Japanese summer & Aikido midsummer training

Japanese summer has many great things: summer vacations, big sales in the department stores, fireworks festival, and icecream! Unfortunately there are also some downsides to the Japanese summer: big cockroaches, too many mosquito's, the incredible heat and humidity. Temperatures over 30 degrees, very sunny, and very sweaty humidity. The kind of weather in which you prefer to just stay in front of the ventilator all day, or visit somewhere with air-conditioner.

However, this is also the period that the Aikikai hombu dojo organises the yearly Aikido mid-summer training (暑中稽古, Shochu-keiko). This year it was from July 30 until August 8, and it basically means that in order to participate you have to take minimal 1 training each day in that 10-day period. In the intense summer heat...

 It was really really warm to train. Even waking up (really, really) early and taking the morning class could not help to avoid the heat. We are still deliberating whether the mid-winter training or the mid-summer training is the most hardest, toughest training period. Training 10 days straight in extreme weather is a challenge, even if we normally already train 5, 6 times a week.
Maybe the biggest challenge was for our washing machine, who had to work overtime to clean all our gi's and aikido-equipment. :)

But, despite of the heat, it was real fun doing it together with everyone from the dojo. And, of course, all for the reward: you can be proud of your name displayed on the wall among those who successfully completed the mid-summer training. 
You will also receive your mid-summer training perfect attendance certificate, as proof of all the sweat you poured in the dojo, and a traditional Japanese commemoration towel.