From the description of the video:
"A fascinating look into the mental predisposition of the highest ranked kendo practitioners.
Harder than becoming a lawyer or a surgeon in Japan is becoming a 8th dan Kendo Swordsman. This docu chronicles two2 men and their attempt to reach that peak - one is a former National Kendo Champion who has failed the very 1st step of the test 4 times. The other is a 78 year old man who has been taking the test for 24 years."
I can't seem to embed it, so you can find it here.
Previously, I posted about a Kendo 10th Dan, a 9th Dan and one of the top competitors in Kendo competition.
Before ending this post, there are only a few days left in the Advent Challenge. How is everyone who is participating doing?
Great video! Only the Japanese can keep up such widely recognized tough honor system of professional peer-group grading. Most other peoples, say the Americans, would have other groups of practitioners setting up alternatives (with lower bar in terms of barrier-to-entry, or "less tough" old boys clubs) grading system (and crowning the founding members all 10 Dan!). Perhaps the Japanese have such minor systems too, that I didn't realize....:):)
ReplyDeletePS: in HK Christmas Eve is predicted to go down to 10, great way to do cold shower meditation. Looking forward to it...
Talk about quality control!
ReplyDeleteThe wind chill is 20F right now.