夏天回台練劍

不敢啦！太熱了！ ^_^ (just kidding. 再熱我也樂意練。)

仔細想一想，我好像至少四年多沒有夏天回台灣了。都是放寒假的時候回去。這也是我第一次夏天在台北練劍道。感覺完全不同。光是換衣服就流汗了。偏偏我這次帶的稽古着和袴是我最長，最厚的一套。上次特意留下來的較薄的一套卻找不到。:-( 下一次一定帶最薄，最短，最輕的一套回去練。^_~

"剣道の平常心"上已經講到體力不支的問題。真得對通常就在這種氣候下練劍的人佩服。不過，回想一下，一個小時半，跟老師稽古4次差不多啦。可能是沒有在排隊，而是坐著休息而覺得懊惱吧。以前不是在排隊就是在練。這次沒什麼排隊的需要，可能跟想像不合所以遭到特別打擊。不過在中山道館練得時候，真的有點喘不過氣來。不知道在高架下的空氣循環有沒有影響。

不過，聽到林老師跟別人在講話時，真的覺得應該再加把勁才對。他說夏天不練體力，哪時候練？日本人也說夏寒稽古的目的其中之一是克制氣候的影響。於是那晚再追了一支稽古。:-)

Practicing kendo in Taipei in the summer

No thanks! It's too hot! ^_^ (just kidding. I'd do it again no matter how hot it is.)

Now that I think about it, it has been at least four years since I've gone back to Taiwan in the summer. I've been going back during the winter. Of course, this is the first time I practiced kendo in Taipei in the summer. The feeling is completely different. I was sweating just changing clothes. Unfortunately, the keiko gi and hakama I brought with me this time are the longest and thickest set that I have. I couldn't find the lighter set I left behind last year. :-( Next time I'm definitely bringing the lightest and shortest set I have with me. ^_~

I talked about my stamina problem in "剣道の平常心". You have to be impressed with people who practice regularly under that kind of weather. Upon further reflection, in an hour and a half, practicing with sensei only 4 times is not out of the ordinary. I'm probably depressed because I was sitting down resting instead of standing in line. It used to be that if I wasn't practicing, I was standing in line waiting to practice. So in the end I would have only practiced around 4 times in that amount of time. There wasn't much need to stand in line this time, so the difference in expectations may have made the impact even more dramatic. However, I really had problems catching my breath while practicing at 中山道館. I wonder if practicing under the overpass made a significant difference on the air circulation and heat dissipation.

But when I overheard Lin sensei talking to someone else, I really felt I needed to get my butt in gear and try harder. He said, if you don't work on your stamina during the summer, when would you work on it? According to the Japanese, overcoming the effects of the weather is also part of the training in the summer and winter. So that night I forced myself to do one more practice. :-)