National Inter-school Wushu Championships- Day 3

In Day 3 of the National Inter-school Wushu Championships, we saw our B-Boys taking part in the Nan Dao event.

Here we have Darren Tan from 3I:


Darren had a good opening segment and maintained his poise, however a shortage of one advancing step caused a penalty of 0.1 and that proved to be a costly deduction for him.

Next up, was Kong Wei Chung from 4D:


Wei Chung's earth shattering roars reverberated around the entire hall and managed to garner him an 8.05. It allow him to maintain 4th position for a brief moment. However, with several veteran athletes still to take this place on the carpet, Wei Chung was eventually relegated beyond the top 4.

In the B-Boys Broadsword 1st International Routine, we had Bernie Ang from 3G:

Last year, Bernie competed in the Formulated Events in C-Div. This year, moving up to B-Div, the challenge of learning 2 new International Routines indeed made it clear that the stakes were much higher in B-Div. After reviewing the footage and assessing the shortfalls, I was impressed with maturity when Bernie was able to analyse how he needed to step up his training to make up for the time lost last year while recuperating from an injury. In fact, the set back in this event seems to have allowed him to have the determination to push for full participation in the 3 Individual events next year. Bernie told me, "Don't worry, Sir- I still got next year!"
The way Bernie said it, I could hear that it wasn't to console me and the team; but rather it was his determination to overcome his personal barriers.
Bernie, for that, I am proud of you and proud of your amazing come-back to the team.
That is the champion spirit that I wish for all of you.

Despite our various set-backs, we didn't leave empty-handed- our gentle giant, Jeconiah from Sec 1F blazed his way through the C-Boys Nan Quan 1st Intl routine to emerge with a 2nd place Silver for VS

National Inter-school Wushu Championships- Day 2

Today, is Day 2 of the Inter-school Wushu Championships.

First up, we had Ryan Goh (Sec 4A) and Darren Tan (Sec 3I)in the B-Div Nan Gun event:




It was great to see our out-going Sec 4 Team Captain, Ryan Goh, competeting side-by-side with our incoming Sec 3 Team Captain, Darren Tan. It was a tough event with many season competitors and to be honest, the boys and I knew that our hopes were not high in this event. Nevertheless, they gave it their best and sometime after the event we received clarification from the officials that Darren Tan had actually managed to achieve a tie for Bronze in 4th place after all the moderation of scores!

Next for the B-Boys, we had Bernie Ang from Sec 3G in the B-Div Broadsword 1st International Routine:

With 40 over competitors, it was a tough fight for Bernie. He gave it his best but was unable to place in the event.

Next we had the C-Div Boys Changquan 1st International Routine.
First up, we had Leonard Tan from 1F:

Despite a few fumbles, Leonard was in high spirits and is looking forward to pushing himself in next year's competition.

In this even, we also had Lee Jingwei from 2H:

Jingwei gave a good and stable performance- however, the competition for this event was overwhelming and Jingwei was not able to place within the top 4.

As I shared with the boys and their parents, in life there will be people whom you surpass and they will also be others who surpass you.
Do not be arrogant when you have triumphed over your opponent- for only a worthy opponent can bring out the best in you.
Also, do not be dismayed when the efforts of others surpass your own- it does not diminish your own capabilities; rather it gives you a target for your future endeavours.
It may seem to be a profound concept, but when I looked into the faces of the 2 boys I spoke to, I was confident that they understood my expectations and philosophy in training.

The highlight of the day came from Fung Jin Jie from Sec 4E in the B-Div Changquan
2nd International Routine:

'Jingo' as he is affectionately known, put on a stella performance and delivered VS with our first Gold of the season. It was a tough and close fight as all the competitors were seasoned veterans and Jingo narrowly edged his way into first place with a lead of 0.03 pts to get a total of 8.66.

Tomorrow is a new day! Rest well boys, for a new day brings us a new challenge!

National Inter-school Wushu Championships- Day 1

Tue 6th Apr was the first day of the Inter-school Wushu Championships held at Chung Cheng High School.

Our C-Div boys were first up in the Sword 1st Intl Routine.
Here we have Leonard Tan from 1F:


In the same category, we also have Lee Jing Wei from 2H:

Jingwei put in a great performance to achieve a 3rd Place Bronze Medal- our first triumph of the day!

Later, we had our B Boys taking part in the Nanquan routine. First up, we had Darren Tan from 3I, our incoming Team Captain. Darren has matured greatly in the last year to become a pillar of the team:


Next we had Kong Wei Chung from 4D- Wei Chung is an ASEAN Scholar and although he just joined the team in Sec 3 last year, he has shown tremendous spirit and determination to contribute to VS:


Despite their best efforts and solid performance, luck was not on our side and together with several other crowd favourites, our boys fell short of the top 4 placing in the event. Nevertheless, they remain undaunted and will strive to work hard for their subsequent events

Our final competitor for the day, was Jeconiah Tan from 1F. Jec gave us a solid performance in the C-Div Boys Nanquan:

For his solid performance, Jec won for VS our second medal and garnered a 2nd place Silver in his event.

Well done boys! Let us not let the minor disappointments eclipse our triumphs in our first day and work hard to push ourselves onwards!

National InterSchool Wushu Competition: Day 0- The Eve of Battle

Tomorrow, the VS Wushu Team will be competing in the National Inter-School Wushu Competitions.

For the boys in the team and myself, this is what we live and breathe for- the passion for martial arts that allows us to push ourselves to achieve mastery and perfection in mind, body and spirit.

This year, we have a mature team and are fielding a full turn-out of competitors in both divisions for Individual and Group events. Every year, the competition gets tougher and tougher because teams get more proficient, more experienced and more creative (especially in the Group Events).
To make sure that we do ourselves proud and prove worthy of the challenge, our VS Wushu Team has been working hard and the boys have sacrificed their long weekend on Good Fri to give an awesome 3 day intensive workout.

We had regular training on Thur 1st April, then on Fri 2nd Apr and Sat 3rd Apr, the boys had a full day training session with me starting at 10am and ending at 4pm.
(with lunch break and nap time as well :P)

The boys took turns to work on their individual events:

It was good to see the senior boys cheering their juniors on and giving them pointers and tips.

We also took time to work on the crucial Group Events to tighten up on our timing, transitions and poses:


Apart from that, we also got the boys to do some relays and fitness training to raise their spirits and enhance their endurance:


Tomorrow is the big day! Jia you! VS Wushu- power, PoWeR, POWER!