The Business Times
5 years ago
Friday, November 28, 2008
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~!
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~!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
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.
Friday, November 21, 2008
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!
"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!
Monday, November 17, 2008
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.
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.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
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
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...
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...
Monday, November 10, 2008
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.
I need a brighter guiding star to point me in the right direction. It's getting harder for me to find such these days.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
"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 =)
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.
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.
Monday, November 3, 2008
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
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
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