Coaching!

So today I did my first ever coaching program and it went pretty well. I'll be coaching a team of 12-20 primary school kids for a month before their speed climbing competition at the end of March. Well today was more of an intro to climbing for them because most of them are actually unfamiliar with the sport :O so we split the team into two, me and another coach took 6 of them, 5 guys and a girl. I'll try and recall their names I think there's Ariel, Bridon, Brandon, Dexter, Mr Yau (it's the nickname his teacher gave him cause he's the naughtiest one HAHA) and Amanda. Omg I remember all their names but I bet none of them remember mine LOL. ok so anyway we did some top rope climbing and auto belay with them, after that they tried out some bouldering. It was a short 2 hour introductory session. Taught them some basic techniques like tripod, matching hands, changing feet, high step , stepping with their toes, shaking off when they're tired etc. really really basic. Ariel was really good because he had prior climbing experience, he managed to complete a 5C+ which is pretty remarkable for a kid his age. The other guys are not bad too; Bridon was a really determined kid even though he wasn't as good as the other guys. Mr Yau was a problematic one though because he was scared of heights and didn't dare to come down when using auto belay and he just can't pay attention/follow instructions. Had to grab his feet a few times and adjust it on the tiles to force him to step with his toes. Oh and I think the girl feels pretty left out cause she's the only girl in the group lol. Hopefully that'll change as more trainings go by. Anyway it was a great time coaching time cause they were generally more well behaved than I expected and they seem receptive to learn from me :)

After the coaching was over, I felt reat tempted to climb.... And so I did ._. Went to climb with two of my colleague climbers haha. That sounds so cool, colleague climbers is like an alliteration right? I just couldn't resist any more even though this fucking finger is still strained. I lied to myself that I'll do some light climbing and then ended up doing intense routes LOL. Zzzz I really hope my finger recovers soon. It's really been pissing me off. 

Every morning I wake up and the first thing I'll do is press that finger just hoping that it'll bring no pain. Every night I fall asleep thinking when the hell will this injury end. 

Oh yeah, if you happen to be a new reader of my blog, then welcome to my blog! I know it's really wordy but just think about it as a window to my inner thoughts because I think everyday everyone thinks just about as much as I do, if not even more, some people like me just choose to write it down somewhere. I hope you'll understand new reader. It's gonna be a lot about climbing, so if you're not interested in that then just get lost I don't need you here :) haha just kidding. I think I'm too high from today that I can't fall asleep anymore 

Anyway I'm working tmr again. It's almost 2am so it's best I sleep soon. 

It's been a long day

So today I woke up early and went over to Chee's house to gym with him. Two of his other friends came along to join us later on. It was one of the few times I decided to go to the gym because I rarely like going but since I'm injured and can't climb I decided to give it a go. Anyway I think it does help to build up my upper body strength even more and at the same time work on training my legs since I hardly train my legs lol. People say that they skip legs day, I don't even have a legs day hahaha. After that three of us went to eat lunch with Nic at the NUS law campus cause that's where he works. Pretty cool right. Then I went to school to help set routes for the mock comp which is happening tmr. Jups decided to let me set most of the inter woman routes. I hope the two girls in inter currently enjoy doing my routes tmr because I sure had fun setting them! :D I think that generally the routes that I had set are not that strength based or span biased at all, rather it requires proper route planning and the right beta if they want to flash it. I especially enjoyed the route that I set on the tsunami wall which requires a lot of thinking and fancy footwork! I think that for competitions, it is not the strongest climber that always wins, sometimes it's the one that's smarter. This is something that I should also remind myself, because I haven't been smart lately for getting myself injured -.- anyway good luck to them for the mock comp tmr!:D oh yeah, on the way back we also met this enthu sh1 who wanted to join climbing and he kept begging us to help him join. Apparently he went for the tryouts but he wants to guarantee a place in climbing. He even asked me how many pull ups he should show me so that I'll put in a commendation for him LOL. I told him to do 15, cause that's how many I could do  when I first joined. He managed to do it in the end and we were quite impressed. I think he'll make a good team member too since he has a determined attitude with a smug nature which all climbers tend to have LOL. But this has really amazed me as to how much climbing has grown, such that new members are even afraid they may not make the team! It made me feel really proud of how far the team has come and it can only get even better :) anyway, I can't watch the mock competiton tmr cause I'll be working :( but it's alright, work is pretty interesting too; with the right people :D 

Superficiality

What does it take to be successful? Intelligence? Money? Fitness? Good looks? An outstanding personality? Men's greed for success seems never ending. We're all striving to make ourselves different from others; yet we're all the same because of our mindset.

Some people are naturally gifted with these abilities which grant them success. Others are not as fortunate and have to work hard to gain these advantages. 

In this pursuit, we ironically discover more about others rather than ourselves. People treat you better when you're more successful, and that's the harsh truth of society. So we just keep on pushing, in the hopes of getting approval from others when all of this should have been done for our own satisfaction instead. 

So where do you and I stand now? On the edge of falling into adulthood, what have we gained that makes us successful? The answer is simple. We have gained superficiality; knowing how to play the game of being judged and judging others. 

Hiatus?!

So unfortunately I injured my fourth finger on my left hand severely enough such that I have to reluctantly go on a 2 week hiatus. It hurts a lot when I press on the first segment of my fourth finger nearest to my palm and I can't grip tiles without feeling a sharp pain in that finger. Sigh. This sucks so much. First ever injury I got from climbing but I guess I deserved it for being reckless enough to climb 7 days in a row. I've learnt my lesson now. Once this injury heals I'll climb moderately. I used to think that I would not get injured, that somehow I was a lucky guy because all my time in NS I've never gotten an MC/got injured, and all my time in climbing I've never got injured as well. But this has proven me wrong and though I'm quite depressed about it I'll just have to deal with it. I really hope this finger will recover soon enough. In the meantime, I'll continue to do my PT sets at home and increase the intensity since I won't be climbing that much. And of course, training the other fingers as well cause I don't want my finger strength to slip away. 

Anyway two things have been bugging lately.

One of these things is that during CNY a few of my relatives and even my own mother commented that I'm anti social/too quiet. Well I'm quite upset to hear that, because that's not who I really am. But who knows who they really are when everyone would act differently when they're with different people? Only a hypocrite would act the same way with everyone they know. I'm not saying that I'm not close with my relatives, in fact I grew up with most of my cousins. But it's just that in a big group of people that come to visit or when it comes to visiting other people's house, I just end up making small talk, which I really hate and find pointless. If not, I'll just be listening to other people's conversations. If I'm really antisocial, I won't even want to go in the first place, or I'll just be using my phone all the way. And I don't like how some of my relatives like to gossip about each other. It's like a yearly affair that they just have to do, almost like a family tradition to talk bad about your own kin. That's some fucked up shit right there. I thought CNY was about forgive and forget... Anyway, people who think I'm quiet probably don't know me very well. If you think I'm quiet it's either because we're not close or I don't care about you, there's nothing wrong with me. I think there's something even more wrong with someone that just talks non stop about nonsense and bullshit just so they can liven up the atmosphere during reunions. Empty vessels make the most noise. 

The second thing that's been bothering me is that I think I've been too nice to others. Being kind and helpful is great and feels good, but it sucks when people make use of you or don't appreciate you. It's even worse when you feel like you're being used and you just end up getting ignored. I don't want to be an asshole but it seems like the only way to make it in this world is to be one and take advantage of those that are foolish enough like me to be nice to others. It must feel really great to play with the emotions of others huh? 

Fuck I don't even know what I'm saying any more. I'm off to sleep it's been a long tiring day at work and an even more tiring night workout. 

7 Days

So I've been climbing 7 days in a row and today I'm finally taking a break. I've been using snap chat a lot as well lol it's quite a fun app. The past 7 days have been really intense, doing new routes set by different people and trying out some old projects as well while making some progress. Decided to finally take a break as my left thumb started bleeding on the 6th and 7th day and my fourth finger on my left hand started to feel strained. 

Anyway I really want to get this new pair of climbing shoes called the Luchador cause my current pair the Shamans is starting to fall apart. It was a really good show and I'm kinda sad that it's worn out already. But it has served me well and has lasted for a really long time. I even considered buying the same model back again lol. But I think I'll just use my shamans as training shoes for now. 

Well other than climbing and working there's nothing else for me to do on rest days so it gets kinda boring been cooped up at home. But it's good to get some rest every now and then.

Can you hear me? Are you near me? Can we pretend to leave? And then we'll meet again.

Another Wednesday of climbing~

Woke up about 9, had my usual breakfast, then joined my mum and sister for a nice early lunch. Come to think of it, it's been a long time since I ate out with my family. 

After that I went to CA to climb at around 12 which is the opening time lol. 

Did 5x5 Boulder circuit, in which I choose  5 Boulder routes of similar difficulty but with different moves and techniques to complete them and then I do all 5 routes 5 times with no rest between the routes but 5 minutes rest between each round. Did that make sense to you guys? LOL.  So I chose all 5 of the green routes at level 2 of the Boulder gym. During the first round, I fell on two of the green routes and had to re attempt to complete them. But after getting the muscle memory in built again and figuring out the best beta/most efficient way to finish the routes, the second round became easier. The third round was even easier surprisingly. by the fourth round I started to feel shagged but thanks to muscle memory I didn't fall. Only fell once more on the most difficult green route during the last fifth round and had to reattempt the route again. 

Overall it was a good session, I think Boulder circuit really helps to prepare you for competitions because of the similar format. Maybe I should try doing it on routes that I've never seen before so that it's more realistic. But at least this is a start :)

After that did my PT sets of a total of 100 push ups, 100 crunches, 100 leg raises and 100 pull ups. Then went on to do my usual hangboard training and campus rung training. 

Spent the remaining hour before my shift started by doing my two remaining blue route projects at level 1 of the Boulder gym. Didn't make any progress on the newer blue route because I still can't catch that 2nd last tile pinch once again. However, I was really glad that I made progress with the blue route on the overhang wall. It was a route that I thought was fucking impossible on first look but after trying out different parts of the route I found it more possible. All I have to do is to muster the strength and motivation to link up all the parts. 

Went for a quick bite and then started my shift. It wasn't so busy today which was quite surprising cause Wednesdays are usually very packed. I don't know what's wrong with me sometimes, I just can't seem to talk to some people cause I get the feeling that they just don't want to talk, so I just end up sitting in silence which sucks. Worst of all is when you're so bored and all zzz. Oh well. Gotta get used to this feeling since I chose to take on this job. Maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm just a boring guy :( 

Anyway today taught me that a good 3-4hours is more than enough time for a good all rounded training. Looking forward to climb with buff, span and the faggot tmr lol. Hope my fingers can take it after these two days of consecutive climbing. Goodnight everyone :D

Will your eyes still smile from your cheeks?

Hi guys! Went top rope climbing today at CA with the Indian and it was a really great session! And by today I mean Tuesday night because I'm blogging at midnight again lol. 

Managed to red point (finish a route with prior experience on the route in one attempt) all of the 6Cs and 6C+s except for this 6C blue route which I keep taking two to three attempts to complete cause I keep falling at the crux ugh. Also projected the two 7As which are the two hardest routes over there. Managed to reach the second last tile of the Orange 7A without falling, but just can't figure out how to end the route. I'm only able to hold the ending tile with my left hand cause it's a really bad sloper. Maybe on a good day I'll be able to match by locking in with my left hand and just tapping with my right hand hmm. But that's a route that requires me to be really fresh and warmed up. Then there was the other 7A which is a blue route. I managed to complete it with quite a number of falls here and there, but I think I finally got the beta right and I just need another session to link up all the moves. The whole blue route feels like an endless crux cause there's no part that's easy or a good spot to rest. Looking forward to train harder, climb stronger and finish all these routes. Once I am able to top rope everything at CA, then I think I will move on to do lead there. 

Anyway today's climb made me reflect a little. I now have the ability to do more difficult routes, but I lack the right mindset to make particular hard moves on the route. It's only after falling a few times that I discover the right beta. Besides training the physical aspect of my climbing, I think I should also work on my mental state. That means I'll have to climb smarter through reading my route properly and having good visualization skills. To be able to imagine in my mind how I'd climb a route the most efficient way and for my body to execute those moves perfectly. That's the kind of level of climbing I want to be able to reach. Strength and power can only get me so far, the best climbers climb with both their arms and their brain. 

Anw I've just started using snapchat. Damn it's actually quite a fun app LOL. Still not sure about how to use it and all its functions but I'll learn as time goes by. Oh yeah, I also managed to do my very first human flag today while doing hangboard and campus rung training. It's the move that I struggled with the most and I really surprised myself that I was able to hold that position for a few seconds. Maybe all that core training finally paid off :) I feel really fit these days and it's only going to get even better. 

Going to sleep now cause I'm going to climb before I work tmr! Sweet dreams everyone!:)

Lead

I think I've finally settled in to my job at CA. Though the pay isn't good I'm glad that I've made some new wonderful friends and at the same time help to introduce climbing to many new climbers. It feels good to teach others how to climb and explain to them how things work in the gym etc. Sitting at the counter alone can be quite sian at times but it has it's good moments :) oh yeah, I may consider taking the level 3 climbing course or the instructor course if possible. It's quite expensive though but I think it'll be good for me to further my climbing passion this way. 

Not sure if I should climb tmr (I'm referring to monday cause I'm blogging at midnight right now) went to do lead climbing today at yishun SAFRA with the Indian after ages of not doing lead. Glad that I didn't lose that much touch with it. Lead definitely felt more challenging and I struggled to lead the 6Bs and 6Cs, having to fall and rest every now and then. The walls are slightly higher than CA's so it builds more endurance for us and the grading of the routes there are also more accurate even though I realized most of them are very span biased and lack footholds. Maybe I'll be back there to lead every Sunday hmm. Still considering this because a part of me feels that I should focus primarily on bouldering instead even though endurance is important. 

I hate how every night I can't fall asleep. I thought today would be the day I can finally sleep before midnight cause just now I felt quite sleepy during dinner time but now I'm still wide awake -.- 

That's all for today, goodnight everyone :)

It's February!

the second month of the year is here! This month marks the beginning of my job at CA, and I wonder how that will turn out to be. It also means that CNY is coming soon, hoping it'll be enjoyable this year as well :) 

Went to climb yesterday and today at CA, both sessions were really great. Finally completed the final blue route thanks to the span's beta which means I have finished all the routes on level 2 already! :D now all that's left is level 1, which I left only ALL the blue routes and the green route on the overhang. I can feel that I'm getting stronger as I'm starting to increase the intensity and frequency of my training and at the same time I try my best to have a determined and positive mindset whenever I climb. I think it helps a lot mentally when you're motivated to improve. I can't wait to take part in the next upcoming competition and see how well I fare; hopefully I can secure a place in finals and promote to inter at last :) oh yeah, I'm planning to start doing lead climbing soon as well to build up my endurance too. 

Lol anyway just now my parents were being weird. They told me that they had letter for me; a letter which they kept hidden from me since my birthday in 2013. They said that they kept the letter a secret because they didn't want me to feel disappointed on my birthday then. I was really confused at first and wondered what the letter was all about. They handed the letter to me and I started laughing my ass off when I saw it LOL. It was a rejection letter from Cambridge because I tried applying for it last time in 2013. I laughed because I actually knew about the rejection long ago as Cambridge emailed me about it. I also laughed because I was already so depressed on my birthday 2 years ago, so the rejection letter wouldn't make it any worse anyway. However, I'm glad that I managed to get over it and move on in the end. Today I can genuinely say that I am happy with my life, especially because of climbing. I've never felt so much thrill before in any other sport and I just enjoy every moment of it. Turns out there's always something good whenever everything seems bad.

Anyway some of the climber guys are enlisting soon; I hope all goes well for them during this long 2 years of service. Having just finished mine I realized how thankful I am to be finally done with it. 

I also have some shit to settle soon, like my upcoming BTT in March and renewing my passport. Seems like a lot to do for a civilian like me haha. 

If I can describe January, I would say that January was a month of Recovery. Recovering back my civilian life, recovering from a stupid cough which I had for very long, and most importantly recovering back my climbing level. I don't know what February is going to be like but I'm definitely going to make it worthwhile for myself.