Last night’s kendo workout was good; more and more of the basics are starting to feel normal to me, my focus is returning, and I am less wiped out by the exercise itself. The soles of my feet are taking a beating; hopefully they will toughen up sooner rather than later. I did manage to generate a blister on the ball of my left foot. As the proper stance has the left heel in the air all the time, a lot of pressure is focus on the ball of that foot. Since I’ll be out of town this weekend I’ll miss Saturday’s workout so it should heal before Wednesday.
I’ve ordered a keiko-gi and hakama, the jacket and pants that are traditionally worn. Since the gi is heavy cotton it’ll add some difficulty to the workout in the form of retained body heat. Last evening the temperature at 6:30 was 93, and it was still 90 at 8:15 when we broke up for the night. My plan is to get a large Rubbermaid tub and use that to wash my gi and hakama. Since both are dyed with indigo I expect them to run quite a bit the first several washings. I’ve heard from more than one source that you can actually stain your tub permanently with the dye runoff if you aren’t careful. The Rubbermaid tub will isolate the dye; and the water can be dumped outside.
The real trick will be getting the dye off of me before coming into work the next day. My friend E in Chicago says I’ll look “smurfy” after the first few workouts. Papa Smurf, Girl Smurf, and Kendo Smurf.