Ambitious?

In every field, there are bound to be some special individuals who stand out amongst the rest. I can group them into 3 kinds - (1) talented ones but conventional, (2) not talented but does things beyond normal conventions and (3) both talented and does things beyond normal conventions. These people often are the ones that stand out, and especially so for number (3). People who can think out of the box and not afraid to try things beyond normal conventions are the ones that will achieve greatness. (BTW I am not talking about myself; recently I discovered such a person.)


This is a post about half a year back. At that time, I managed to at least do Full up, Full Around and Tick Tock; even though not to a high success rate. Now, after achieving Pop Over, I can do all the 4 targets I set, but Hands Full Around still seems very inconsistent. Is Hands Full Around the final piece of the puzzle before I attempt Rewind?

There are reasons for me to set these targets before moving on. Each of these 4 skills require quite different sets of abilities, and in aquiring each of the abilites, I am sure it will cover an all round aspect of partner stunting, hence getting myself more prepared for Rewind. These are just my own ideas, no one is there to teach me what to do, as has been the case my entire cheerleading life, therefore I can only try out myself. I will re-evaluate my theory again after I succeed.


P.S: A genius is able to get from A to D without going through the Bs and Cs. I am no genius, so I can only do it using my type of approach, that is to find the Bs and the Cs.

Cheerobics

Cheerobics 2009 was a blast. Standards on the average, and not only the top teams are getting very high. A record number of teams and categories was set in this year's Cheerobics. The cheer scence in Singapore is becoming more and more exciting. Good job to the organizers as well, one cannot imagine what it would be like to have a year without Cheerobics.

And finally, the gist of this post, ACES are the CHAMPIONS once again, and also the 2nd place. Congratulations to all my juniors who have been putting in all the hardwork and sacrifices. Take a good rest now, and when the week's over, I am sure you guys will be itching to do it all over again.

A-C-E-S, ACES let's go!

Pride

My shifu said:

"Every time I do PT, I push myself beyond my limits. I might look relaxed, but nobody knows that I am actually struggling inside. I know with each time I do the PT, it will get easier, so I just need to perserverve, and my efforts will pay off."

I wish I can have that same pride and determination.

"Competing"

It is the time of the year again. It is 1 week to Cheerobics 2009. This year is going to be different for me. The first time in 5 years that I am not taking any part in Cheerobics, the first time I get to watch the teams perform, while not being a "competitor" myself.

This year, Cheerobics is slightly different from the previous years. This is the first year that high school is separated from the open division. Generally, people hold mix feelings and comments about this new format, some welcome it, while some don't.

One most common sentiment that I have been receiving from people in the high school division is that: "competition is much lower", "We do not get to compete with ACES, DECS, etc", or even some said,"Sure Win".

Is not getting to face up with teams from the open division really that important? Does winning the high school division becomes so boring, so meaningless? Does "only winning the high school division" make your team a lesser team, or you a lesser man?
No! It does not. Cheerleading is a very opinionated sport, people may have different views, but majority would be able to tell a better routine from another. People can still judge from the quality of your performance put up, be it you being in the high school division or the open division.

I used to be in track and field, so let's take an analogy from a 100m race. Does being in the C division, and the B division matters? Not only you are competing with your competitors, you are competing with yourself. Only the timing matters, and for that matter, a runner in C division definetely have the chance to run faster than the champion in B division. Does the champion in C division with a timing of 10.5 secs feel smaller than the champion in B division with a timing of 11 secs? Will he feel like there is no drive, no kick, no excitment to win the C division? We all know the answer.

So be it in the high school division or the open division, just put up the best routine, the best performance. The main thing is to win yourself, and not to compare with others. If you still have failed to see that, you will forever be living in the shadows of others. As a sportsman, you focus on yourself first, win yourself, overcome your own weaknesses, then only will you get to win others.

All that being said, I am still a "competitor" this Cheerobics and I will always be till I stop. I am still competing with myself, and also with the rest of the cheerleaders out there, even though we do not stand on the same stage or get to hold the same trophy. I will use this Cheerobics as a gauge for myself, and I will continue to improve. I will become better, and I shall become the number 1 competitor out there.

1 or 0

As part of 元大鹰 early trainings in basketball, he was asked to keep working on his dribbling. The coach told him to dribble across an overhead bridge before he could start practicing shooting. The bridge together with it's steps up and steps down was not easy to conquer.

As he was about to finish it finally, he was distracted by someone calling his name, and dropped the ball. But instead of feeling sorry for himself, or getting angry, he said this, “只要一出手啊，不是拿零分就是拿一百分，就算只差一阶也是零分，也是失败。”

In executing your stunts, there is no room in the middle. It is always 1 or 0, either you hit it perfectly, or you do not. A stunt that goes up in a routine, if it is wobbly, means you have failed. Might as well do something that you can hit perfectly, than something you give room for deductions.

If you want to do something, do it perfectly. There is no sympathy points given in this game we are playing.