Sunday, October 31, 2010

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

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

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

Friday, October 22, 2010

Standing Back Tuck


Tuesday, October 19, 2010

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.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

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

Friday, October 15, 2010

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.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

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.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

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

Monday, October 4, 2010

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

Saturday, October 2, 2010

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.