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What To Do If The Flu Catches You

by John Dore - February 12, 1999

The following expresses my opinion. It may or not reflect the sentiments of the entire staff at Northeast Aikikai but, hey, its a free country. I think that the Surgeon General would be on my side with this one.

Recently our dojo has suffered from a major flu and/or cold outbreak. I am one of the most recent victims. At the onset of the initial symptoms, I just adopted my usual reaction to getting some such malady: "This silly little virus or some such thing , there is no way am I going to let it stop me." I am going to just keep right on practicing, sniffle,sniffle,,,cough, cough. After all I have always kept practicing even when injured, right. So why should this be any different? The simple answer is that my sprained this or that doesn't put anyone else at risk.

Remember, Aikido is definitely a full-contact activity and the dojo is a small closed- in space. Those two factors offer the perfect environment for a contagion to spread. So, in the future, I intend to try to stay off the mat if I have a cold.

Here is my advice:
1. When sick, stay home. (Chicken soup is the best remedy!)
2. Get better and then come back and practice harder. We, your partners, will miss you when you are away and warmly welcome you back as soon as you are ready to return.

See you all soon!
JSD

John Dore's profile