I listened to a CBC show this evening that discussed the prevalence of cheating in post-secondary institutions. Apparently 53% of Canadian undergraduates admit to cheating. In the United States, closer to 70% admit to doing so.
What does this mean to us as a society? Big trouble down the road if the people we’re graduating from “higher education” aren’t properly qualified. What if your pharmacist doesn’t really know all of their drug interactions? Maybe your nurse doesn’t have a clue how to insert that needle for your I.V. Does that computer technician really know how to add that new computer to your corporate network? We’d better hope so.
Contrast that to Kendo, where you can try and cheat, but it’s obvious. Oh sure, you can take a shortcut, but it’s obvious to everyone watching that you’re doing. Can’t do a basic swing? Ki-ken-tai off? Have a shortage of kiai? It’s on display the moment you step on the floor.
You can’t hide your faults or blame them on someone else in Kendo. It’s up to you whether your Kendo is as good as you can make it. And yes, you can fail in Kendo. I guess that’s another difference between Kendo and school these days… : )