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It's been awfully humid with humidity levels well over 95% in the afternoons and evenings this week. Combine that with temperatures around 28 to 30 degrees celsius and you get the right conditions for a sauna during aikido. So these days I'm usually prespiring heavily within the first 20 mins and stay that way throughout the first class. Funnily enough I'm usually less hot during the intermediate class. I think it's because I usually end up in a better spot in front of the fans whereas first class usually finds me in the corner of the dojo where the doors are shut so there's less circulation despite the fans nearby.
The dojo is non-airconditioned which I like as I prefer fresh air coming straight in from the outdoors through the large french doors. But it does mean it does get very humid at times in this tropical country. The community centre where it's located in has a large multi purpose hall with a ceiling that rises some three storeys so it's great. There's a stage at one end and we take mats out from the nearby storeroom each time. Usually several people come early to lay mats and I actually find it's a good warm up. For Monday and Wednesday classes we lay mats that cover almost the entire room as there's quite a crowd. On Fridays we generally lay about half the size as the class is about 1/3 the other days.
The Dojo is open with glass doors all around so we also lay out chairs outside the dojo on one end so that people can come and watch or wait for their loved ones to finish. It's a good spot outside from which to observe people without feeling like you're intruding as a visitor or having to sit in seiza for that matter . I always found it a bit intimidating to go into a closed room dojo where it's all too obvious you're entering someone's territory. I've always liked really open architectures for the tropics. It just makes a lot more sense to keep air circulating. And the human environment also seems more open that way.
04-06-2006 03:34 AM 
. I always found it a bit intimidating to go into a closed room dojo where it's all too obvious you're entering someone's territory. I've always liked really open architectures for the tropics. It just makes a lot more sense to keep air circulating. And the human environment also seems more open that way.