The Sweat Factory

It's been an amazingly HOT summer here in Austin, Texas.

So far, we've had 79 days of 100+ degrees  (an all-time record);
                            23 days at 105+ degrees (also a record);
                            27 consecutive days over 100 degrees (yep, a record).

But I am really proud of our dojo members.  Our training space is not air conditioned, so we affectionately call it "The Sweat Factory."  Last summer, which was obviously "cooler" than this summer, we brought a thermometer to the dojo.  Not once did the temperature inside fall below 100F.  It can be brutal, but purifying.  We take a perverse pride in being able to train hard inside the oven.

Soon, however, it will be winter once again and we'll all be complaining about the cold gis and colder floor in which you seek out a shaft of sunlight to stand in to thaw out.  Such is life in a dojo.  Over time, we just accept the temperature as it is, knowing that as we train we will become immersed in it and hot and cold become secondary to what we are working on.

Sweat is just sweat.  Cold is a state of mind.

See what I mean: