Failing Kendo Exams

Okay, it's been about a few weeks since I last took my promotion exam, and now that I have nothing better to do, I thought I'd type this up. One thing I notice is that a lot of people don't really talk about the feelings of failing Kendo, so I think I'll do it here.

I recently tried to go for Shodan, but didn't make it this time around. Needless to say, I was pretty disappointed in myself for not making it. There's definately that period of sorrow, embarrassment and anger knowing that you didn't make it depsite your attempts.

Thankfully, my bout with college has taught me how to deal with failure since I did my fair share of that...a lot. Of course, failing those exams determines my future versus the Kendo ones just being a hobby, but I tend to look at them the same way. Within minutes of feeling pretty bad for myself, I was already looking ahead at what I did wrong and going for my next attempt either in February in Detroit, or March in Lexington, depending on how the work and life outlook is.

One thing to note is that, if you don't make the rank you are going for, you shouldn't dwell on feeling too bad. All that will do is make you angry. You should realize that everyone fails at a promotion exam at some point in their lives, no matter what the rank is. The most important thing to do is to keep your head held high and look towards the future to pass your next attempt.

On another, but similar, note. I was talking to a friend of mine from Indianapolis and she was talking about trying to test every attempt that she is able to. This isn't for the sake of just going through the ranks as fast as she can, but more for the testing experience and goal building. This is a pretty good point in my opinion since, if you pass, then great. But if you fail, you at least know what you need to improve on and know what the judges will be looking for.

Well, as they always say, better luck next time!