Perhaps it is more about the difference between having no choice in the matter and actively seeking a caning.
All I seek is to experience what it was actually like as authentically as possible. That means full school uniform (short trousers, blazer, etc) with all the attendant rituals (wait outside study, a stern lecture, cane selection, cane flexing and swishing, assuming the position, light taps before full and proper punishment strokes delivered slowly and deliberately with absolutely no chance of not receiving the full allocation, regardless of reaction. All this can be recreated, but authenticity needs to include the pain element.