[AlexanderPalamayr]

zmcnulty "Here's the thing...At my high school in Japan...."

That is the thing...high school kendo is different from the kendo that is instructed in the united states. High school students are suppose to be fast, hell that's because we are, so that's why the kendo instruction at the high school level is different than the kendo instruction you would receive when you're in your forties. They're teaching more of a shiai-type of kendo, which the young body can handle, while here in the states, most instructors insist on teaching more of the traditional fundamental type of kendo with ookiku because that's how good kendo comes to be. Check out my previous post "high school" it may explain the different types of kendo instruction.