Scorchio!

“Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.” Noel Coward

And on the hottest day of the year so far, only lunatics sign up for a hectic 3-hour Aikido session… in a packed sauna of a dojo*, while dressed in super-mega-thick thermal insulating Gis**!

Yet again, today I had good reason to question my sanity. I could have spent the day chilling in the garden, ice cold drink in hand... having a well-earned rest, after another marathon session of house cleaning yesterday [yes, the dust busting still goes on, but we are very nearly there!]

But instead, I chose to spend it being thrown around on yet another gruelling Aikido course… and not just any course, one that a Very Important Sensei from Japan came over to teach. The dojo was packed to the rafters with hot, steamy, bodies… most of them far more experienced than me. I’d hoped to fly below the radar, but no just luck! Sensei singled me out not once, twice but three times to correct me on the error of my ways. So I was feeling the heat on all aspects….

Hot dog pic found here

Hope your weekends have been a bit more chilled than mine!

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* A Japanese term which literally means "place of the way". The term can refer to a formal training place for any of the Japanese do arts but typically it is considered the formal gathering place for students of any Japanese martial arts style to conduct training, examinations and other related encounters.

**Aikidogi is the formal Japanese name for the uniform used for Aikido training. Most practitioners simply call it a gi or dogi.