stunting with insufficient sleep is a no-no

was pretty disappointed with my performance on saturday. granted I was very zoned out due to my lack of sleep after orientation camp but looking back I think I could have gathered more energy and strength during that short 2.5 minute performance. didnt really get a good stunt feel while warming up my stunts, it just feels as if I had to use a little bit more strength to toss and stuff, resulting in a pretty huge and unacceptable drop in control. even my toss shoulder with jasmine failed once which was really the low point for me for that day.

tried to fight for my opening cupie but ended up still dropping simin 1 count early, dismount timing for group stunt was late, the 270 was successful due to jasmine, candy, jen and gerard fighting for the stunt. dance was totally flaccid, which made me-the-not-so-good-dancer look even more pathetic.

probably should have expected camp to be this tiring and perhaps opted to sit out of this performance. oh wells, lesson learnt I guess, if I am going to put up such a dismal performance it would be much better if I dont perform at all.

on a better note, managed to get my toss lib during the subsequent stunt fest, still working on my toss cupie. really want to get my left cupie within two weeks if possible. direct right cupie lib feels awesome when I hit it with perle, more practice needed to bring up the hit rate.

pstunting

really wanted to get my cupie sequence during diy after dropping the stunt 3 times when we tried on saturday. apparently simin was heeling a lot then and I did not have the strength/know how to fight back which resulted in the cupie falling back alot.

simin managed to fix her heeling in 1 session and towards the end the cupies were very very relaxing already. still trying to grip the sides of the shoes but it seems like I'm still having problem with my thumb, need to try to spread my thumb a bit more. the floating in to the stunt feels very comfortable too.

tried a few left libs before trying my left cupie, the float feels the same as my right cupie already but I think I need to hit the gym more as I cant seem to take the weight at all. my toss feels much better already, seem to be able to hit my toss ex-es quite easily. towards the end we tried toss to ex before popping down and tossing to ex again, but we can only go to hands level only. will try again next time.

really want to show my cupie to the team this sat, hope we don't lose the feeling!

trainings and performances

gym training on friday left me really sore for a few days, was simply just backtucking over and over again into the foam pit before trying on the ground. I need to be more conscious about jumping up straight with my heels on the ground so that I dont end up throwing my knees forward and losing power. apparently I started getting the feel at bazgym but I keep reverting to my old ways on cheer mats for some reason, perhaps I'm just afraid cos I'm not used to the new feeling yet.

was quite happy with president star charity performance, felt that the stunts were hit very cleanly so I didnt have to end up using a lot of energy to fight stunts. and tried pstunt heel stretch and scorpion with biyi for the first time and it felt quite good. the photos taken also looked quite impressive even though its basically just a lib for me hahaha.

macs performance was quite fun and a bit confusing too cause it was finalised at the very last minute. was quite happy as my lib went up very comfortably even without warm up before that, think I'm slowly getting used to stunting without having to warm up stunts prior to that. dropped my single take extension with biyi early for the final stunt though, acks.

was doing a lot of btosses during training on tuesday and I'm quite sure I've gotten the feel for btosses already, to the extent that it feels quite relaxing and second nature for almost all the tosses. I'm slowly enjoying watching flyers do their elements in the air instead of fearing injuries like last time. 7 cupies at the end was still not stable, ochi had to help me support my wrist, have to keep gymming to get more strength.

weekend performances

was involved in the BT55 celebrations and *scape opening on saturday and sunday respectively, and we had to wait for a really really long time on both days before getting to perform.

really glad that the pstunt+pyramid segment for the BT55 performance went well but for some reason my shoulderstand with chengyee went up a bit late. felt that what eric said was very true, no one will be interested in the reason why stunts do not go up, all they will remember is that something went wrong. and that particular incident stood out like a sore thumb (at least to me) when we were looking at the video recording after that. surely getting the shoulderstand eventually would be better than not going up at all but this is no consolation, not too sure what I could have done to ensure a higher hit rate.

wasnt supposed to be a involved for the *scape opening but went early instead just to support and to play, in the end gary and I were btossing alan and it was really fun for some reason. the baskets were really really high and alan has amazing body control, just that the landing were a bit heavy cos I think he's not too used to cradling. its the first time I've seen someone do an arabian kickout (??) anyway.

since we had so much time before the performances, we diy-ed as usual. managed to hit my left cupie for the first time with perle, and at the same time stabilising my right. I'm able to hit my right cupie fairly consistently already, but I'm still a little perplex how some of the cupies seem to slip out of my hand. perle said that she doesnt feel like the platform's tilted or she's tipping, perhaps will get someone to take a look and get some pointers soon.

started trying toss to ex with closed legs to try to get the feeling for toss cupies, its still a lot of work in progress hahaha!

yog routine

spent the whole training on tuesday practising for the yog routine on 19 jun and for some reason I was thoroughly tired after the end of training. I was trying to be sincere every time we ran routine, and even though most of the stunts went up I felt that there were still quite a lot of room for improvements.

opening partner stunt segment feels quite shaky, even for the initial extension, not too sure if this is due to me or biyi or perhaps just due to us having to do with timing. still need to work a little on the transition to shoulder stand and the moment back into pyramids.

apparently my shoulder stand is done with my back arcing back quite a lot, which results in the midtier tipping quite a bit. this leaves a dull ache at my lower back after training which hopefully is not a strain. the tips given to me were not to tilt my head up so much just to look at the stunt (rather just rolling my eyes upwards to see), and to hunch and roll my shoulders inwards to keep my upper body compact. shall keep trying to improve the next session.

feeling quite confident of my full up and btoss already, and its a nice time to catch my breath during the routine.

toe pitched for the first time yesterday in a really long time, the last time I did that was perhaps during ACES camp. was glad I didnt lose the feeling at all, just that the first time I tried it I overestimated the strength required and ended up almost throwing biyi over nellie =P. subsequent tosses were more controlled and much better.

inspired

Eric from Vancouver came down for saturday's training and even though we didnt have a place to train cause of some admin miscommunication, I must admit that I probably learnt the most in one single session. its even quite awe-inspiring just watching him do stunts and I thought he was a little limited by the standard of our flyers!

shall just list out the things eric taught me in one single day:

1) all the power from tossing comes from the legs, keep your back straight and try to jump off the ground when tossing

2) visualise every single stunt and control my strength to just hit it, not too much not too little

3) try to toss extension every single time and your toss will improve. this really worked as I was able to toss nellie and huishan almost to an extension towards the end of the session.

4) relax, before and during the stunt

5) full ups are just mega tosses with a small flick at the end.

6) press upwards with the balls of my palms, I should be able to counter any flyer tipping forward

7) pop down and catch my own flyer as if there are no spotters at all, not being able to do so is simply wimpy

yup that's almost everything, and I am still very very inspired.

stunt endurance

yesterday's training was mainly focused on practising for the yog performance and I'm learning a lot during the entire process. pstunts to shoulder stand sounded easy but I was trying to get my stability and sharpness which makes things quite challenging. not to mention that I have to hold the stunt for quite some time, which gets pretty tiring after 2 or 3 consecutive runs. thankfully biyi's such a nice flyer who's always so obliging when I want to practice a few more times.

had some time to try walk to glad shoulder stand, and I seem to be able to hit it quite easily. however I think my left right imbalance extends even to my back muscles, my left back seems to be working way harder for shoulder stands for some reason.

tried rewind for a while at the end of training, looks and sounds interesting but I'm only at the theory stage only haha.

weekend training + selections

its fast becoming a trend of me coming to office on monday with my mind refreshed but my body aching all over due to weekend trainings haha. we had selections on saturday and I'm quite glad that I made it even though I'm still very raw at many places, really appreciate vincent's effort for frantically writing down all the pointers during the tryouts. it's the first time I've been put through the paces and its a really interesting experience.

lost my feel for btosses after coming back from japan, apparently I reverted to my old habit of sinking too much. it was a little frustrating but I should be able to get that feeling back after a few more practice, it really is hard to unlearn something that I have been executing for nearly a whole year already.

saw my pstunts video for the first time too, and my right biased problem is really apparent. also discovered certain things about myself that I did not know previously, like squatting quite a lot pressing up to libs and cupies (probably due to my lack of arm and shoulder strength), and shuffling around a lot which seem to make the whole stunt very unstable. not too sure how to correct these problems yet but will ask and learn.

gym on sunday was super fun but tiring as usual, and I finally manage to do a straight round off after quite some time. used to be able to do it but for some reason it just got worse and worse. my backtuck on the springy ground felt really good too and I even managed to land standing for a few of my tucks. isaac and weihoe asked me to do on harder ground after that to get used to a jump with less height. shall attempt a robt next gym training if everything goes well, looking forward to it already.

on a side note, I was super glad this morning when I woke up with no pains in my ankles and knees. don't really want to go through the entire experience again, it was really kind of scary.

refreshed!

trained for the first time in one whole week and I must admit my body had a very good rest after the trip to japan. my ankles and knees feel much much better, I practically do not feel any pain anymore, but I'll have to see how well they fair after gymnastics on sunday. of course I am keeping my fingers crossed that they are fully healed!

went to stunt at smu yesterday and my toss feels much more powerful, and I can actually feel my back muscles at work. not really sure what I'm doing differently but my toss feels very straight and fast now.

learning how to fight a cupie now and my right wrist and forearm are aching a little due to the lactic buildup but it should get better. was really happy hitting a toss ex double take lib double take cupie pop down, but I still need to practice more to get the consistency.

missing japan a lot for some reason, and its stirring my desire to compete in the 5th CAIO next year.

4th CAIO in Japan

just returned yesterday from Japan, went there with the senior team who was competing in the 4th Cheerleading Asia International Open in Tokyo's Yoyogi stadium. the competition was held over the weekend (15-16 May) and the scores over both days were combined to determine a winner.

there were a few categories at the competition, most of the teams were actually all girls team, with only a few mixed teams. for the international mixed category, taiwan was represented by two teams (CMIT and TPEC), thailand sent vanquish and there was another team from korea.

got to sit right in front of the cheer mats for the entire duration of the competition as a member of the press, and I must say that its probably the best seat in the stadium even though its cold hard ground. being only 5 metres from the mats just meant that everyone's facial expressions and actions were super clear. there was really a stark contrast between the top teams and the other teams when there were difficulties hitting stunts, most of the girls from the top few teams really had their smiles fixed on their faces even when the stunts don't hit nicely, its really something to learn from. even the bases had their smiles fixed on even though most people wouldnt be even looking at them.

all the competing teams also prepared colour cards which they flash during every team's cheer segment. its really quite electrifying seeing the entire stadium chanting out the team's colours and flashing the corresponding cards. the japanese cheerleaders also seem to boundless amounts of energy cheering and waving their pompoms.

CMIT won first, TPEC came in second while Vanquish wrapped up the top 3. the competition was between the two taiwanese teams for first and second spot as vanquish was quite comfortably in third while aces had a lot to do after the first day to overtake vanquish. both taiwanese teams had double base rewinds, while CMIT had 2 720 221s in their routine. most of their cheerleaders have 6-7 years of cheerleading experience and even the youngest there have at least 4, which is really apparently in terms of their stability and their tumbling.

what I felt was lacking among all international teams as compared to the japanese teams was the short dance segment. most of the jap teams didnt have very complicated dances, yet they manage to execute their dances with a lot of rhythm and neatness which makes even the simplest dances look very refreshing and energetic.

I also had to give it to the jap girls with their tumbling, most of them can at least do a backhand spring and during the whole competition there were some really horrendous headplants but every single one of them picked themselves up smiling and continued with the routine as if nothing happened. ditto the crazy pyramid falls where the shoulder stand probably got stepped on by midtiers and tops.

would really like to be back there for competition next year, but in the meantime, its time to up my training already.

weekend trainings

was pretty exhausted after weekend training this week, partially due to my flu/cough which I have yet to fully recover from. went to see a doctor today to get some antibiotics today, hopefully it will get better before going off to japan.

did more basics on sat and I finally got the hang for btosses. felt much more relaxing and the heights of the tosses seem to be generally higher than those previously. quite happy the jayson is starting to get the hang of the btosses too, when he finally gets it I'm quite sure the btosses with him will be super high considering his height advantage (>8cm taller than me). realised that it can be quite enjoyable when flyers do their elements cleanly in the air and cradle properly, must have done more than 50 tosses on sat without even realising it.

managed to hit a cupie with perle too, which is my fifth time hitting it and the first time succeeding with someone else besides huishan. hahaha I'm pretty sure huishan compensates quite a lot to ensure the cupie stays up so I was pleasantly surprised when I hit it with perle. being a bit more conscious bout dropping my shoulders before going into libs/cupies and it sure works quite well. really need to get well soon so that I can start gymming and improve my left side.

gymnastics was really exhausting on sunday, and most of those who were there were already soaked through after doing the warmup+strengthening exercises. could barely last halfway through most of the strengthening exercises, think it might be useful for me to start doing those everyday to train up my legs are core.

starting to perfect my standing backtuck, apparently I havent been jumping to my max before going into the tuck, which results in my calves being slightly bent and me landing in front of my takeoff spot. looking at a faraway point and delaying my tuck to the highest point feels much better as I can open and almost land standing straight. need to improve on my tuck tightness though, looks like I'm doing a backpike instead of a backtuck now.

played around a little and managed to get the hang for a front tuck too thanx to chris simin and jasmine, I'll probably do that for recreation for the time being considering the most important thing to get now will be my robt.

coach taught me some of the exercises I can do to straighten my round off, and one of the most important one is to get a very stable handstand. he said that once my round off is consistently straight, it will be easy for me to add elements after the round offs. I'll be doing the backhandspring exercises in the meantime too to slowly get it, will need it anyway if I want to do a 3-pass eventually.

on a side note, wearing contacts during training really makes a huge lot of difference.

may!

it has only been a month since I started this blog but I realised that I've made some improvements reading some of the earlier entries. my ankles are feeling much better now, at least I don't wake up in the morning with both my ankles feeling tight. my right knee is still sore though, feels like my knee cap is a little loose, perhaps I need to do more strengthening exercises so that it doesn't get worn out so quickly.

went for 2 diy sessions on sunday and yesterday and was just spending time getting my toss and cupie+stabilising my lib. apparently my right shoulder droops subconsciously a bit in anticipation of a cupie/lib, and the resulting pop is a bit too uncontrolled. popping into stunts feels much more controlled without the unnecessary anticipation.

my right hand is already visibly larger than my left, will be gymming on non training days with much more emphasis placed on my left side. stunting should be much easier with more balanced left right strength.

lots more to learn

went for wildcards training on saturday to take a look at how they conduct their usual trainings and to learn new techniques and stunts. I must admit that it was really an eye-opening experience. have always been hearing/watching youtube videos of some of their players doing stunts and finally getting to learn first hand from these guys was truly valuable.

started off doing backspotting for elevator pop twist before moving on to assisted full up+retake. the assisted full up part feels very similar to a 360. tried the retake part a few times but I still cant seem to get the repositioning of my hands, do understand the basic idea behind it so its just more practice. this stunt isnt too complex, but it really involves a lot of control.

got to do btosses with gary after that and he taught me yet another method. apparently it was what the kentucky cheerleaders taught them the other time and it feels very powerful especially when I catch the timing properly and use all the strength from my legs. this method seems to remove the strain on my knees and ankle which I felt constantly last time when using the close-legged method.

I must admit that my impression of gary has changed a lot since the first time I saw him glare at the pstunts spotters during cheerobics 2009. he's actually a very approachable person who's very willing to teach and explain the finer intricacies of stunts repeatedly. ahaha and at the end of the day, he's another one who's trying to slack as much as he can. i'll really want to emulate his tossing strength and power, he really makes it look so effortless!

relearnt my lib during pstunting sesson at the end of training, they do actually have a fairly structured pstunting training programme which seems quite beneficial judging from the stability and locking tightness of the bases and flyers in general. i think it was joline who noticed that I was taking a long time to move my left hand into the final leap position, and simply changing this really made the stunt almost totally stable. zhiliang also taught me how to use my entire core to control the stunt should the flyer's cg start wandering.

tried a bit of lib hi lo tick tock after that, i have no idea why isaac just started teaching me that instead of asking me to try a cupie which seemed more logical. I seemed to have some problems lowering the flyer into the low position, which was due to my elbows' positions (haha I only realised this much later on the way home). I'm quite looking forward to trying this stunt again for some unexplained reasons haha. my toss to ex is getting better too!

got chided a few times for unnecessary loading/cushioning by various people who all emphasised that its important for flyers to do their own things properly so that the stunts can be executed properly. really havent seen things from this point of view as I've always thought that doing a bit more to help flyers/bases is a good thing, but come to think about it, compensating unnecessarily for them will just hinder their learning progress. this seems to reiterate what the nbu cheerleaders were saying the other time, when everyone does their part properly, stunts will go up much more easily and effortlessly.

really learnt a lot in this short 5 hr session and would really like to thank everyone who gave me the opportunities to try, and helped me with pointers+advice. looking forward to magnum's training later on.

group stunts

there were quite a few people who could take a break from their studies to stunt a bit yesterday so we organised a small group stunting session to try out some group stunts. the focus for unofficial trainings have always been pstunts so I wanted to try out some new stuff just to develop overall technique. I remembered learning and improving a lot last year when we were trying out all sorts of group stunts for cheerobics (which we didn't take part in in the end), so was looking forward a bit to trying those again.

we ended up just trying out 270 with variations and its quite nice to see everyone starting to get the hang of it, py finally knowing what's letting the weight sink in, yx controlling his extension much better, and the flyers knowing how to step and turn at the highest point. I was tossing more at the start, which was also beneficial as I can slowly feel my tosses feeling more effortless.

managed to hit a 270 to direct single lib with amanda which was quite surprising cause it was meant to be a 3 base stunt but somehow py and yx didnt know how to catch so it became single base. it really felt super good and I should think it looks super good too, didn't use much strength at all going up into the stunt! even though its may be a simple stunt to others, it really proved to me once again that most of the time we end up erecting mental barriers even before we try certain stuff, convincing ourselves that its not possible/will not be stable/doesn't seem to make sense even before we try.

I remember I was once like that in spectrum and it really hindered my progress, I really started learning when I just decided that its okay to keep failing cause eventually I'll be able to hit stunts. I did for a point in time think that round offs will probably be my max for gymnastics cause I was heavy, and that the only pstunts I can do are those two handed ones. Maybe I should think less and be convinced that I can get my cupie, left lib, tick tock and round off backtucks in a matter of time.