2008

This shall be the last post of 2008.

It had been overall a good year for me in terms of cheerleading wise. The year started with Cheerobics training and HO training. I just got the hang of my job as an engineer, although timings are regular, not much OT, but it was still tough to be a "office boy" in the day and a "super hero" at night. My body was battered to its limits with not enough time to rest and recuperate, don't think anyone can understand how it felt.

At least all the hard work was rewarded by winning Cheerobics the third time in a row. The feeling was amazing. Not to mention that we even got 3rd for group stunt category. Just when we all thought that everything was over, we got the chance to go Japan again to compete in CAIO. It was back to trainings again, though not as tough, as we already had the routine up already, we had various other challenges to face.

After CAIO, it was the end of my competitive days with ACES. I had more time to rest, and my body was able to fully recuperate, except for the busted knee in a moment of foolishness in Japan. Began to start venturing fully into partner stunting. Was able to accomplish stunts such as Full-up, Full-around and Pop overs.
During this time, I also got to interact quite a bit with players from various squads, I enjoyed the process of sharing of knowledge.

Looking forward to more challenges in the coming year 2009, which will begin almost immediately with Inter Hall Cheerleading Competition. Hope I can find the strength somewhere to maintain my "super hero" lifestyle, admidst the huge increase in workload, and to stay healthy. You have yet to see the last of X-Wonder.

Wish everyone out there a Happy New Year, and may all your dreams come true.

Merry Christmas Everyone

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas with lots of presents and love =)

"You understand that you are going to fail, thousands and thousands of times in partner stunts, just for that one time you hit beautifully."

Partner Stunt: The Delaware Experiance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAjTxIMYDsM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UL2JFSKtvb4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mySYzezEyI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWGNalvPups&feature=related

Watched this 4 clips on youtube last night. It documented some of the highlights of 3 Co-ed partner stunt couples, from the University of Delaware, competing in UCA Partner Stunts Championship.

Some things that are important in partner stunting as documented by these 3 couples:

1) Your relationship between your partner. You learn that you might fight alot, but also learn to make up afterwards.
2) What it takes to be successful; If you really want it, if you are willing to work hard, if you dedicate all the time you need to hit it, and most importantly - your partner.
3) Have a good time on the mats, and show off your best skills.
4) Have fun with it, and feeling kind of relax, enjoying it and you will perform better.
5) This is my favourite quote, "You understand that you are going to fail, thousands and thousands of times in partner stunts, just for that one time you hit beautifully."


To sum it up:

Work hard, respect each other, have fun, accepting failure before success and then show the best; gives you the winning formula to a great partnership, and a great partner stunt routine.

Just Imagine

"With so many people saying it couldn't be done, all it takes is an imagination"

-Michael Phelps, after winning 8 gold medals in a single Olympics-

Everything starts with an imagination. I would like to add, "then believe in that imagination".

Awesome WPSL

It started with WPSL, then WPA aka Awesome, now he is simply Awesome WPSL, an elite in Singapore. From humble beginnings at NTU HO level for 2 years, he took a step up to participate at national level, and then at international level, and never look back since.

Well known for being a sturdy shoulder stand base, and very strong in partner stunting; but weighing in at 90 kilos, one would never thought that this man is also very talented in gymnastics. It took about 2 years for him to finally get his ROBT, making him an all-rounded cheerleader, and hence definitely put him at the top of Singapore's all time best male cheerleader list.

Its all about perseverance; with the right company and environment, and with proper guidance, nothing is impossible. Now he is ready for a skill tape of his own. A gift from me for completing his ROBT, presenting to you all, AWESOME WPSL!!!




P.S: If you tell me weight is a problem, I will get him to shut your mouth up. No excuses please, only do it or don't.

"If you don't try to save one life, you'll never save any."

This quote caught my attention while I was watching a movie. I think it makes alot of sense.

For me I would like to adapt the quote a little,

"If you don't try to help one, you'll never help any."

Every small step makes a difference.

Time to become stronger again. Much STRONGER!!

Dreams

Below is 1 of the passages I wrote back in 2004 to drive me through the exams. Though the exams this year are over for alot of people, I think I shall just share it, because it does not only applies to exams, but to your life, including cheer, as well...



Will you help me to fulfill my dreams? :|

If you can hit the stunt more frequently than by chance, it means you are able to do the stunt more consistently

Lessons

Never say you are zai till people tell that to you. When doing stunts, give 101%, finish whatever strength you have in every toss, do not say you are conserving it. If you are good, toss to extension every flyer, every time. A stunt is not considered mastered, till you can do it 5 times out of 5 times continuously, meaning pop down already and straight away go again for 5 continous times with no rest in between. When a stunt fails, catch the flyer no matter what, and do not depend on the spotter.

P.S: I go to cheer almost every other day, but I am not improving myself. It is time to work hard, have higher expectations of myself. What is a pop over if you cannot do it consistently every time. Hai~!

I mastered liberty only after I start to have a passion for it...

Would you dig your heart out for it?

I was never a very active kid when I was in primary school, just played badminton leisurely as an ECA. When I got to secondary school, that was when I discovered my afinity to sports. I picked up basketball for a while, then I was selected for track and field. At the end of sec 1, year 1995, I picked up soccer for the very first time. Due to my training in track, I was very fast, and it suits the game of soccer very much. Although I just picked up soccer, I became one of the better players in just a few months time, and represented my school. It was then my passion for soccer was born, and it carried on from Sec Sch through my JC, army, and then early University life, all in all for about 10 years.

JC soccer team,

During my 1st year in NTU,

Year 2004 IHG,

Last tournament,

I loved soccer so much that I wanted to play soccer every second. Anywhere there is soccer to be played, I would rush down, be it very far away. For soccer, I can wake up very early in the morning, for example I used to play Sunday soccer every morning at 8 in Braddell. My whole life then was practically all about soccer, play soccer, watch soccer, study video clips for tricks and inspirations, run and train regularly to keep fit, I can never describe it well enough to do it justice. I was just crazy then. I would consider myself an above average player and sometimes mercurial.

And how does my soccer crossed paths with cheerleading? I would have mentioned this many times already, that I started cheerleading in early 2004. At that time, soccer was still my passion, and cheerleading had to take a back seat. However from 2004 and for the next 2 years, it is the "transistional period". I slowly grew to like cheerleading more, and it started to take up more of my time. I used to skip cheerleading training because of soccer matches, till slowly I started to skip soccer matches because of cheerleading training. For the whole of 2004 and 2005, it keeps ding-dong here and there between soccer and cheerleading. Somehow, my time and energy does not allow me to be seriously involved in both at the same time. For me, when I do something, I want to make the best out of it, there is only room for 1 passion.

Cheerleading and soccer are 2 totally different sport. For soccer, I used to run daily and was very fast and light footed. My weight during Cheerobics 2005 was a mere 69kg, a far cry to my weight now. However as my urge to do better and better in cheerleading increased, I knew I had to put on some weight and strength. I started to gym more and run less, this had a adverse effect on my soccer abilities. This struggle between soccer and cheerleading lasted for 2 years, thoughout my first 2 Cheerobics competition.

By the year end of 2005, due to injuries, dissapointments in soccer, together with the knowledge that I am on a downhill slide for soccer, yet not being able to inject more time and energy to climb back up, I decided once and for all that this is it. This is the end of the road for my passion in soccer. It was a very tough decision to make, soccer had been my love for the last 10 years. I was very emotional and even cried, it was the day after I played the last game, of my last tournament in NTU, of my last kick in soccer. I wrote to myself a letter, of grieve and disappointment, before I set deep in my mind to park aside my love for soccer, and buried it deep inside my heart. Below is the letter I wrote.

It was only after that day, then can I give all my heart and soul into cheerleading. It was then my passion for cheerleading was given a chance to start. Only from then, can I proclaim my love and passion for cheerleading, and it has since been almost 3 years.

P.S: Do anything with passion, single mindedness passion, only then you can labour and sow whole heartedly for it. Sacrifices had to be made, even if it is at the expense of another passion. The choice is yours, no matter how heart wrenching it is going to be.

From the pits of dusty boxes...

Today I played soccer, or rather futsal for the first time in almost 3 years. This reminds me of the day I "retired" from soccer, everything flashed back, and I felt very emotional. I even wrote a "blog post" on it that day, just that it was on our traditional paper with black ink pen. Hence I went to search for the piece of paper, which was lost somewhere for over a year since I moved out of NTU hall. To my excitment and happiness, I found it. Not only did I found that particular soccer "entry" I found along with it several letters I "wrote to myself", to encourage myself during exams few years back. Since it is now the time of exams for NTU students, I shall type out one such letter, and maybe a few more another time. (Will touch back on the soccer one in the next post.)

"Exams is not a test of how smart or knowledgeble you are.
In the real world, how smart or knowledgeble you are is not the key to success.
Exams is a test of your determination, how determined you are in doing a task.
That, determination, is what is needed in the real world, the key to success.
The more well you do in your exams, the more your determination is.
The better you can do in your exams, the more well you can do in the real world.
People who think what we study is not related to the real world is not wrong.
But people who then think since study is not related and choose not to study is wrong.
People will naturally do better in something they have a passion for.
If you can do well in something you have no passion for, then it speaks volumes of your determination.
To do well in something you have a passion for is a norm.
But to do well in something you have no passion for, like studying, is an achievement.
To me exams is still a necessary evil.
I must have the determination, the key to sucess and achievement.
Jiayou!!"


P.S: BTW this was in 2004. I did not realised that I started "blogging" so long ago. After exams and we shall be back in action. Jiayou!

The Great

People were telling me that I missed out someone who can also do toss cupie in the recent cupie video. Yup I did, because I do not have any nice recent video of his. Alright I think I shall give him some due credit in this post and we all know who he is, the person mentioned is non other than Dion, the first person in Singapore to do the toss cupie. He was my source of motivation at one point of time in my cheerleading life.

I joined cheerleading around January 2004, and we were all noobs back then. I did not know much about the cheerleading scene back then, just concentrated on doing my elevators. It was only during Cheerobics 2004, that I got a glimpse of the cheerleading teams out there. I was like wow there are many good teams. And I was especially awed by this routine, a class above all. It was put up by this team wearing blue and white, it is non other than Magnum Force. This was also the team that Dion was in then.

I was still very new in 2004, and do not know much about him, just some rumours that he was a very strong base. I did not bother much until Cheerobics 2005. It was then I saw live with my own eyes Dion doing a unassisted cupie(below is a shot of it). Ever since then, his name just never stops popping up. He became a goal for me, and also a few of my team mates. After that day, we were all very driven hence worked very hard.


In the year 2006, I was more aware of the cheerleading scene. It was in Cheerobics 2006, that Dion wowed us again with his toss cupie, the first ever in Singapore again (below is a clip of it). Although his toss cupie was not enough to push them to victory that year (ACES were champions that year), his partner stunts was still the best in Singapore then. To cut a long story short, I was being impressed and wanted to emulate Dion, but also at the same time later, we wanted to surpass him; whichever the case, he still played a part in my early cheerleading life.



Everyone in cheerleading definetely have a source of purpose, motivation, inspiration or drive from some individual, or some team, at each phase from time to time. For me, Dion had played a role in my cheerleading development. He joined Magnum Force some time in mid of 2002 (same time as Snow), and took part in Cheerobics 2003, even before I knew of cheerleading. From mid 2002 to Cheerobics 2006 was around 3 and a half year. That was also about the same amount of time it took for me to do my first toss cupie (from Jan 2004 to July 2007). I have to say that without Dion around, I would probably have taken a much longer time than that.

Ever since the day I did toss cupie, I am looking for new motivation in Singapore. One may used to be a motivation to others, but one day if he/she stops improving, others will catch up with him/her. This applies to everyone, keep working hard, and not rest on your laurels!


P.S: My new motivation shall come from a student of mine in the past, non other than the first man in Singapore to do a Pop Over. Student become teacher's motivation leh, not bad sia. Need to do my pop over soon.

Is it really that hard to find a partner these days?

What do one look out for when they are looking for a partner? Hmm... Somebody enlighten me.

Are you free to fly without limits?

How would you rate the level of partner stunting in Singapore? How do we stand when compared to other countries? I guess we all sort of know the answer by now. We are really pretty poor.

Is it because we have weak bases in general?
I mean look at the size of the caucasians, it is in their genes to be bigger sized than us. Then some may say that Taiwanese are asians like us, but are also very good. Well true enough, but those elites are all very well built and tough too.

Well if by now you are still in the hallucination that size and strength does not matter, it is time to wake up. It is true that I always tell people there are exceptions when it comes to size, such as people like Xiao Gao from Taiwan, but there are no exceptions when it comes to strength. For his small size, he has tremendous amount of strength and power. So in order to boost our standards, we all got to become bigger, and more importantly stronger.

Another reason I think we are lacking in the partner stunts segment is because teams in Singapore do not focus as much on partner stunts. We focus alot on other things such as elevators and pyramids. I am not saying this is not good, but it is the reason why we do not focus much on partner stunts, because the basics is not there yet for partner stunting. Then how about those that already have the overall basics and general strength?

Recently I have been trying to list out in my mind who are these people, those that I know, who are ethusiatic and ready for much more intensive partner stunts training. I realised one thing, they are everywhere. Then one might say just gather all of them and start training and improve the standards. However this is easier said than done.

Afterall, each one comes from their own team, and has responsibilities and duties in their different teams, and they are usually the leaders. Even if some come from within the same team, they cannot just focus on partner stunts among the few of them; they still have to look after the rest and progress together. This is the reason why there seemed to be a lack of partners in the partner stunting arena, alot of people are looking out for a partner in vain, although there are enough flyers and bases to go around.

It is an idealistic dream that one day, everyone of these people can put aside everything and differences, to just focus on partner stunting altogether, to put up a routine like the "I611". However we all do know the constraints.



Hmm... I wonder how many "freelancers" are out there now.....


P.S: BTW this is the 100th post for year 2008

Starry Snowy Skies

The night sky is filled with stars. But where are the snow, sharing the night sky with the stars?

The opportunity to see with your own eyes is rare, of the sky filled with stars and snow at the time, but during the times you do, you get a magnificant, breathtaking sight.



It is imminent...

Where is my Star?

Everyone loses their drive from time to time. If you are lucky, there will be someone, someone you trust and believe in there to pick you up and push you forward.

I need a brighter guiding star to point me in the right direction. It's getting harder for me to find such these days.

"She who has health, has hope; and she who has hope, has everything."

This post is dedicated to the girl who has the same birthday as Snow, to the girl who we are her no.1 fan(haha), to the girl who is the most important person of our no.1 fan. Haha, sounds confusing? Ok, it is non other than to Jasmine from TP.

Thanks you for mentioning, or rather praising and thanking us so much in your blog, we really feel a little paiseh, cos never really help much too, haha. Now in return, its our turn to thank you and give you some encouragement on our blog, to help you tide through this period of injury.

I have only met you once when I went down to TP. I did not even get the chance to do stunt with you. But I have to say from talking and being with you in that short time, I know you are a very determined person. I also never met a female cheerleader (other then those NY girls) who can do handstand as well as you can, can keep doing non stop some more. In my opinion, you will make a very good cheerleader, with the 2 key qualities I mentioned above, determination and good body control.

Though we only met once, and you did not even meet Snow before, we are really happy that our videos and blog had played a part in your cheerleading life. I am sure KH told you about us too. Now you just have to take your time and rehabilitate your ankle injury. When you recover, I am sure you will work doubly hard to realise your dreams, and we will back you to do very well in future, you have a long road ahead of you. Jiayou!



"One’s best success comes after one's greatest disappointments."
–Henry Ward Beecher-



P.S: I still haven stunt with you before, get well soon =)

Cupies

Today, 05/11/08, is 3 years since our partnership and 2 years 3 months since the formation of X-Wonder. No X-Skills Intermediate 6 still or elaborate celebration photos, due to it being in the midst of Snow's exams preparations. Wish her all the best and good luck in her exams, and then join me back in training soon.

So just to commemorate the occasion a little, I decided to dig out some old videos and photos to make a short clip.



So is cupie that amazing anymore? I guess now (esp after seeing the video) the answer to all is NO! It is a simple stunt. If you are stuck at just doing hands to cupie and taking 3 seconds photographs, it is time to move on, or just remain in mediocrity. Toss Cupie should become a basic, and then soon a simple stunt.


P.S: We have so many mass cupie photos, lets take a mass Toss Cupie video one day for a change.

I hope so...

对这个世界如果你有太多的抱怨
跌倒了就不敢继续往前走
为什么人要这么的脆弱堕落
请你打开电视看看
多少人为生命在努力勇敢的走下去
我们是不是该知足
珍惜一切就算没有拥有

不要这黱容易就想放弃
就像我说的
追不到的梦想换个梦不就得了
为自己的人生鲜艳上色
先把爱涂上喜欢的颜色
笑一个吧功成名就不是目的
让自己快乐快乐这才叫做意义

Been kept busy with activities and events... But somehow I am still feeling empty, like there is a lack of a particular something I cannot explain.

What you in it for?

I just watched a cheerleading documentary on University of Kentucky cheerleading (3 times). It shows a season ups and downs the team faced in a year. It started with their annual tryouts, training sessions, camp, retreat, football games, basketball games, and finally ends with their UCA competition finals. The show touched on some issues and difficulties which a team would face, which I can personally relate to. But more importantly, it gave us an idea of how the elites and really professional cheerleading teams work, their culture and methods. It gives ideas and directions which we can study and implement the relevant things that can apply to us, to help us grow and develop.

The cheerleaders in Kentucky all know their stuff, and from the video, I can see that they can train very independantly. The coach is acting more like a facilitator role, more of bringing out the best in everyone and keeping everything in check. He never has to worry about the stunts and technique of the bases and flyers, as they are all very well polished. The cheerleaders gave me a image of being very discipline, they look after themselves, and knows what it takes to be in the squad. Not only do they have to train hard, they have to balance their studies, or they will be kicked out of the squad.

If it is possible, it will be very good for everyone to catch this documentary show and see for yourself. I hope that teams in Singapore can develop a program too that can suit us to improve and do well. And as individuals, appreciate what we have and not take things for granted, have more discipline and train hard independantly. Everyone should think more maturedly, and act more professionally. I am not saying to take all the fun out of cheerleading, but if that is what it takes to be successful (Kentucky 16 years Champions), and if that is what you want, there is always a time for fun and a time to be focused. Think about what you want, do you only want to be playing around having fun all the time or do you want to make the best out of your time in the sport and have some achievements and acomplishments?

P.S: Do you want to do it for leisure, or do you want to do it for the victory? There is always a place for either.

Irritating

Arrgh... My neck is hurting like mad now! So damn sian, think have to rest for a few days for it to recover.

100th Post

Our blog has been around for about 1 year and 3 mths. And finally this is our 100th post. Well there shall not be any elaborated "top 10 whatever" like in MDK, this blog is a simple blog. And i guess the best way to commemorate the 100th post is non other than just being simple, just like what this blog set out to be in the first place. 100 post ago and 100 post later, this blog shall remind the same, that is to share our experiences and passion for stunting.

Since the start up of this blog 1 year 3 months ago, we have grown and improved, and its nice to do through our experiences again from reading archives. From reading the archives, we can see how our thinking and beliefs changed in the past year. I guess as stunting improved, the mind improved too.

Ok, just to share with all some of my experience gained in the past couple of weeks. As you all know that I had been training physically and running quite a bit in the last 2 - 3 months. Haven really been able to train much of PS except the basic set of toss cupie, liberty tick tock and left cupie. No chance to try anything new, but can only revised on the old basics(Toss cupie which I first hit on July 2007, Left cupie first hit on January 2008 and Tick tock first hit on May 2008), due to the lack of training mates.

However, in the last few training sessions, I just discovered that I can actually do single base arabesque, something which I tried a few times b4 ages ago, but failed terribily. It just came out of the blue, like I unknowingly became equiped with that skill. Also there is this lying down and popping the flyer for 1 round on your palms drill, I also could not do it ever before, and in the last 2 days, I realised suddenly that I can do it. (It feels like in the matrix, they install the skill into your brain that sort of thing.) So how do I explain such sudden, "light of the bulb" phenomenom?

I guess its down to the basic physical conditioning that I have been doing, and also the basics. I am not a genius, and I wont say that, "oh I zai so suddenly just can do", it never happens like this for me. I was talking to Jiahao last night regarding a similar issue, that when you are injured, rest the injured part, but you can still make full use of the rest of the exercises you can do, unless you cannot even move out of bed. I am not injured, but it is the same sense, training your physical self is the most important, and you do not even have to do stunts, and then before you know it, you suddenly just up level. Basics also played a big part too, I have been training nothing fanciful, just my basics, and the results show.

Alright to sum it up, if due to injury, or lack of partner, etc, when you cannot do stunts, it will not go wrong if you do your own physical conditioning. Invest time to do that, someone told me investment on your ownself is never wrong. And never forget your basics, keep doing them.


P.S: How I wish I next can unknowilling do pop over.

Cupies

So how many cupie bases are there in Singapore as of now? I am wondering it should be around less than 20.

Leave a comment if you can do a cupie =)

Playing with cement

I have been putting up posts in this blog for sometime already. If you noticed, more of my posts are meant for guys instead of gals, or rather bases instead of flyers. This is naturally because I am a base; I have more personal experience for basing. This time round the post shall be dedicated to both flyers and bases, with some words for flyers towards the end.

In the past month or so, I have been roaming around a bit and got to interact with many cheerleaders, be it flyers or bases, from all sorts of places. I am very happy and glad that I can help them from my personal experiences. Most of the times, they will leave the training satisfied and happy that they had learnt and achieved something new. Then they will show their sincere appreciation, and I will feel faltered and a sense of achievement too, in being able to help them improve and most importantly to see them happy, with a boost of confidence and morale. However this is just most of the times, there are still some exceptions to this senario. Some may think along the lines of "I lag too far, or impossible to be done" and get demoralised, or they will think that I am "spoiling" the flyers. Gathering from all their inputs, good and bad, it sets me thinking quite a bit.

I would like to touch a little on what I believe are the basic fundamental roles of a flyer and of a base in a stunt, to a certain extent. To put it simply bases have to become like the ground that we are all standing on, and flyers just have to do like what they can do when standing on the ground. i.e holding a liberty, heelstretch, etc, while standing firmly on a spot on the ground.

So which role do you think is the easier one after reading the above? I would have to say that the flyer got the easier role, as all she have to do is to be able to be stable and do as what she will do on the ground. And as for the bases to become firm and sturdy like the ground is alot harder. This more or less makes the flyer the "passive" one and the base the "active" one. Flyers just lock and bases have to provide the platform and balance for the flyers.

From above, bases may feel that I am being very hard on them, expecting them to become like the ground, and all the flyers have to do is lock like they do on the ground. This is again due to the bases taking the "active" role and flyers the "passive" role. A prove for this fact is that when a very experience base, for example, tries a single liberty with a flyer who has never tried it before, (but can hold a liberty on the ground)chances are the experienced base can become like the ground, and the stunt will go up. However if you reverse the order - get a very experience flyer to try a single liberty with a base that never tried it before, chances are the stunt will not go up at all, because the base cannot become like the ground for the flyer to stand on. Therefore we can conclude that bases are the ones "active" and flyers "passive", bases are the ones more in control.

Ok now this part is for the flyers. Flyers, although I said that you are the "passive" role in a stunt, you definetly still have a important role to play. For example, do not think that you can do a heelstretch with a certain base then it means that you are the "constant" already. That if another base tries with you, and fails, it is not your fault. Do not think that you can do the stunt a few times means that you have mastered it. Ultimately for a stunt, it is the cooperation of both the flyer and the base for it to work. Do not make complaint or compare your base with other bases, just do your part to make the stunt work.

I shall use the analogy of the base being like a concrete ground and a wet cement ground. If the base you are doing with still have yet to become a "concrete ground", maybe just a "wet cement ground", the way you control your ankles will play a major role. If you stand putting more weight on your toes, i.e tipping, on a concrete ground, it may not matter. However on a yet solidified "wet cement ground", you will cause an imprint that is slanting, and you will not be able to stand as you will be sinking down forward. The same goes if you have loose ankles and keep twisting and turning them, you will end up causing the "wet cement" to form such an uneven surface that you end up falling too. Therefore, as a flyer, one way you can help is by locking your ankles and staying flat. This way you will be able to stand, even if it is on "wet cement". What I am trying to illustrate is that as a flyer, there are still many areas you can work on to help out the bases, and not only depend on the bases to become "better".

Therefore, up to a certain level, the base should aim to "harden and solidify" as soon as possible, and the flyer should aim to stand on different degrees of "drying wet cement", from the softest to the hardest. These forms the fundamentals for bases and flyers. Only with strong fundamentals then there can be further advancement, where flyers proceed to spinning and shifting weight on a stunt, instead of only standing, stunts such as full around and tick tock.

The most important thing I want to bring across here is to progress together as a partner, as a group, and as a team. Work hard, but be contented at the same time, the rewards will come in due time.


P.S: It is always just a matter of time, cement will always harden to become concrete.

"X-Skills Intermediate 6"

To those who noticed, X-Skills Intermediate 6 was not aired yesterday as scheduled monthly. This is due to some delay in production caused by our hectic schedule. We apologise, and will resume production as soon as possible.

Teach them how to fish, and not fish for them.

Sometimes when you thought you are helping, you are actually doing the opposite. Maybe I should stop helping...

Lets hope that tonight's training will see another breakthrough. Gambette.

Sian...
1 week never get to train stunts liao, and it feels like eternity. Can only focus on conditioning now.

Wonder when will be the next stunt training session...

Needs

Everyone has needs in their lives. Each individual's needs varies at different phases of their lives. There is a commonly agreed upon model to classify our needs, to understand how one move from one level of needs to another.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs



There are eight levels of needs in this model:

1. Biological and Physiological needs - air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep, etc.

2. Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law, limits, stability, etc.

3. Belongingness and Love needs - work group, family, affection, relationships, etc.

4. Esteem needs - self-esteem, achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, managerial responsibility, etc.

5. Cognitive needs - knowledge, meaning, etc.

6. Aesthetic needs - appreciation and search for beauty, balance, form, etc.

7. Self-Actualization needs - realising personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences.

8. Transcendence needs - helping others to achieve self actualization.


This model is typically applied to life. But it can generally be narrowed and broken down to apply to any social circle. In this case, I felt that the diagram and model can very well be used to explain the needs in Cheerleading too. Only when one level of needs are fulfilled before one will move on to the next level.


In Cheerleading terms:

1. "Biological and Physiological needs" - In cheerleading aspect, our basic needs first is to learn the basics, have the strength and conditoning, and then be familiar with all the elements of cheerleading, such as tumbling, stunting, jumps, cheer and chants, arm motions, dance.

2. "Safety needs" - Once we satisfy the needs in (1), we can move on to the next level of needs, (2). In cheerleading, the moment we start doing anything, safety will come into the picture. There is always a need for safety. Only when we know that we are safe, that we can proceed on.

3. "Belongingness and Love needs" - In every society or community that we are in, love and belongingness is very important. One may join the cheerleading squad knowing no one else, but we will always seek out others to make friends and form a bond. In cheerleading, this is a very important need. If one does not feel the sense of belonging in the team, one will not be able to stay long, despite having level (1) and (2) needs.

4. "Esteem needs" - Once we have fulfilled level (1) to (3) of needs, once we feel a strong sense of identity with the team, have a good bonding with our teammates, we will feel very comfortable. This is when we will want to fulfil our next need, "Esteem". We would want to be able to get some achievement and status. We will look to improve our skills and also go for some leadership or management role in the team. Reputation and respect are also very key in the cheerleading circle.

5. "Cognitive needs" - We will want to be able to know through understanding. To know how do our stunts, or skills with understanding. We will want to explore the unknowns. For intstane, trying out new transitions, or understanding the stunt, other then just doing it.

6. "Aesthetic needs" - Soon when we are equiped with a particular stunt, say a single liberty, we will want more. We will want to do it nice and make it look easy, instead of being very wobbly. The same applies to pyramids, tosses and gymnastics. One may know how to do a BHS, but one will seek to beautify it, make it look better.

7. "Self-Actualization needs" - As the definetion speaks for it self, realising personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences. This is where one puts together all the above needs and bring it to the pinnacle, looking forward to greater things. One will start to see problems as challenges. One will start to have their own unique view of things.

8. "Transcendence needs" - When one has almost everything, there will be a need to share his knowledge with others. At this stage, one has see past all "material" wants. One will be very open minded, very much "enlightened" and no longer needs to prove anything to anyone. One has been through every stage of cheerleading life, winning and losing, the pain and the joy. One will be helping others to achieve self actualization.


So at which stage of needs are you currently at? How many levels of needs have you satisfied? At which level of cheerleading are you talking in terms of, basic level, pro level, or elite level? These are questions that you may like to ask yourself. A person's success can often also be measured by which level of needs one is at.

For more in-depth and detailed readings on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, go to:
http://www.businessballs.com/maslow.htm
http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/regsys/maslow.html



P.S I think I am at stage (5) currently.

Lacking Pop Over?

I used to tell myself that I will only try Rewind after I master Full up, Full Around, Tick Tock and Pop Over. Now that I can do Full up, Full Around and Tick Tock, though not to mastery yet, I am left with Pop Over.

However, I want to reset my target. Even after mastering all 4 of these skills, I think I am still too WEAK to do Rewind. No doubt I can try, but I think I still need much more physical strength. I am still too weak. The learning curve is steep now, but it is slowly beginning to plateau. Its time to work hard, running on "flat ground", towards the "new slope". Lets hope I can finish the flat road as soon as possible.

My trainer said that my mind is weak. Give me the mental strength I need. First I have to master my mind first, before I can master my body.

Sleep

And yea its now 1.40am. And I am still not sleeping. So much for saying I need to get more sleep. Looks like sleep is a luxury for me now, when I have so much to do yet so little time.

Goodnitez everyone.

ZzZzzzZzZzz

I need to start sleeping earlier. The lack of sleep is killing my soul slowly.

"Time travel"

I took some time to read through my old posts in the past. I realised that as I read, I am very inspired by my own posts. It brought back some things which I had overlooked now and then.

I also realised the changes that took placed from back then till now, in terms of stunting and thinking. It felt refreshing to go through your archives. Everyone should do that once in a while, to see how you have changed over the period.

Feeling much motivated now, by my own posts I wrote in the past. Hmm, maybe I shall go look through my videos in the past too when I have the time...

Moral of the story?

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: 'I am blind, please help.' There were only a few coins in the hat.

A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, 'Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?'

The man said, 'I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way.'
What he had written was: 'Today is a beautiful day and I cannot see it.'

Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing?

Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people they were so lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

Moral of the Story: Be thankful for what you have. Be creative. Be innovative. Think differently and positively.

Invite others towards good with wisdom. Live life with no excuse and love with no regrets. When life gives you a 100 reasons to cry, show life that you have 1000 reasons to smile. Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear. Keep the faith and drop the fear.

Great men say, 'Life has to be an incessant process of repair and reconstruction, of discarding evil and developing goodness. In the journey of life, if you want to travel without fear, you must have the ticket of a good conscience.'

The most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling!!
And even more beautiful is, knowing that you are the reason behind it!

X-Skills Intermediate - 5

Stunts

Shoulder Sit to Hands
Cannonball to Hands
Rocket to Hands
Liberty Back to Hands

Transitions

Arousal Reload Twist Prep
Cradle Reload Rocket Prep
Cradle Reload 180 Cradle

Re-born

It has been about 2 weeks since I hired my personal trainer to train me. I have to say that she is indeed pushing me hard, and it is showing results. In the last 2 weeks, admist other trainings, I ran 10 rounds on the track TWICE, after about like 1 year of not running at all. Though this may be very little to alot of guys out there, but to me, it is indeed an achievement.

I have to say that my knee now hurts much less when I am doing stunts, it is most likely due to the strengthing of my leg muscles from the run. My legs used to be too weak for my body weight. The conditioning helps alot. Other then this, my endurance and strength also improve somewhat from all the weights training. My body feels new again, like it was re-born, pain start to go away and strength starts to gather.

Now with less pain coming from my knees, I can get more blast from it, and with more strength, I am able to stablise my stunts more.

Below is a little result from my physical training to keep me motivated to train even more. It shows hard work can indeed bring about improvements.




Full-Up Cupie Pop Over may not be that far away anymore...

Sometimes I scare even myself...

Am i dreaming?

Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.

I need to do something about this soon.

Non-existence?

Had quite a long chat with one of my superior at work today. I tried to be more on the ball just now, hence I approached and ask him regarding some things wrong which I feel need some rectifying, his answer was - it does not matter, just accept it. Told me some lessons he learnt from the company so far. Main gist of it is that even if anyone were to leave immediately, it is not going to affect the company, the plant is still going to run, and money will still be generated. Even if you don't do any handing over, burn up all your documents, nothing will happen, not just for me, but even those as senior as him. Work is all about wayang, all about smoking and talking. He told me as our CEO is getting a huge pay increment as shown on today's straits times, here I am worrying about such a minor thing that does not even help the company earn any money.

He was right in some ways. Why should I bother to do all these if end of the day it is going to be redundant. I realised how insignificant I am compared to the hundred millions the company is earning each quarter. My existance or not in the company is not going to even nudge the finances at all. I am just less than "petty cash". And most importantly, the work I do is not at all that valuable.

Sian. What is the meaning of my life here then? I wonder if I just dissapear into thin air, how is the world going to change. I cannot even cause any influence in my small company, let alone affect the world. Probably if I dissapear, it would only mean 1 less person to squeeze for company transport in the morning to the world. Hence I decided to stop doing anything for the rest of the day. Working can make a person lose himself.

I know this post is a direct opposite of my previous post, one full of dreams and optimism. But I guess it just shows the direct contrast of my "morning life" and "night life". Totally demoralised at work in the morning, and can only wait for the night to come each day. When it comes work, I am like a dead man, but when it comes to training, I am alive. If not for this balance, I would really be non-existent a long time ago. So I ask again, what is my real profession? I guess the answer is both, I am using my day profession to "feed" my night profession. People ultimately need "bread" to survive, you can only feed on passion for so far, at least in my case.

I just want to say - I hate the person that I am in the day, I hate that person I see in the mirror every morning. I am just half of what I can be now.

Good enough for Olympics?

Spent the past 2 weeks watching the olympics now and then when I am free, especially the gymnastics, weight lifting, swimming and track events. If I missed any big events such as the 100m and 200m finals, I would go online to watch the replay, and I would watch it over and over again. Their sheer brilliance at their sport just blew me away and inspired me. For me, I was really impressed by the China gymnastics team, Phelps and Bolt. No one will be able to feel the joy they felt when cliching the gold medal, of all the hard work they put into it years before the actual event. For them, its over 10 years of hardwork, for as little as 9.69secs on the competition, where you make it or break it. No one should understimate the power and strength of a human mind, and when he sets all out to achieve a goal. A girl below the weight of 48 lifting over 100kg, doesn't this put us alot of guys to feel so small...

I was also pleased that Singapore finally got her first silver medal after 48 years. Congrats to the table tennis team. The feeling of representing your country in the olympic games must be great. This brings me to wonder if ever cheerleading will become an olympic event, and will I be fortunate enough to be part of Team Singapore Cheerleading then, even as a backroom staff. Maybe by 2016, who knows, and I will be beyond my twenties by then. Well its just a thought, and if it really becomes an olympic event, I guess people will be betting on power houses like USA, Japan, China, Taiwan, Thailand Russia to dominate it. This again makes me feel damn small...

Are we going to be just contented in being Singapore's best, or national champions? When will the day come when we, as Team Singapore, think of going to CAIO and aim to be the champions, instead of just putting up a good show? Why do we always only try to compete amongst ourselves, and not try to compete with the rest of the world? We need to set our sights further, only this way we can improve faster. Is this dream too big for most of you? Dare not even think about it? Well without dreams, there can be no success. This is a dream, only if we can all believe in it together, and not just 1 person.

I have to train much harder! Even with the "tough trainings" I had been through the past 4 years, I think it is no where near, not even half of what the champion olympians such as Phelps and Bolt had put in. If cheearleading is a sport, do you really think that you can be good in it without making sacrifices and hardwork? If you are not good at it, you better be putting in even more hardwork and committment than others. If you are playing catching up, if others train 3 hours a day, 3 times a week, you better be training 4 hours a day, 4 days a week. This is the kind of committment and effort I am talking about, no pain no gain. And this is what I want to be, I want to catch up with the elites of Taiwan, and even USA. Dare to dream, believe in, and succeed.


P.S: X-Wonder hope we can play our part, however little, to bring up the name of Singapore cheerleading internationally. We will strive to become the inspiration, to dream big, which is so lacking in recent times.

I wonder what is my real profession...

Lets bring it up a notch...

I hired a personal trainer to train me 2 times a week. Yesterday was the first training and I felt totally exhausted. The trainer sure knows how to push me. I hope that I can endure through all the tough trainings coming up. I really want to become as mentally determined as my trainer. Its all in the mind.

I am sure my investment will pay off soon.

Whatever You Think, Think The Opposite

2 years of journey

X-Wonder was established on 05 August 2006. It was an idea by Snow and myself, with the purpose of training to be great in partner stunts and also to promote it to others. The name X-Wonder was derived from the initials of both of our names, XingWei and XueWei, both are XW.

When we started, the hardest stunt that we could do is the single liberty. We only just started doing it after exams, around the month of June. By August, when we formed, our single liberty was still quite unstable and I will give it a hit rate of only around 60%. X-Wonder set 1 was our first video, done during that time when the freshies are in for workshop cum tryouts. It can be seen from the video that the single liberty was wobbly.

It was not easy to learn stunts then, as compared to now, where alot can do a single liberty within few trainings with the proper guidance. Back then, we are almost the pioneers in doing single bases stunts beyond single extension unassisted. We have to go through all the long and winding road to experiment ourselves, to try and error what is the right way. Those starting cheer now can be very thankful that they have all the resources and knowledge to be pass on to them, and they can start by doing the right way from the beginning.

It took us another almost half a year of hard training and trying to say that we can do single liberty with a 90% hit rate. It is around January 2007 by then, when we are preparing for cheerobics. It is also during this period, when our liberty was better, that we start to experiment with alot of different transitions and ways to go to hands. As can be seen in X-Skills intermediate, stunts such as rocket to hands, jumpless to hands, sitting toss to hands, etc. During this period, we played around with many new stuff and draw inspiration from youtube.

After being able to do the liberty with relative ease, we started trying to do the cupie, toss extension, and toss liberty. It took us another few months to be able to do a "slow" cupie, and we aim to be able to achieve a certain hit rate by cheerobics 2007. Training partner stunts amidst cheerobics was a very tall order, just running through the routine leaves you drained of all energy to try anything much.

After Cheerobics 2007 was the first CAIO almost immediately. And it took us till after CAIO to be able to say we can do a "fast" cupie with a higher consistency. After seeing the standard increasing in Cheerobics 2007, and after going to Japan, We foresee that the way to move forward was to learn the full-up. From May onwards, after exams, we trained very hard on doing the full-up hands. We slowly work towards tossing higher and spinning faster. Once again we were the first in Singapore to try it, and we received no help or guidance in it. We can only keep trying and trying, till we finally had a breakthough. Having gymnastics lessons also helped us alot in this aspect. Once we had the breakthrough, it helped the team too, full-up 221 and full-up gladiator soon followed. I knew full-up stunts is the key for cheerobics 2008, to set us apart from others. (Toss-up stunts are getting very common.)

It was then 1 year into the formation of X-Wonder, from struggling to do the single liberty to being able to do full-up hands and cupie. Training to do the full-up requires alot of blasting, and soon toss cupie followed. Things start to naturally come together, step by step. In September 2007, after the Taiwanese cheerleaders came to Singapore, they corrected us alot again. Finally for the first time, there was some guidance and experience for us. It seems that although we could do some of the stunts such as full-ups and toss cupie, our fundamentals were wrong, and to progress further would be impossible. We had to relearn everything over again, focusing on the right techniques. It took us quite some time to adjust to the new concept, and to force our body to accept the new inputs.

Again it was back to the drawing boards, and it took us a great deal of time and effort to re-adjust our style of doing liberties, cupies and tossing. No breakthrough was made, just strengthening our basics for half a year. Handstands are very vital, and I started to practice alot on my handstands, which I had also documented in my previous posts. We also started to practice left cupie during this time, as we learned from the Taiwanese too that having a balanced left and right side is also of utmost importance to progress. It remained like this till after Cheerobics 2008, where we got more time to practice our partner stunts again.

After having a good rest, we began our quest again, with the proper basics, concept and techniques in placed, built over the last half a year, we began getting back what we lost and doing it better. Right cupie now is almost 90% hit rate, toss cupie also felt much better. Stuff such as full around, liberty tick tocks, pop over start to become nearer. As of now, we are still working on the hit rate of these. We hope that in another half a year's time, all these shall become our basics.

Looking back again in summary of the 2 years, we started off with wobbly single liberties, to now doing tick tocks and pop overs. We tried and tested, learned and re-learned the basics over and over in the last 2 years. 2 years is not a short time, but it is also not long either. To those that just started, never be discouraged by seeing others doing amazing stuff, everyone has to go through the learning process. At least your learning curve will be much shorter with all the experience of your predecessors and their guidance. In 2 years time or much less, we will be able to see many more tick tocks and pop overs, leading to a start of a new era and generation of cheerleaders for Singapore cheerleading.

A video footages of what we had been through in the past 2 years. We all fall, only to get up and become stronger.




P.S: This post is especially dedicated to people such as Graham, aka Hamzai, Ka Hau, my best supporter of X-Skills, Ken, aka baybay and Lijing, my hardworking "diciple". This is for showing your passion and determination, overcoming all odds and going to great lengths to realise your dreams. You guys will definitely be able to do very well. You guys deserved our respect. Jiayou!

X-Skills Intermediate - 4

Stunts

Shoulder Stand on one side to Hands
Twist up to Extension
Walk up to Extension
Extension feet together to Liberty

Dismounts

Liberty Pop Side Cradle
Liberty Pop Front Cradle

Taiwan Trip 12/07 to 22/07 =)

Greetings everyone. We are back from Taiwan. It was a great trip. We manage to go to quite a few places of interest, such as Yang Ming Shan, Jiu Fen, Wu Lai, Ye Liu. The main highlight of the trip for us was eating and eating. Shopping was also very fulfilling, though it was tiring. The things are cheap and has alot of variety.

We also got the opportunity to pay a visit to Monster Cheerleading Team's training outside Zhong Zheng Ji Nian Tang Mrt. It was a wonderful experience for us and we learnt a lot from them. Summer Camp was also very fun. The dinner cum show on the first night was the best part of the camp for me. It shows me that Taiwanese are super on and enthuiastic people. It was truely an experience we will not find back in Singapore.

Below are some pictures of the trip.

Day 1

At Changi Airport

Leaving with a luggage each

A meal at the airport before we fly off

On the plane

Reached Taiwan

Our guide in Taiwan

On the way to Shilin night market

First time buying "coin" for their Mrt aka Jie Yun

Ah Zhong Mian Xian is nice

First time eating Chou Dou Fu

Hua Zhi (sort of sotong soup)

Orh Jian

Super huge Taiwan Xiang Chang

Bing, something we eat all the time

Going back to hostel

Day 2

Taking the Jie Yun once again, to Jian Tan en route to Yang Ming Shan

Road side stall

Breakfast at the foot of Yang Ming Shan

Yang Ming Shan

Headed back to Xi Men Ding for lunch

Tomato soup

Escargot

Chickken Chop and Beef omelette rice

Movie in Taipei

Supper at a Korean restaurant in Taiwan

Then off to a 24 hour comic cum internet browsing stall

Day 3

Breakfast at Taipei Din Tai Fung

Xiao Long Bao

Taipei 101

Tallest building in the world currently

You can almost see the entire Taipei from up here

Supper again after shopping at Wu Fen Pu

Day 4

Breakfast at a recomended goose noodle stall

Then we went to Wu Lai, famous for its scenery, hot springs and mountains

Tram station

Tram tunnel

Nice waterfall view on Wu Lai's lover's bridge

A Yuan Zhu Ming restaurant, the locals performing a song and dance

On the cable car to the top of the mountain

Viewing gallery where you can see the entire valley

We cannot resist eating ice again, the weather is so hot

Off we went to Sun Yat Sun memorial in the evening

You can see the entire Taipei 101 from here

China's founding father

Some pictures with him

For dinner, we head for Jay's restaurant. Yeah

A must take picture

Wild Mushroom

Escargot again, a very nice restaurant.

After dinner, we went to Long San Shi temple to pray and ask for blessings.

We then went to the nearby Hua Xi Jie night market for our 2md round of dinner.

Drunken Prawns

Barbequed Prawns

Had a bowl of Ah Zhong Mee Sua at Xi Men Ding before heading back.

Day 5

Breakfast at Macdonalds

Hotcakes


Double patties egg muffin

Headed to Taipei Main Bus Interchange to take a bus to Ye Liu

Ye Liu

Ocean World at Ye Liu

Photo with the turtles

Can you see the star?

Dolphin Show

Sea Lions

Water Acrobats

Another long journey to Jiu Fen Lao Jie after Ocean World

Nice Scenery

Our "appetizer" before dinner

Jiu Fen Lao Jie is on a winding mountain slope

Our dinner place

We had our first steam boat of the trip. Very Nice!

Then we took the fast speed rail back to Taipei

And a cold dessert again before we went back hostel

Day 6

Lunch at another recommended restaurant

Ah Zai Mian

Pork intestines

Fried Mushrooms

Baked unagi

After shopping at Wu Fen Pu again, we head to Shilin for dinner again

Their beef steak is a must try. Delicious

Shi Quan Pai Gu

This time is Chou Dou Fu in Ma La

Then their Fried Ji Pai

Ice once again

We then went to Mei Li Hua to sit asian's 2nd largest ferris wheel

The view up there was not bad. 18 mins ride

Day 7, 8 & 9

Summer Camp

Wake up and ready to go for the camp

Fun Night

Our group for the Yan Shou

Nice Heel Stretch

In our summer camp T

On our way back, with some new made Taiwan friends

Our dinner right after the camp in Shilin again

Day 10

Last day for some of them, so we took a group shot before they leave
Went to Taipei Main Station, before going out

Brunch at a Japanese Restaurant

They have nice Ramen in Taipei too

Ice Cream at Cold Stone after the meal

Went to this street which is famous for its variety of books and comics

Decided to take a break at their Starbucks after walking the whole hot afternoon

Played some balls, this game is very popular in Taipei

Yeah another shot with Jie Lun!

We went to Shilin night market one last time before we leave the next day.

Bought many many stuff, so happy~! Check them out below

Tops and comics for my brothers and father

Dress and TV shows for my mum

Shorts for myself

Socks

Bags

A mini Mahjong set for the family

Pretty dresses for me

My tops

Lots of goodies

And all my new foot wear

I am very happy with the Taiwan trip, especially the shopping. Went with 2 luggage weighing total of 30 kg and came back with 4 luggage weighing 55kg. I think we must have put on some weight too from all the crazy eating.

Taipei is a convenient and fun place, easy to travel around and the people are friendly. We will definetly want to go again.

Cheers!