that is, you work and train hard at something until you *REALLY* have it down. If for instance you're aiming to improve your skills with the jo, you stand there for hours going through all the hits, thrusts, swings and positions. You don't get creative, you don't go off speaking in tongues, you simply keep going in the most literal sense of the word.
This has, according to people who've trained with him, manifested itself in ways that IMO are far too seldomly seen in the Bujinkan - as in the brilliant phrasing: "all right people, drop your swords. None of you can do this yet."
Second, it's what has been relayed to me as one of his personal motivations for leaving Japan. Apparently, he found himself unable to endure the constant physical and mental domination he was subjected to by Hatsumi. Without having even the slightest resemblance of a personal relationship to him myself, after merely having been in the same room as him I can tell that he has somewhat of a powerful and imposing aura around him (this is absolutely not intended as an insult or a form of criticism, just a reflection on his obviously very unusual personality), which I imagine can have a profound effect on the people living around him on a daily basis.
Now, some might try to infer that this unability to cope with Hatsumi's constant presence primarily has to do with the mental constitution of the person in question. And sure, that is a valid standpoint, but I dare you to say it to his face. From my limited perspective, however, it only adds to my perception of him as a sensible and reasonable individual.
This stands in a pretty stark contrast to all the people constantly trying to emulate Hatsumi's movements as well as his method of speech.
What I think this says about a lot of the "Hatsumi hangarounds", for lack of better and more sophisticated wording, is probably best left unsaid.
I see someone gets my points about assumptions. 
