Alright, Ranks are given for a reason, and higher the rank, of course, means that they are stronger than you. So when you fight a higher rank, don't try to act like your equal in strength, your not. They worked hard for their ranks, respect that, and who knows, you might be up there one day too.
Example:
Jounin-*I dash out the way of the attack while preforming a series of hand signs, then once I stop, I send a water dragon at you.*
Chunin-*I focus chakra to my hands and I create a shield of chakra, blocking the dragon.*
this is a horrible way. Now the chunin should have done this:
*I create a shield of chakra in front of me to counter the dragon. The shield works, but the force of the dragon sends me far back into a tree, causing mild damage on impact.*
This works so much better. You block the attack, but it will not be simple, it will take alot out of you mostly. I think the problem is that ninja think they can block everything, and nothiing can hit. *
See the problem? Since jounin's are of course powerful, this attack would not be easy to block, let alone dodge. it would take ALOT more than that to stop this. Now, we will try it with a higher rank.
Jounin-*I dash out the way of the attack while preforming a series of hand signs, then once I stop, I send a water dragon at you.*
Anbu-*Upon seeing the dragon, I began focusing chakra to my hands. I create a blade of chakra on my arm, then I launch it at the dragon, cutting it in half as I move out the way.*
See? it would take a higher rank to stop the attack without much trouble. but even then, this doesn't mean you can't hurt higher ups, it means your not going to do it easily. A genin has not much of a chance against a jounin, but they can still pull off a few things. following this chart:
Kage- Just as strong as a sannin if not stronger. A kage rank is a job though, while the sannin rank is......a rank.
Sannin- a bit weaker than Kages if not equal.
Anbu-weaker than sannins in general, but they can put up a fight against both kages and sannin, maybe even beat them? possible I guess
Jounin-just a bit weaker than anbu. But remember, anbu specialize in assassinations, so they naturally have greater speed then all ranks below. This means jounins may not be far off in power, but speed wise anbu are quickerso auto-hitting them won't play out well.
Special jounin- Not that weaker than jounin really, but at the same time, not that stronger than chunin. They have a good chance in beating jounin, but chunin have a good chance in beating them too. If they play their cards right, a special jounin could have a slim chance of beating an anbu.
Chunin-not that weaker in sp. jounin. sp. jounin are ninja that specialize, so this means that a sp. jounin would have better control over elements than a chunin would.
Genin-not too weaker than chunin, but enough to see a difference. Genin aren't really known, so if your a "speedy" or "strong" person, it won't play out that well until you rank up. mostly higher ranks have better control over elements and such than genin do, so keep that in mind when fighting a higher rank. If they play there cards right, genin could have a small chance of beating a sp. jounin.
Antag- no rank. they can be beaten by a chunin, but win against a jounin. with them, it only matters how you play your cards.
This is the main route for how things go. So yes, lower ranks, depending on the rank, can beat higher ranks, depending on the rank. lower ranks take more energy to stop a higher ranks attack, and a smart lower rank can potenially hit a higher rank, probably not fatal though.