Martial arts laundry

When the TV is on, and my chair is nice and cozy I often create fantasy trips to ponder over. I collect hotel locations, and costs, and transportation....all added up.

I've done one in relation to training at Gracie HQ in Torrance, California. Torrance is really part of Los Angeles.

Found a couple of hotels about a mile from the Dojo. If we went, I could walk there and Helen could have use of the car to poke around while I train. Off season, the rates are pretty fair. I've also looked into Disney pass prices. I imagine we'd go there a lot.

Sometimes my brain notices things many wouldn't. How would I keep myself attired in fresh uniforms?

I like to wash them after each wearing. At home I train three times a week, and rotate three uniforms. I only have to wash them once a week.

In Torrance, I'd be attending 11 classes a week, more if I did any private lessons. Let's call it 11 uniforms a week. They don't do well with heavy dryer use. Would I be washing half a dozen gis twice a week, and then hanging them all over the hotel room?

Many think these white suits are built like pyjamas, but nothing could be farther from the truth. They are big, and thick, and incredibly bulky. An in-room laundry nightmare.

I also hate Laundromats. I always have. The idea of doing that twice a week gives me the shudders. Think of the time wasted.

If I wash them every day, the most at one time would be two. Throw the two in the tub, and pretend to be an old-school Italian wine maker. March about on them for a few minutes, try and squeeze out the juice, and then hang the buggers up. Soon there would be two sodden uniforms hanging up, and two hanging still damp from the day before. Would they dry in two days? Would it take three?

Luckily, the Gracie family is looking out for me. At the classes on Tuesday and Thursday the participants wear shorts and a shirt instead of a gi. Normal laundry is no problem. There are no classes at all on Sundays.

There still would be lots of laundry stomping to do, but wouldn't be so many suits blocking up the room.

Usually when we travel I do the laundry with the aforementioned soap and stomp tub method. I might have to become unpopular and insist Helen do some of her own in the sink, or the tub if she prefers.

Unpopular, indeed.