7th entry for January VoM

Another video by Chew Long, this time the cheerleading showcase by Team LJ from Alpha Verve Cheer Camp 2010. Good jobs guys

6th entry for January VoM

6th video entry for January VoM is by Chew Long from Alpha Verve. This is the first time she made an entry for VoM. Chew Long is a promising flyer from NUS Alpha Verve, has good body control and determination; just need to be a little more confident with your own abilities ok.

The video posted by Chew Long is the cheerleading showcase by Team Shaolin from Alpha Verve Cheer Camp 2010. It was a simple but very entertaining performance put up; the sort of performance apt to round things off for a Cheer Camp. Really glad to see everyone in the camp having such a great time.

Weights Training

"Technique and Strength, which is more important?" This is a debate that never ends. From the first day I joined cheerleading till now, I have heard many who tell me that technique is more important and also many who tell me that strength is more important. I myself also has gone through phases when I think strength is more important and phases when I think technique is more important. This is the 2nd time I am touching on this topic on my blog, the first time was back in April 2008: weakest guy that can do cupie (cupie back then is not so simple as it is nowadays)

A little extract from my previous post:

If one is in cheer long enough, one will get to experience the constant grapple of strength and technique. At some point of time, your technique will be more than sufficient for your strength, and then at another point of time, your technique is not enough, then at times your strength is alot and yet you do not have the technique to use it. There are some stunts, having overpowering strength, and you do not need much technique to do it, also there are some stunts, having all the strength in the world with no technique, you still cannot do it. One will have to learn to juggle between this 2 entities as they work their way up the ladder of cheerleading.

It is pretty cool to be reading your post from almost 3 years ago and find out how some things had changed and how some things had remained the same. It is also very comforting to know that I had shown improvements in my strength department. As of today, my answer to the debate is strength and technique is equally important.

Another question that was constantly bugging me since the early days of my cheerleading is, "how strong is strong?, how much strength is considered sufficient? what is the gauge?" The frustrating thing is that while there are many videos or articles showing and explaining how (the techniuqes) to hit a particular stunt, but there are very few or no videos or articles to tell you how strong you need to be. I think just like weight, this (strength) may be a rather sensitive issue too, so it is seldom brought up and discussed openly. When I just started doing partner stunts, I always wanted to find a reference; like when I see that guy can do a full up in a video, I would want to know how strong he is in quantifiable ways (i.e: how much he can bench? how much he can squat? etc), so that I can train harder if required.

Does anyone share the same kind of frustration as me? Things are not so bad now compared to the past, information is more readily avaliable; but still not everyone knows where to find them. I have put together a little video showing the 4 main exercises that I do in gym, in fact they are the only 4 exercise I ever do these days because of my hectic schedule. Pls pardon me if my form is not "perfect" in the video as like I always tell people, I am not a body builder, I do weights to specifically increase my strength for cheerleading only (In the gym sometimes I do some "cheerleading specific exercise" that will seem damn crazy to people).

I must say that I am not the biggest or strongest around, but I just wanted to share and hope that it helps. My aim for the video is to give some insights to people, a form of motivation, or a sort of gauge or anything that you can get out of it. I know my own frustrations in the past, and I do not wish to see new cheerleaders feeling the same frustrations, confusions or disillusions that I had back when I just started.

Enjoy the video.



Remember while technique is important, strength is very important as well.


P.S: I am still working hard to take on bigger weights.

5th entry for January VoM

5th entry for January VoM is uploaded by Weihan and tagged by his brother Weicheng. Weihan is definitely the the present of SG cheerleading now. Well done Weihan and Tinglei for hitting the Full Up Cupie. And also Weihan also showed us that hitting the big stunts and tumbling are not mutually exclusive. Simply well done for your Round Off Back Tuck too; this officially makes you the best cheerleading base in Singapore. And also not to forget this man is not even 20 years old yet, the potential is limitless. Jiayou.





P.S: 2 back to back VoM entry displaying Full Up Cupie; it is starting to get more and more common now. Full Up Cupie a basic soon?

4th entry for January VoM

The 4th entry for January VoM is by Ruth and tagged by Ochi. The video is about Ruth's Front Hand Spring journey, from 2 years ago when she just started and then now. The video also started with some teaser of some of the stunting skills of Ruth's - Full Up Cupie and Rewind. Ruth not only is able to hit big partner stunts, but also constantly strive to be an all rounded cheerleader too, working hard for her gymnastics as well. Overall a very well done video with very nice effects too.

X-Out

It is never too late to learn.

Scorpion

Xuewei was never known for her flexibility; in fact many (especially those who done B-Toss with her before) often complained she was hard as a rock. However once again hard work wins the day against all odds. Pulling a scorpion may be as easy as raising an arm for some, but for Xuewei it is indeed a big acomplishment; if she can do it, so can everybody.


P.S: Do not take your talent for granted, for there are many who has to work 100 times as hard just to be on par.

3rd entry for January VoM

A video of ACES during training in their warm up attire for Nationals 2008 uploaded by Ruth. ACES 2008 was a year when they totally blown away the competition, and also the 1 and only time a team in SG had a different attire for warm ups and the actual routine. This really speaks about the confidence they had back then. Really thanks to Ruth for posting this video up; we seldom see the warm up attire "in action", and it was not even in much of the photos of Nationals 2008.





P.S: Wonder if anyone else will come up with 2 sets of uniform for next year.

2nd entry for January VoM

The 2nd video entry for January VoM is by Vincent Yeo and tagged by Hann Bin. This is a video showcasing the gymnastics abilities of Vincent, the fruits of his hard work and training in gymnastics. Vincent, you are really amazing, to learn from scratch and achieve what you did; I really respect that as I know it is very tough.

1st entry for January VoM

The 1st entry for the 1st VoM of 2011, January VoM is by Elvie Na from KR Steppers. The video is a compilation of some footages of their training for ATCI 2010. The video is very light hearted to watch and must be very memorable to those involved in it. It showed many attempts and failed stunts, which is something that can never be missing on the road to any competition. It is through these falls that we learn. And as Elvie Na said, "In the end we still ASU =DD". Without failures, there can never be success.





P.S: Miss the feeling of training hard for a competition

Video of the Month December '10

I apologise for posting this up late, it was in my drafts for a few days, sorry if I kept some waiting. For video of the Month December we have 4 entries. So let's not keep you waiting anymore, recapping the 4 entries:

1. Video by Evanns tagged by Sont
2. Video by Hann Bin tagged by Chaang
3. Video by Ochi tagged by Hann Bin
4. Video by Matthew and tagged by Jaslyn

And the winner of the VoM December goes to.......

Ochi for his video on Hann Bin doing and extension back hands cupie (or was it his promotion for DIY again). Ochi will share the prize with Hann Bin for tagging it.




A short video showing us the amazing potential of Hann Bin, getting his first ever cupie on his first session trying it. I also have to give credit to Ochi again for his constant "spamming" on whatever channel he can; he does not even let go the chance to promote DIY "hijacking" the success of Hann Bin. Though some of his FB friends may find it irritating (esp those not involve in cheer) to keep seeing his notification about DIY flooding their wall, but Ochi stuck at it and did not mind being "scolded" for flooding. Sometimes being "hated" for doing the greater good is a worth it. Great job Hann Bin once again for hitting the cupie.

Ochi and Hann Bin you 2 won yourselves $50.

Having already won the BPoM this month; Ochi is now winner of both the BPoM and the VoM, showing everyone that it is indeed possible to win both together. Continue to support both BPoM and VoM.


P.S: It is time for me to take a leap of faith

Blog Post of the Month December '10

This month we have many great entries; a total of 6 entries for BPoM December and they are:

1. Blogged by Ken
2. Blogged by Ken
3. Blogged by Weiwei and tagged by Harlis
4. Blogged by Ochi
5. Blogged by Ochi
6. Blogged by Veronica

Please continue to post quality posts and be rewarded for it at the same time. And the moment everyone is waiting for, the winner for BPoM December goes to...

The post by Ochi on "Kungfu Master Theory". Congratulations Ochi, you have won yourself the prize of $50.

Ochi's Blog Post: Kungfu Master Theory

Ochi's post once again highlighted the importance of sharing what you know in cheerleading. It is the only way to move forward as a whole SG cheer community. If one's mind is only fully focused on winning and afraid that by sharing they will lose their competitive advantage, then cheerleading will not develop at such a fast pace but remains stagnant. Often it just takes the first person to start sharing to a few, then the few to a few more, then a few more to more and more. This is the "snowball" effect, and power of multiplying.

Beyond writing the blog post, Ochi is a man who practices what he preaches; his selfless helping and pushing of not only his teammates, but any cheerleader as well for DIY said it all. Ochi might not have realised himself the impact and contributions he had made to the cheer scene yet, but I can tell everyone, what Ochi had done is already beyond measurable.

Comments by Chaang:

"Ochi's is sharing the ''kung fu master theory'' to enlighten those who are ''subconsiously selfish''. On top of that, his post not only helps 'enlighten' selfish non team players to work within a team and raise the level of proficiency within the team but also in a sense seeks to raise the standards of the whole cheer community too through sharing.
"

A round of applause for all who contributed. On behalf of Chaang and myself, we thank all of you once again and hope that you all will continue to help promote cheerleading through blogging by sharing different points of view and experiences.

Winners of VoM and BPoM December will be announced shortly...

Prize Presentation for VoM November'10 Winner

Winner of VoM November by Kerry and Ruth from ASTROS. They won themselves $50





Noticed the difference for this month's VoM prize presentation? If you guessed the prize instead of being in the form of a cheque, but it is in the form of cold hard cash, then you are right.

From now on, I have decided to present the prize for VoM each month using CASH, instead of cheque. I guess the feeling to receive cash is much nicer and seems more "real". By doing so, this also effectively takes away the effort to bank in the cheque; and the cash is ready to be used immediately. Hopes this small act would encourage more people to take part in VoM, now that there is no excuse of being troublesome to bank in a cheque.

BPoM November Prize Presentation

The winner for BPoM November is by Veron and Wee Keat from Spectrum. They won themselves $50. The prize presentations.

Veron recieving the prize

BPoM 6th entry for December

The 6th entry for BPoM December is by Veron. The post is on the 5th anniversary celebration of Spectrum. It is really nice to see from the pictures the big family of spectrum over the past 5 years having fun together. I can remember the year spectrum started, everyone in NTU halls taking part in HO have their eyes on them, full of anticipation of the stunts and performance they are going to put up. Ever since that year, Spectrum has always been one of the halls to look forward to during HO.

Special mention had to go to Chaang, for help the formation of Spectrum and then building it to such a great team it is today. I remember Chaang telling me how he literally went door to door to get people to join back then; to unearth all the hidden talents of the hall. Chaang especially had this magical touch with him to attract guys, and not just guys, but big and macho ones like him too. I would say that without Chaang's selfless efforts and singleminded ambition back then, Spectrum would not have been possible. Though Chaang has left Spectrum now, I believe that Spectrum will always have a special place in his heart and that his spirit lives on in Spectrum too. We will always remember the feet stamping cheer off which Spectrum still does till today.

Check out the post by Veron: 6th BPoM December entry or here

BPoM 5th entry for December

A second BPoM entry by Ochi, though I am not so sure how this post is link to cheerleading, after taking away the fact that these 3 cute, pretty and hot girls are all cheerleaders. haha. I guess all I can say is that cheerleaders not only excel in cheerleading, but also excel in other areas. It is the lessons that you take away from cheerleading that is going to help you along for the rest of your lives. (i.e: cheerleading teaches you make up skills and to be presentable?? A very important skill all females should have these days.)

Check out the post by Ochi: 5th BPoM December entry or here


P.S: Tried my best to link the post the cheerleading. haha.

BPoM 4th entry for December

The 4th entry of BPOM December is by Ochi, the incoming captain of Wildcards for his post on Wildcards Blog, "Kungfu Master Theory". Once again a great post from Ochi. The gist of this post is to encourage everyone to give and teach wholeheartedly. If you are a master in certain skills, always help others to achieve it too, without witholding any information or the last bit of tip that would make it hit.

All that is summed up into 1 sentence:

Most importantly, are you willing to teach beyond your 100% and help your peers improve to a level beyond yourself and in return squeeze that 10% in return?
-Quote by Chaang

The post went on to illustrate many examples of the above principle and how it had helped Ochi and his teammates to speed up their learning curve. I shall end off with a quote from Ochi in the post:

So cheerleaders guilty of the Kung fu master theory do remember this. What you teach is what you get, embrace the power of social creativity. Don't be shy to teach in full and teach it well because very soon, at the end of the day in a 16 man routine it is the collective ability that counts. At Nationals, if you can do a full twisting rewind and your teammates can't do a basic lib, it just counts for nothing.


Check out the post by Ochi: 4th BPoM December entry or here


P.S: Ochi is still promoting his DIY subtlely in this post

4th entry for December VoM

The 4th video entry for December VoM is a video posted by Matthew and tagged by Jaslyn. It is a video of Wildcards performance on the 20th of November for Ulu Pandan Family Day. An all stunts up performance and great work everyone. Though you guys went through a busy month and had to deal with some illness and injury issues, you all still managed to pull through as a team and delivered when it mattered.

3rd entry for December VoM

3rd video entry for December VoM - A video by Ochi and tagged by Hann Bin. The video shows Hann Bin doing extension hands cupie with Yvonne. Like the previous VoM post of Hann Bin doing single liberty, this is even more amazing. A got his cupie in such short time and in a single session. Though I think the limelight should had been on Hann Bin in the video, but Ochi managed to turn the limelight back onto his DIY session. haha. A huge applause also to be given to Ochi and his incessessant promotion of his DIY. Nice video in all.

2nd entry for December VoM

The 2nd video entry for December VoM is by Hann Bin and tagged by Chaang. The video shows Hann Bin doing a toss extension back to hands single liberty with Jasmine. Simply well done Hann bin, it must hand been less than half a year since you joined and the progression is already amazing. I think this is a perfect example of the result you get for of doing your best and with the best. Always give in your best to the things you wanted most.

BPoM 3rd entry for December

The 3rd entry of BPOM December is by Harlis on behalf of Weiwei for his post, "A Note for everyone…", based on Weiwei's note on facebook. This post by describes Weiwei's views, thoughts, and emotions about coaching a team. It definitely speaks out the many unspoken difficulties a coach often faces and the type of struggles that a coach goes through.

A point in the post that I want to highlight is "3) If the stunts cannot be hit, I feel that I have let the team down by not being a good coach."

Like Weiwei, as a coach, this is a thought that always pops up in my mind whenever we fail a stunt. As much as coaches do not wish to feel this way, but this is just one of the mental struggles a coach faces. And as a coach, you are the strong one, you have to carry the burdens of the team, to push the team forward. A coach may appear calm outside, but a thousand thoughts/worries are simultaneously running through the mind as he/she watches and supervises the training.

So players, please do your part to help our your coaches; you may feel the physical stresses which ends after a couple of hours during trainings, but your coaches feel the mental stresses that does not end even as they lie on the bed. Do the things your coaches tell you to, the conditioning and exercises they give you.

As Weiwei pointed out: "Unless I am your mum, I am not able to constantly monitor your physical fitness, flexibility and strength training.".

I think even mums nowadays may not have 24hrs to constantly monitor you; it really is all up to oneself.


Check out the post by Weiwei and tagged by Harlis: 3rd BPoM December entry or here


P.S: How you do anything is how you do everything

1st entry for December VoM

The 1st video of the month December entry is by Evanns and tagged by Sont. Once again great video editing skills by Evanns with nice music and nice commentary. The video shows mostly some of the fun, candid and blooper moments during ACES gymnastics trainings. It also reminds everyone of the fears they overcame along the way and how far they have gone.




P.S: This came in 2 weeks ago, so sorry for the late update.

BPoM 2nd entry for December

Another post by Ken this time on his blog. The post talk about the type of strength cheerleading requires and the benefits of strength. Based on Ken's experience, he also recommended some of the exercises which he does and what are they useful for.

Ken ends off by adding, "There are so many more exercises you can do, so many variations. FIND OUT something that works for you." What he posted are his recommendations, exercises that worked very well for him, but end of the day everyone still has to find something that suits themselves.

Check out the post by Ken: 2nd BPoM December entry or here


P.S: I need to gym

BPoM 1st entry for December

The 1st entry of BPOM December is by Ken for his post on Wildcards Blog. It is a short and sweet post helping Ochi to campaign for captain of Wildcards for 2011/2012 seasion. Ochi's promise for his tenure as captain is to produce full squads pop overs and to establish good relationship with other teams to promote cheerleading.

It often takes a selfless man to do the job of a good leader, and I strongly believe that Ochi has what it takes. The man who help raise the team's overall standards of partner stunting with his constant push and support of DIY. Ochi once told me that he would sacrifice his own partner stunt training time during DIY to help the others, to raise the standard of everyone up together. Such selfless behaviour deserves the respect by all his teammates. Also to volunteer oneself is not easy; now that Ochi had volunteered for the captaincy, everyone please give him your support.

Check out the post by Ken: 1st BPoM December entry or here


P.S: A great leader leads by serving first

Are you doing ok?

I was reading Yahoo news recently and keep seeing articles on the increasing wealth of Singapore, the surge in High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI), arrival of the super rich etc. Looks like Singapore is doing pretty well I would say.

But how much of the pie are you actually having? Some statistics from this article from Yahoo I read today, Arrival of the super-rich in Singapore; Currently, 11.8% of Singaporean households have at least US$1 million in investible assets each (excluding property).

This means that more than 1 in 10 people you meet on the street comes from a millionaire household. Just start counting people as you walk down the street, and for every 10th person you counted, you have a millionaire or ASK. If you just keep counting as you walk, you will find out that you end up with alot of rich people in SG.

The question again is where do you stand? Personally I know I am not part of the 11.8%; I am not a millionaire, nor my family has a combined net worth of more than a $1,000,000 investible assets (remember this does not includes the house you residing in). It seems that I am not getting a big portion of the pie that Singapore is having, not benefitting much from the global capital influx into Asia and Singapore.

The article got me interested to find out more. So as usual I just went to google; there is nothing you cannot find these days with the internet.

I came across this interesting site (I bookmarked it already so should all of you): Salary.sg, Your Salary in Singapore. In this site you will find many more related article about wealth. It also has many tools that can help your calculations and for statistics.

Ok we know from above that in Singapore 1 in 10 people are millionaire or ASK, but how much is the mean, or average? Well the answer can be found in one of the article from Salary.sg, Is Your Net Worth Above US$255,488?, taken from a report by Credit Suisse.

The average net worth of an individual in Singapore is US$255,488 = SGD$335,000. Now say no need to be the top 11.8%, but are you even doing as well as the average? Do you have a net worth of $335,000 to be the average in Singapore? I know I don't and this is very sad to find out.

Ok we keep talking about net worth, but what exactly is net worth. For those who don't know or has not calculated your net worth before and does not know how to do it, there is this article from the site: Calculate Net Worth and Benchmark It that teaches you how to and aids you with a calculation tool.

Taken from this article too is this: According to the book "The Millionaire Next Door" if your net worth equals (or exceeds) your age times your annual income divided by 10, then you are a “wealth accumulator”. I suppose that means it’s good. This is your target net worth.

So for my age plus my annual income I should be having a net worth of ~$150,000 by now, which I am quite sad to declare that I am still far off the mark. This means I am not a good "wealth accumulator", I spend too much. So do your own sums and see how well you are doing and if you are not doing too well, start doing something about it. Wow, a 3rd indicator that tells me that I better be kicking my own butt and work harder. I am not 1 in 10, my net worth is below average and now I am not accumulating my wealth properly enough. As I continue my research, it is getting more and more pessimistic for me. =(

How about let's stop talking about net worth and go 1 level lower, how much is your monthly and annual income? Taken from Ministry of Manpower, Earnings and Wages (pls go check out this information in the form of a table), the average monthly earnings of a Singaporean is $3,872 in 2009, $4,310 for 1st Quarter of 2010 and very likely to be above $4,000 for whole of 2010.

For some, income by the month might not be so good for comparision as they may have variable monthly income (such as those in sales earning by commisions) or have variable bonus. At www.salary.sg again, you can find this very cool tool in one of their article, Compare Your Annual Income 2010, where you just have to key in your annual income and you can compare it as a percentage to all taxpayers in Singapore. Damn cool. Are you doing better than average?

So how well am I doing now, comparing monthly and annual income? All I can say is that I am now too despondent to say.

I am not in the 11.8%, not an ASK, my net worth is way below the average, I do not accumulate as much as I should have done, my monthly and yearly is not doing well either. Everything seems dull for me now, but I am not trying to be sad or anything like that. On the other hand, I will take these statistics as a motivation, to work towards a better future.

Well to lighten things up a little (in case like me, you are feeling like shit after reading the above stuff), Singapore is still a great place to be in. Other statistics also show that in terms of wealth we have 1 million people in the top 10% of the whole world. This means that about 1 in 5 of us is richer than 5.5 billion people! Haha.

I know that this is a "cheerleading blog", and nothing I just posted is related to cheerleading you may think. But I chose to publish all these here because I want everyone to be more aware of their financial situation, especially cheerleaders that I cared most about. If I can help even just 1 passionate cheerleader to start being more aware, and this cheerleader turns out to become a multi millionaire, I am sure cheerleading will have lots to benefit from too.

I stress again that all these financial education is not in anyway less important for cheerleading than being able to do a double full layout. For those still studying, and don't think that it applies to you, think again. In fact it is the best to start earlier and when you are young. For those already working, the statistics serves as a benchmark for yourself. To put in figuratively, for cheerleading to grow in Singapore, we need as much cheerleader millionaires as we need cheerleaders who can do a toss to hands.


P.S: A teacher should not only teach the students how to study and pass exams, likwise a cheerleading coach should not only focus on teaching students cheerleading skills or how to do a toss cupie. It is equally important to take care of the students development in other areas, such as financial education in this case.

出神入化与走火入魔只是一线之差

我有一把剑，若运用的对，可以出神入化。
但若运用的不对，可是会走火入魔！

The Law of Least Effort

Today I was very tired and decide to take a little break at work to go surfing (online).

We are all very familiar with the Law of Attraction by now, but how many of you heard of the Law of Least Effort? I was surfing and I came across this new Law to me. It is 1 of the "7 Spiritual Laws of Success" by the great spiritual guru Deepak Chopra. Do check out the other 6 Laws too. They are all equally meaningful and helpful.

After reading through the Law of Least Effort, I feel that it is even more powerful than the Law of Attraction. It's 3 main essence is given by Acceptance, Responsibility and Defenselessness. Shall share this article which I read with you all.

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The Law of Least Effort

The fourth spiritual law of success is the Law of Least Effort. This law is based on the fact that nature's intelligence functions with effortless ease and abandoned carefreeness. This is the principle of least action, of no resistance. This is, therefore, the principle of harmony and love. When we learn this lesson from nature, we easily fulfill our desires.

If you observe nature at work, you will see that least effort is expended. Grass doesn't try to grow, it just grows. Fish don't try to swim, they just swim. Flowers don't try to bloom, they bloom. Birds don't try to fly, they
fly. This is their intrinsic nature. The earth doesn't try to spin on its own axis; it is the nature of the earth to spin with dizzying speed and to hurtle through space. It is the nature of babies to be in bliss. It is the nature of the sun to shine. It is the nature of the stars to glitter and sparkle. And it is human nature to make our dreams manifest into physical form, easily and effortlessly.

In Vedic Science, the age-old philosophy of India, this principle is known as the principle of economy of effort, or "do less and accomplish more." Ultimately you come to the state where you do nothing and accomplish everything. This means that there is just a faint idea, and then the manifestation of the idea comes about effortlessly. What is commonly called a "miracle" is actually an expression of the Law of Least Effort.

Nature's intelligence functions effortlessly, frictionlessly, spontaneously. It is non-linear; it is intuitive, holistic, and nourishing. And when you are in harmony with nature, when you are established in the knowledge of your true Self, you can make use of the Law of Least Effort.

Least effort is expended when your actions are motivated by love, because nature is held together by the energy of love. When you seek power and control over other people, you waste energy. When you seek money or power for the sake of the ego, you spend energy chasing the illusion of happiness instead of enjoying happiness in the moment. When you seek money for personal gain only, you cut off the flow of energy to yourself, and interfere with the expression of nature's intelligence. But when your actions are motivated by love, there is no waste of energy. When your actions are motivated by love, your energy multiplies and accumulates -- and the surplus energy you gather and enjoy can be channeled to create anything that you want, including unlimited wealth.

You can think of your physical body as a device for controlling energy: it can generate, store, and expend energy. If you know how to generate, store, and expend energy in an efficient way, then you can create any amount of wealth. Attention to the ego consumes the greatest amount of energy. When your internal reference point is the ego, when you seek power and control over other people or seek approval from others, you spend energy in a wasteful way.

When that energy is freed up, it can be rechanneled and used to create anything that you want. When your internal reference point s your spirit, when you are immune to criticism and unfearful of any challenge, you can harness the power of love, and use energy creatively for the experience of affluence and evolution.

In The Art of Dreaming, Don Juan tells Carlos Castaneda, ". . . most of our energy goes into upholding our importance.... If we were capable of losing some of that importance, two extraordinary things would happen to us. One, we would free our energy from trying to maintain the illusory idea of our grandeur; and two, we would provide ourselves with enough energy to ... catch a glimpse of the actual grandeur of the universe."

Acceptance

There are three components to the Law of Least Effort -- three things you can do to put this principle of "do less and accomplish more" into action. The first component is acceptance. Acceptance simply means that you make a commitment: "Today I will accept people, situations, circumstances, and events as they occur." This means I will know that this moment is as it should be, because the whole universe is as it should be. This moment -- the one you're experiencing right now -- is the culmination of all the moments you have experienced in the past. This moment is as it is because the entire universe is as it is.

When you struggle against this moment, you're actually struggling against the entire universe. Instead, you can make the decision that today you will not struggle against the whole universe by struggling against this moment. This means that your acceptance of this moment is total and complete. You accept things as they are, not as you wish they were in this moment. This is important to understand. You can wish for things in the future to be different, but in this moment you have to accept things as they are.

When you feel frustrated or upset by a person or a situation, remember that you are not reacting to the person or the situation, but to your feelings about the person or the situation. These are your feelings, and your feelings are not someone else's fault. When you recognize and understand this completely, you are ready to take responsibility for how you feel and to change it. And if you can accept things as they are, you are ready to take responsibility for your situation and for all the events you see as problems.

Responsibility

This leads us to the second component of the Law of Least Effort: responsibility. What does responsibility mean? Responsibility means not blaming anyone or anything for your situation, including yourself. Having accepted this circumstance, this event, this problem, responsibility then means the ability to have a creative response to the situation as it is now. All problems contain the seeds of opportunity, and this awareness allows you to take the moment and transform it to a better situation or thing.

Once you do this, every so-called upsetting situation will become an opportunity for the creation of something new and beautiful, and every so-called tormentor or tyrant will become your teacher. Reality is an interpretation. And if you choose to interpret reality in this way, you will have many teachers around you, and many opportunities to evolve.

Whenever confronted by a tyrant, tormentor, teacher, friend, or foe (they all mean the same thing) remind yourself, "This moment is as it should be." Whatever relationships you have attracted in your life at this moment are precisely the ones you need in your life at this moment. There is a hidden meaning behind all events, and this hidden meaning is serving your own evolution.

Defenselessness

The third component of the Law of Least Effort is defenselessness, which means that your awareness is established in defenselessness, and you have relinquished the need to convince or persuade others of your point of view. If you observe people around you, you'll see that they spend ninety-nine percent of their time defending their points of view. If you just relinquish the need to defend your point of view, you will in that relinquishment, gain access to enormous amounts of energy that have been previously wasted.

When you become defensive, blame others, and do not accept and surrender to the moment, your life meets resistance. Any time you encounter resistance, recognize that if you force the situation, the resistance will only increase. You don't want to stand rigid like a tall oak that cracks and collapses in the storm. Instead, you want to be flexible, like a reed that bends with the storm and survives.

Completely desist from defending your point of view. When you have no point to defend, you do not allow the birth of an argument. If you do this consistently -- if you stop fighting and resisting -- you will fully experience the present, which is a gift. Someone once told me, "The past is history, the future is a mystery, and this moment is a gift. That is why this moment is called 'the present'."

If you embrace the present and become one with it, and merge with it, you will experience a fire, a glow, a sparkle of ecstasy throbbing in every living sentient being. As you begin to experience this exultation of spirit in everything that is alive, as you become intimate with it, joy will be born within you, and you will drop the terrible burdens and encumbrances of defensiveness, resentment, and hurtfulness. Only then will you become lighthearted, carefree, joyous, and free.

In this joyful, simple freedom, you will know without any doubt in your heart that what you want is available to you whenever you want it, because your want will be from the level of happiness, not from the level of anxiety or fear. You do not need to justify; simply declare your intent to yourself, and you will experience fulfillment, delight, joy, freedom, and autonomy in every moment of your life.

Make a commitment to follow the path of no resistance. This is the path through which nature's intelligence unfolds spontaneously, without friction or effort. When you have the exquisite combination of acceptance, responsibility, and defenselessness, you will experience life flowing with effortless ease.

When you remain open to all points of view -- not rigidly attached to only one -- your dreams and desires will flow with nature's desires. Then you can release your intentions, without attachment, and just wait for the appropriate season for your desires to blossom into reality. You can be sure that when the season is right, your desires will manifest. This is the Law of Least Effort.

_____

This article is excerpted from: The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra.


P.S: Shall start to practice this new Law that I learnt.

Blog Post of the Month November '10

We have 1 entry for BPoM November:

1. Blogged by Veron and tagged by Wee Keat

Although we are a little dissapointed to receive only 1 entry, nonetheless the prize shall still be awarded. It is very simple, just make and entry and stand to win a cash prize.

Congratulations to Veron and Wee Keat for winning the prize of $50.

Veron's Blog Post once again:

Veron - http://justshutupandlock.blogspot.com/2010/10/hi-spectrum-i-believe-you-all-had.html

Even though there is only 1 entry, due credit had to be given and nothing is to be taken away from the post. It is a very heart warming post by Veron about her memories and journey in cheerleading. It speaks about how cheerleading can positively changed one's life. Last but not least; remember the journey is never over till you said it is, "The journey is not over yet, and there are still more memories to collect." If you have ever been involved seriously in cheerleading, you will know what Veron is talking about, while the rest can only wonder.


P.S: Pls continue to support BPoM

Video of the Month November '10

Nov 5th, our 5th year anniversary had just past, and it is also time to announce the winner for VoM November. This is the first time we are having this special promotion of pegging the prize ammount to the duration of the video. We have a total of 9 entries for this month, an all time high. Without further ado lets recap the 9 entries:

1. Video by Spencer tagged by Chaang
2. Video by Kerry
3. Video by Kerry
4. Video by Kok Teong and tagged by Wei Cheng
5. Video by Zhaoming
6. Video by Zhaoming
7. Video by Kerry
8. Video by Kerry and tagged by Ruth
9. Video by Jiahui

Some nice videos entries we have and the VoM November goes to.......

Kerry for his video on the toss cupies at RWS, and also to Ruth for tagging it.




A simple but nicely done video that showed the 4 tries taken to get a good take for 3 toss cupies. The background chosen for the video was excellent as well; managed to capture the entire Universal Globe. Nice job on the commentaries as well to provide a much needed humour to my hectic life.

So for this month's promotion, with the video at 59secs, Kerry and Ruth you 2 won yourselves $50.

Although I was pleased with the number of entries this month, I am hoping to see more entries from a wider circle of cheerleaders and not just cheerleaders who know me. If you hear of VoM, do not hesitate to join; it is open to everyone even if I do not know you.


P.S: 2010 is reaching it's end very soon.

9th entry for November VoM

The 9th video for November VoM is by Jiahui. This is the only month since June that we got 9 entries, tying the record for the most entries of the month. We have about 24 hours left to break that record.

The video shows KC and Jiahui doing a cupie lib tick tock. This is a stunt that 2 years back, KC the cupie king himself dared not even attempt. This goes to show again how much the standards have been rising. KC and JH continue to push and set the standards ok. Jiayou everyone.

This video stands a chance to win $50





P.S: Next up cupie lib tick tock pop over?

8th entry for November VoM

Another video by Kerry and tagged by Ruth. We now have 8 entries for November VoM. The video is taken after one of Astros performance and featured 3 toss cupies. Nice work putting the clips together into a video by Kerry; very funny to hear all the commentaries too. This 59secs video stands a chance to win $50

I want to do REWIND!!!

This time on the floor

I am praising Snow not because she is my girlfriend, but after so long of training with her, I have to say that she is indeed incredible. She often says she was not blessed with natural talent, but hardwork can still get one very far. I dare say even alot of guys in cheerleading cannot take the PT she is capable of doing.

7th entry for November VoM

3rd video by Kerry this month for the 7th entry for November VoM. The is the Day 1 performance video by ASTROS at the Mixed Martial Arts Events at RWS about 2 weeks ago. It is the longest routine I have been in so far, 4 minutes and 35 secs. It was tiring but we had lots of fun. This video stands a chance to win $90.





P.S: 5 days left

6th entry for November VoM

6th video entry for November VoM - Another 1 of those "reminiscing videos" by Zhaoming. This is a video of NTU ACES 2007 Nationals routine last run before competition. Stunts difficulty increased, most notably the introduction of pitch up gladiator and of course the defining stunt for 2007 - Front Handspring Front Tuck to Swedish fall. I remembered telling every one to push for this and if we hit it, Nationals Championship is ours to keep.

At 5:11, this video stands to win $100

5th entry for November VoM

The 5th video entry for November VoM by Zhaoming is ACES last run of the Nationals 2006 routine before moving out to Toa Payoh hub. If you make a comparision between this video and the one of the actual (4th November VoM entry) you will find that almost everything to the little details are almost the same. My point here is that whatever performance you put out on the competition ground, is probably the performance you can consistently hit during training. If you cannot hit your stunts even during the last day, do not expect a miracle on the actual day.

Another thing that strikes me when I watched this video again after so many years is that the neatness and sharpness was amazing. Nowadays often stunts difficulty takes much more emphasis over the neatness and sharpness of the routine hence compromising on it. The competition is so stiff now that everyone is pushing so much and even incoporating stunts that are yet to be 100% into the routine. Although this 2006 winning routine has much less stunts difficulty (with respect to current days, then still considered super zai), but it has to be one of my best performed routine in terms of confidence and execution. We were so on the ball then and I remembered that immediately after the prelims, we headed back to our training ground to train, not to work on the stunts, but just purely 4-5 hours of arm motions for cheer and dance. I have to thanks Oat and friends for the chair treatment, and to help us so much to enable ACES to win our 1st ever championship. Thank you so much.

This 3:43 video stands a chance to win $80





P.S: Hope to see routines that are flawlessly executed for Nationals 2011

4th entry for November VoM

The 4th entry for November VoM is Ong Kok Teong, very very grand senior of NTU ACES and tagged by Ong Wei Cheng, current coach of NTU ACES. For those who do not know about Kok Teong, he was 1 of the pillars of the early days of NTU ACES, always leading the way in terms of stunting, dance, gymnastics and almost in every aspect. It is safe to say that without him, ACES definitely would not have achieved so much (another important piece of history lesson, esp for current ACES juniors).

It is an old video that is being uploaded to FB; NTU ACES Nationals 2006 winning routine. In it you can see KoK Teong doing 3 passes (roundoff back hand back tuck) in the last leg (1:23 - 1:33) of the gymnastics segment. Back in those days, it was a great achievement as we all started gymanstics from sratch, without proper coaching, and only at the ages of 23 and above. This 5 min 13 secs video stands a chance to win $100.





P.S: 5 days left

3rd entry for November VoM

Another video by Kerry of Astros for our 3rd entry for November VoM. A video compilation of the trainings of Toe Touch 1-1-1. It is nice to see teams trying out new stunts. 37 secs video stands a chance to win $50.

Jiayou Astros!





P.S: Check out promotion for November VoM

Prize Presentation for VoM October'10 Winner

Winner of VoM October by Evanns from ACES.






P.S: Remember to keep your videos coming; take advantage of the promotion this month

BPoM October Prize Presentation

The winner for BPoM October is by Joseph from Alpha Verve. He won himself $50. The prize presentations.

Joseph,Chaang and myself

Close up

With the entire Alpha Team

Standing Back Tuck

Just some sharing

Of late my posts are starting to consist of only VoM and BPoM updates. Ken pointed this out to me as well, and preferred my "old blog", the times where I update more about cheerleading related topics. I still had many thoughts and ideas I always wanted to share with every one, but this year had been a really fulfilling and packed year for me, and I am constantly busy now even on the weekends for me to find time to sit down and pen out my thoughts. Since we are on the topic of VoM, BPoM and giving, I shall do a "proper post" and share some of my thoughts on giving.

The updates of VoM itself is taking up a portion of my time; having to get the links to the videos and FB correct, to talk about the videos and cheerleaders in the videos etc. People started asking me questions about why I started VoM? My answer is simple, I want to give back to cheerleading what it had given me. At the same time I do not want to restrict it to only a few people or a team, but yet there are currently no cheerleading funds or grants in SG known to me for me to contribute to. Hence so far my best idea I had was the VoM, where I can leverage the power of social networking (Facebook) to reach out to more cheerleaders in SG. If you have yet decide to participate because you are afraid that it is a scam or something, I really urge you to reconsider.

So why give? Some may ask where do you get the money from? Well, a simple breakdown would be from the money I save during lunch. For some of you may have already know that I do not go for lunch during work and it has 4 main benefits:

1) More time to rest and catch up on sleep, so I can cheer more at nights
2) Helps me to lose weight or maintain it
3) Save money
4) Contribute to VoM

So you see, taking 20 working days and $5 saved on lunch each day, end of the month I will net $100. And out of the $100, I saved $50. And taking out the other $50 for VoM really does not hurt my pocket that much, while at the same time I believe it can help to give back to cheerleading in a way or another, to someone who might need the $50 more than I do. To continue cheerleading after graduation, I learn to tweak my lifestyle so that it benefits me; and at the same time now I want to share the benefits with others. A simple change like skipping lunch really adds up and a simple act of giving goes a long way.

Start giving, be it your time, energy or money. If you are thinking, "I will start giving when I have more money or time.", most probably you will never start, because as humans we will never have enough of money and time. Even starting off small would mean so much and once you have started, you will feel the joy of giving and also receive the blessings; that you would want to give more and more. Remember give and you shall receive.

Other then to give with your heart and within your means, find something meaningful for you to give. Do not give just to give. Some people may tell me, why not I just give to registered charities, i.e NKF, this way can get income tax rebates. For me I feel it does not work this way. I give for something I feel connected to, meaningful and truely want to give back to. And that is cheerleading for me. To you it may not be cheerleading, you may want to volunteer at the orphanage, or give to cancer research, or help the wildlife, as long as you feel connected with it.

Living such a hectic lifestyle has taken it's toil on me some way or another. These days, my father was constantly telling me to sleep earlier and stop torturing my body, that I am not so young anymore. Having irregular meals and lack of sleep sure is "killing" me slowly. But I feel happy doing what I do. If I were to stop doing these, I feel I may "die" even earlier. Cheering at nights are what's keeping me "alive"; something to look forward to at the end of the day's work. Also the thought earning more money, so I can give more is what gets me up from my bed early in the morning to go to work. It is a "vicious cycle" indeed; looking forward to my "night life" to cheer and then waking up early for my day job to make more money. Regardless of the vicious cycle, I would not exchange my life now for anything else. Even if I know it is bad for my health and even I were to die soon, I would be glad that I had truely lived my life and my passion. I would not trade it for a mundane life of just going to work aimlessly, without any vision for my future, just staying alive longer physically, when I am actually already dead mentally and spiritually.

Death is part of the natural cycle. We all live and die. What matters are the things you do while you lived. This year, we see the passing of 3 great leaders of Singapore; they are like the fathers and mother of the nation. I would not want to imagine a Singapore without them; Dr Goh Keng Swee, JB Jeyaretnam and Kwa Geok Choo. As they passed on, everyone remember these great people not for their personal wealth or personal achievements, but for what they have given and contributed to Singapore, to the nation, to the society, to the community, to the individual. It is their selfless efforts during their living days that will be remembered and missed sorely by everyone whom their lives have graciously touched. Stories will be told for generations about their contribution and not of their wealth. I am no where near even 0.01% as great as these founding fathers and mothers of Singapore, but I would love to live my life modelling their selfless personalities, strong characters, grace and generosity. I am not there yet, but I want to start.

Last week I was sent by my company to attended a 2 day seminar at RWS. The seminar is about CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility). CSR is something along the lines of being responsible, conscience to the society, to conduct business in a ethical manner and also includes giving back to the stake holders and society at large. Some examples such as manufacturing plants to reduce the CO2 emissions, and the more commonly practice of philanthropy including monetary donations and aids.

During the 2nd day of seminar, one of the speaker is Jack Sim, founder of World Toilet Organization. His speech was very well delivered and I shall not attempt to replicate any part of his speech, but do go check out about Jack Sim to find out more. This guy in my opinion is amazing and blessed; he left us with many thoughts. One of the things he said,"When you start to do good and help people, naturally many will come to help you to help people and no matter how big the vision is, it will work out". This guy has many professionals such as laywers working for his organisation for free. When you do good, good people will come to you and together you all can create a better world.

As cheerleaders, as a cheerleading community as a whole, we all too have a "CSR", or social responsibility to the society and community we live in. One person's strength might not be big enough, but 1 person definitely can influence the one just next to him/her and then another and another so on. Soon if more starts to develop a culture of sharing, giving and a sense of social responsibility, we can create miracles. So never doubt the strength of 1 person, or of yourself, start today and soon we will all see the benefits. The powerful waterfall you see, too starts with a single drop of water.


P.S: End up after such a long post, it is still not about "cheerleading" topic. haha. But I think to me now cheerleading is not just about the techniques, stunts, competition or winning. It is time to move on beyond that.

2nd entry for November VoM

2nd video entry for November VoM - A video by Kerry of Astros. This is Astros 4th performance, for a break dancing school family day at Tiong Bahru Plaza. A 1 min 59 secs video, stands a chance to win $60.

I do not have the words to describe the way Astros has developed just in the span of less than 3 months. I think the only word I can think of is you guys are simply Astros!





P.S: The inertia is always the hardest, once you start a ball rolling, it continues to roll.

BPoM 1st entry for November

The post from Spectrum's blog by Veronica and tagged by Wee Keat for our 1st entry of BPOM November. The post speaks about Veron's cheerleading journey in Spectrum and how cheerleading had change her, making her a better person, a true team player and better leader. "The journey is not over yet, and there are still more memories to collect."

I really loved this post. I always believe in being thankful for where you came from, to appreciate the people that had come before you to make it a better place for you to cheer in. Just like cheerleading has given me a whole new life, cheerleading has also given Veron wonderful experiences and memories. I am sure cheerleading changed many lives out there too.

Check out the post by Veron and tagged by Wee Keat: 1st BPoM November entry or here


P.S: Always show respect to your seniors, even though you may have surpassed them in terms of abilities. You are only able to do it because of the seniors that came before you. Cheerleading has no place for people who shows disrespect.

1st entry for November VoM

The 1st entry for November VoM is posted by Spencer (Ex ACES) and tagged by Chaang. The video shows that big guys can tumble too. Amazing work put in by Gary to hit his backtuck. I can say that not only this guy has great physical ability, but his mental is pure power as well. Backtuck almost anywhere, anytime for Gary now.





P.S: This video lasted 10secs, just making it for VoM, and stands a chance to win $50

The VoM and BPoM entries are coming in this month, but I have no time to update yet. Rest assured that I will not miss out any, just give me some time to update.

VoM - 5 Year Special

5th of November is the 5th year anniversary for Snow and myself (note there is a difference from the formation of X-Wonder anniversary). We got together on 05Nov05. Time passed so quickly.

To celebrate the occassion, we decided to have another special VoM of the month.

As usual all rules will remain the same with only difference in prize.

This time the prize shall depend on your length of video should it become the winning entry. Prize shall start from $50 for video entries of 10secs to 1 min. Then for every 1 more minute or part thereof of video length, the prize will go up by $10, up to a maximum of $150 (10 minutes and above).

For example, if the winning entry is 1min 20secs - prize will be $50 + $10 = $60, if the winning entry is 3mins 40secs - prize will be $50 + $30 = $80, and if the winning video entry is more than 10mins - prize will be $150.

Simply (stand a chance to win):

10secs - 1min = $50
1min 1sec - 2min = $60
2min 1sec - 3min = $70
3min 1sec - 4min = $80
.
.
.
8min 1sec - 9min = $130
9min 1sec - 10min = $140
>10min = $150


Alright, that being said, a very long video is not necessary good. Pls do not try to drag the video just for the sake of standing a chance to win more money. The quality of the video is still the most important; you do not wish to make me fall asleep watching a boring 10min video.


P.S: With the dollar for dollar policy of BPoM, BPoM prize will also be following what the prize payout of VoM turns out to be. So what are you waiting for? Come and get the money if you want to; you may potentially win up to $300 for a good video linked to a good post.

Blog Post of the Month October '10

We have a total of 4 entries for BPoM October and they are:

1. Blogged by Joseph
2. Blogged by Veronica
3. Blogged by Michelle
4. Blogged by Neville

Again we are very happy to see so many quality posts by everyone. It was indeed a tough choice for the winner. The winner for BPoM October goes to...

The post by Joseph. Congratulations you have won yourself the prize of $50.

Joseph's Blog Post once again:

Joseph - Joe Theory of Cheerleading

A very well written post by Joseph, and I would recommend every cheerleader (especially the bases) to follow Joseph's blog as he would consistently update it with lots of his training experiences and which are very valuable to all. Keep up with the improvements and continue to share them with everyone. Jiayou.

Comments by Chaang:

"Joseph has selflessly shared his learning experience into a readily accessible webspace which enables cheerleaders who are still trying this stunt to understand what difficulties he is facing. With this blog entry, ppl are able to learn faster by avoiding the mistakes he has made, and to build on what he has discovered during his trial and error process."

A big thank you to everyone for your continuous support of BPoM. If you have not started blogging yet, start now and stand to win prize money with your efforts.


P.S: Stay tuned for next month BPoM

Video of the Month October '10

Had a very hectic September and very quickly it is October again. It is time again to reveal the winner for VoM. Let us recap the 7 entries for VoM October:

1. Video by Evanns tagged by Kaibin
2. Video by Ka Hau
3. Video by Yod tagged by Edward
4. Video by Ruth
5. Video by Joline tagged by Chaang
6. Video by Hann Bin tagged by Ochi
7. Video by Joseph

There were quite a few really good videos this month, and it took my a long time and loss of some hair before I came to the decision. VoM October goes to.......

Evanns from ACES for her promotional video of ACES and also Kaibin for the entry tag. Really good effort by Evanns and also effort by Kaibin to tag the video. Let's take a look at it one more time.




A every nice video showing the lifestyle of a cheerleader. Cheerleading has always been fun and fulfilling in my opinion; not only in terms of the stunting and training, but as a whole package and the video totally captures the essence. This is what made the video stand out to me. Really great use of video editing too, with nice selection of music. It was a really professional piece of work done. Evanns continue to make such wonderful videos k.

So Evanns and Kaibin you 2 won yourselves $50.

Thanks to all who supported.


P.S: Get ready for November VoM

September

A hectic and fulfilling month of September.

LASIK
Astros 3rd performance
ATCI
Hongkong
Planning for Astros biggest ever performance
Planning for Alpha 1st performance with the freshies

7th entry for October VoM

The 7th entry for October VoM is posted and tagged by Joseph from Alpha Verve. Out of all the entries for October, I have to say that I felt the happiest when I watched this video. I have watched Joseph and Mic improve steadily since the day I first met them. And now to achieve a toss cupie is indeed a significant milestone for them. Goal setting is very important and I have to say that Joseph is a big believer of this and it has work wonders for him.





P.S: Joseph now it is time to aim to hit it during performances or competitions

BPoM 4th entry for October

The post is titled "The alphabets of Cheerleading" blogged and tagged by Neville, coach of Magnum is our 4th entry for BPOM October. The post lists the A-Z of cheerleading, listing many aspects/elements of cheerleading. All in all, Neville is trying to spread a message about cheerleading, and that is:

"Positivity is the only way to go in cheerleading. Cheer our team, cheer on other teams, take the competition as a challenge, push on and keep improving."

Check out the post by Neville: 4th BPoM October entry or here


P.S: SG Cheerleading has indeed came a long way

Prize Presentation for VoM September'10 Winner

VoM is in it's 6th month or half a year, and a total of 8 prizes had been given out so far. For the winner of the 6th month, September, we have Ruth from Astros.






P.S: VoM October will be announced tomorrow and stay tuned for special announcement for November VoM.

6th entry for October VoM

We have our 6th entry, a video by posted by Hann Bin and tagged by Ochi. I have to say that that was 1 of the highest roundoff backtuck I have seen. A little intro about Hann Bin as he is totally new to cheerleading. Hann Bin probably just joined Wildcards for about 2 months now, but his ability to learn is amazing. Being a physically strong guy too, at this rate, Hann Bin you will probably become truly magnificient.





P.S: Nice face by IZ. haha. And Ken congrats for doing your ROBT.

5th entry for October VoM

5th entry for October VoM is uploaded by Joline and tagged by Chaang. Good job Winston, simply zai. Took me 3 years to hit a toss extension then cupie, and you took less than a year. Winston, a cheerleader from Wildcards, though relatively new to SG cheerleading, has already won himself a championship in 2010 mix group stunts. Winston with his cheerful and hyper nature, and ever willingness to share and help; definitely is full of potential to be in cheerleading for the long term.





P.S: Jiayou Winston, now do it with every flyer

BPoM September Prize Presentation

The BPoM September is jointly won by Xinyi and Michelle from Legacy. Together they won themselves $50. Congratulations. And now to the prize presentations.

Xinyi receiving the prize from Chaang

$50 cheque

4th entry for October VoM

The 4th entry for October VoM is by Ruth from ASTROS. First of all congratulations for getting 2nd in the Partner Stunt Category for ATCI 2010, you have done SG cheer proud. The video posted is during the warm ups of the competition. Nice display of the different array of partner stunts.





P.S: Congrats once again to Ruth and Kah Weng for the great performance at ATCI. Next up SNCC for the 2 of you, continue to WOW us.

BPoM 3rd entry for October

The 3rd BPoM October is a post by Michelle on Legacy's blog. The post is titled "How far do you want to go?" and it immediately goes on to say:
Successes is to be measured, not so much by the position that one has reached in life, but as by the obstacles which one has overcome, while trying to succeed

This is a highly motivational post. It talks about working hard for your goals, there is no limits and most of all teamwork. There is no 'I' in 'TEAM'. Everyone has a part to play in the development of a team.

Check out the post by Michelle: 3rd BPoM October entry or here


P.S: I especially loved the cute cartoon pictures depicting about teamwork.

Circadian rhythm sleep disorders

Now all that I started researching about sleep, it got me more and more interested about sleep. So as I continued my “sleep education”, (again from wiki) it was suggested that people with the circadian rhythm disorder (a sleeping disorder) typically displays polyphasic sleep patterns. So I dwell deeper into the topic and discovered a lot more. I shall share just a tiny portion which I felt describes my case (you can research at wiki for other cases).

A little definition about circadian rhythm disorder:

Circadian rhythm sleep disorders are a family of sleep disorders affecting, among other things, the timing of sleep. People with circadian rhythm sleep disorders are unable to sleep and wake at the times required for normal work, school, and social needs. They are generally able to get enough sleep if allowed to sleep and wake at the times dictated by their body clocks.

It can be further broken down and one of the types (a type that describes my sleep habits) is Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome (DSPS)

Delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS) is characterized by a much later than normal timing of sleep onset and offset and a period of peak alertness in the middle of the night.

Only now I finally know that I am suffering from a type of sleeping disorder for a big part of my life. I always knew I was a late sleeper, but never did I thought that it was medically considered a sleeping disorder. It was also because of my having Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome (DSPS), that triggered my polyphasic sleep patterns. Well I guess if given a choice, I would sleep late but have uninterrupted monophasic sleep for 8 hours like I do so back in my NTU hall days, where I usually sleep after 4am and wake up at noon. However because of work now, I cannot afford to sleep till noon, hence my body had to adapt to polyphasic sleep patterns where I nap a few times a day.

No wonder I always felt more refreshed at night than in the day.


P.S: Maybe I should go see a doctor.

ATCI

Bon Voyage and all the best to the teams taking part in this weekend's ATCI competition. Now that training had ended, the stress is over and it is time to showcase.


P.S: The process itself of being there for the competition is priceless.

3rd entry for October VoM

The 3rd entry for October VoM is a video done by Yod and tagged by Edward, the coach and captain of KR Steppers respectively. Enjoyed watching the video alot, loved the music used and also the way the clips were filmed and arranged together. Also we were given a preview of what KR Steppers will be performing for their group stunt competition routine in this weekend's ATCI competition in Thailand. Nice stunts and looking very neat and sharp; great job by Steppers and especially Yod for the chereography and coaching. All the best and good luck once again for ATCI.





P.S: Yod you are ZAI!

BPoM 2nd entry for October

The 2nd BPoM October is by Veronica. I first knew Veronica, or Veron in short as they called her, from Spectrum. It is really nice to see Veron playing a part in promoting cheerleading in SG cheer scene, to raise the awareness in a friendly and informal way as she puts it. A little abstract below:

Why go?(NTU Hall 5 Cheer Clinic)

How often do you get the chance to try cheerleading without any experience in anything? Almost ZERO. It’s something new, it’s something fun. And definitely an ego-booster for guys. What’s holding up weights compared to holding up girls? For girls, the view up there is definitely different from ground level, something your 3 inch high heels won’t achieve, trust me. No matter what words that I am using now would never better explain than joining our cheer clinic and experiencing the thrill yourself. Don’t wait, pick up your phone now and contact us! We look forward to see you at our cheer clinic. :]

So if you guys out there want to do something that you have not done in the past 18-22 years of your life, please go have a try out at NTU Hall 5 Cheer Clinic. Like it says,"Life’s too short to hesitate, just go for it."

Check out the post by Veronica: 2nd BPoM October entry or here


P.S: Let's help bring cheerleading to every nook and cranny in Sinagpore

2nd entry for October VoM

We have the 2nd video entry for October VoM by Ka Hau. It is the skills tape for Wildcards cheerleading team. Wildcards had indeed grown by leaps and bounds since it began back in 2008. A nicely done video showcasing the individual skills of Wildcards, and also the time and coordination efforts put into this project is not to be overlooked. Looking forward to more videos showcasing the other elements of cheerleading such as gymnastics, pyramids, tosses, cheer etc.

BPoM 1st entry for October

The 1st BPoM October by Joseph from Alpha Verve. The post contains many valuable points from Joseph's personal experiences in tumbling as well as stunting. One point mentioned in the post that I would like to highlight especially is "Burst, Follow, Cushion, Lock". Indeed cheerleading revolves around this 4 points; which I think the hard part is not knowing about the 4 points, but the hard part comes in executing them. Jiayou.

Check out the post by Joeseph: 1st BPoM October entry or here

1st entry for October VoM

1st video entry for October VoM - A video done by Evanns and tagged by Kaibin. A really fantastic video done by Evanns about what it meant to be an ACES cheerleader. It is true that to be a champion cheerleader, many sacrifices had to be made, and it certainly is not for the weak minded. But also the lifestyle of a champion cheerleader is also very rewarding and filled with many activities and experiences you can never find in any other place.

Do you guys have what it takes to live the lifestyle of a champion?





P.S: If you are not willing to make that sacrifice, take that leap of faith, you will never know the man/woman you might become.

Polyphasic sleep

Today I was reading Yahoo news and I came across an article "Napping gets a nod at work”. I almost wanted to forward the article to my boss. Haha.

Many people came up to me before and ask me, “Xingwei, how do you do it? How do you sleep so late and manage your day job and cheer life at night?” (on average I sleep at 2-3am and wake at 6am for work) I always told them passion fuels me and I take naps whenever I could in the day.

Now after reading the article “Napping gets a nod at work”, I got to learn of a new term - polyphasic ultrashort sleep. I got a little information from the article and then when to research more information about polyphasic sleep; as usual just google it.

As you would most of the times, wikipedia is the top search result and it states Polyphasic sleep, a term coined by early 20th century psychologist J.S. Szymanski, refers to the practice of sleeping multiple times in a 24-hour period and does not imply any particular sleep schedule.

And also in the top 3 results, I also found a blog on polyphasic sleep - http://polyphasic.blogspot.com/. It is a blog by a few “researchers” on their experiment on polyphasic sleep and also you can find from the blog some basic introduction about polyphasic sleep.

A little extract from the blog:

“On this schedule, I feel quite normal. I am alert, creative and able to do any activity as if I were monophasic. So I guess I've reached one goal. I've discovered a sleeping pattern that I can maintain for long periods of time that will net me 3.5 - 4.5 extra hours per day.”

And after more research, I found out that Polyphasic sleep is considered scientifically tested, a way one could be able to squeeze out more hours in a day without the need to sleep that much, by taking more power naps in between. As described in the blog it is a useful tool to get extra waking hours in the day.

So I guess having polyphasic sleep had been how I was managing my time and sleep, a more scientific way to answer those who asked me “how do I do it?”

My schedule goes something like this: about 45mins nap while I take the transport to work, another 45 to 60mins nap during lunch, and another 45 mins nap while I take transport out of the island (I work on an island). So add that to 3 hours of sleep at night, I could almost net 6 hours a day; only just in much more and shorter phases of sleep.


P.S: Though I would still prefer to be able to get more sleep

Video of the Month September '10

We have a total of 6 entries for VoM September, each with a chance to win $50. Let us recap the entries:

1. Video by Gary
2. Video by Chaang
3. Video by Ian tagged by Ruth
4. Video by Ruth
5. Video by Zhaoming
6. Video by Kah Hau

And the winner of VoM September goes to.......

Ruth from Astros for posting her video of their training for ATCI Partner Stunt Competition. Let's give her a round of applause


A very nice video of the progress of training for their routine. It shows the failures but also the never give up spirit. Jiayou for your Partner Stunt competition, and show them what Singapore is about. The competition is to be held this month, on 17th and 18th, please show them your encouragement and lend them your support.

And Ruth you have won yourself $50.

Thanks to all who supported.


P.S: Start of the 5th year