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Freakclimbing.Com

Strictly for those who appreciate. Right-click and "save target as".

www.freakclimbing.com/vid/Xtra/Style.mpeg
www.freakclimbing.com/vid/Sport%20Climbing/A.Pustelnik%20Shangri-la.mov
www.freakclimbing.com/vid/Bouldering/Ben%20Moon%20Cypher%208B.mov
www.freakclimbing.com/vid/Bouldering/Lamiche%20-%20Partage%208a+.mov
www.freakclimbing.com/vid/Bouldering/Sharma%20Pilgrimage.mov
www.freakclimbing.com/vid/Bouldering/Indian%20Mutation%20Loskot.mov
www.freakclimbing.com/vid/Trad%20Climbing/Equilibrium%20James%20Pearson.mov

fotos!

Because eating after climbing is the best activity ever, here are some fotos of...

EAting after yishun!




Eating cake after trg!!

Long long time ago

bouldering on a wednesday

1815 hours
arrived late at the gym. i am late again argh! the gym is friggin' packed..i noticed that several people cut their hair too; namely alvin, mogilan and chin seng (not sure about his name..the dino who majored in material science one but i am sure now thanks to coach!). but the gym is packed..how to train siahs. did stretching especially with the fingers as i am expecting tutor kiat to bomb my fingers again. from experience, not stretching each fingers individually leads to fingers having a hard time to perform specific finger exercises like holding crimpy tiles with two fingers on top and the others pinching the side of the tile.

1910 hours
began warm-up boulder: going around the gym. friggin' packed. i took 4 minutes to figure out where to start as i do not want to disturb other people who were doing their rounds too. needless to say, i kena "kau peh-ed" as i eventually obtruct people doing their rounds. did a modified version of going around the gym with kiat's suggestions. meaning to use shittier tiles and lo and behold! flash pump sets in. suang ma..

1945 hours
bouldered bouldered bouldered. did exercises which focuses on lock offs, sloper strength and most importantly, my control in bouldering. many many people said i lack control in bouldering which is true. had great difficulties in providing the x-factor in control. until now i still do not know how to control my movements. although a conscious effect has been placed in my mind to control movements, i still find at times that i still throw myself when i do f***tub moves. my control only comes when i climb as i am afraid of grazing something important if i happen to fall badly during a lead climb.

2030 hours
my batch were fooling around. laughing hee hee haa haa as the seniors were eating outside. wanted to hee hee haa haa too but no voice. tried doing boulder problems on the secret manual by assad but i still fall badly. pissed off as i am still weak. perhaps it may be due to me not resting enough before training. but pissed la. cant grip things. cant even execute movements. tsah!!! "form over performance" rang in my mind again. shall not pia till i get injured.

2130 hours
did finger strength stuff that kiat commisioned me to do. shacked. while doing, i heard a familiar "yes! the whole gym is ours!"

2230 hours
chiong-ed the last shuttle bus back to pgp.

yes! i finally wrote an entry that is purely related to climbing! woohoo!

new endurance routes

Hi, I just added 2 Endurance Routes in the Gym

1. Re-elisa-tion (6C) - 32 moves, lizard wall
- yellow tape, red numbers

2. No-name (6A)-28 moves, Sun Moon wall
- red tape, silver numbers w/ stripes by the side(The first non JC-Climber Freshman to complete it can name it...)

One for seniors and one for juniors, do try them out.

ape index

jsut for fun, try measuring ur ape index.

Ape index = arm span / height

Generally, it gives u some advantage in climbing..

climbing etiquette is very impt..

gd climber + bad climbing etiquette = lousy climber.

climbing etiquette is indeed very important. esp so when you are not climbing in your homeground. it goes out to show what kind of climber you are as well.
EG : often, climbers will unintentionally rush to the wall to do a route or to start your training (when actually someone else is on the same wall doing a more difficult route or already dying after doing his 10 X 6A route), thus climbing etiqutte comes in here, you should come down the wall ... (and not the person who is trying the more difficult route or when he is just 2 tiles away from his last 6A route.)

bottom line : just pay more attention to your environment, esp the new climbers. and me...

just a note to our junior climbers, and a reminder to senior climbers like MYSELF! to pay attention to our own climbing etiquette in the gym, esp when not in homeground. =)

No Alvin ... I won't scold you :)

I think enough has been said about fear by zzz as reply to your previous post ... my take on things was and is still the same ... YOU decide how hard you want to push yourself ... and indirectly, how far you want to go in it, how long you want to keep climbing ... Anyone else can only give you advice and the gentle push that you might need occasionally ...

-------

and just for everyone's referance ... a little definition (not perfect, but I hope it answers some questions)

An ARC is a climbing specific endurance workout. Arcing consist of 20 - 40 minutes continuous climbing at an intensity level just below that at which you get a pump. The goal is to increase the amount and intensity of work that your forearm muscles can do using the aerobic energy system. This is essential to on-sight climbing and longer red points as well as generally moving up the grades.

ARC stands for Aerobic Restoration and Capiliarity a term Dale and Udo introduced to the English speaking world in Performance Rock Climbing. In their description of ARCing they emphasize the idea that climbing specific endurance training builds capiliary infrastructure in the muscles of the forearms.

Many people think endurance only helps with recovery or resting on holds. This is incorrect. Having a high level of climbing specific endurance increases the intensity and duration of work that you can do before a pump sets in AND it increases the speed with which you can recover from that pump. Many European climbers do very well in comps and on-sight such challenging routes outside, because they rely heavily upon having a high anaerobic threshold in their forearms. AKA climbing specific endurance.

I hope coach jups doesnt scold me over this entry..

I realised that climbing vertical takes a lot out of me. When leading hard routes at my limit, I have to be really psyched up before I do the climb. Or I have to really want to do the route. Otherwise, it just seems that fighting with the route, falling and getting scraped all over and getting pushed mentally to the limit just isn't worth it... Which is why today I was doing top rope on the flat wall. ^.^' ( i realise that I like routes on non-inclined surfaces better.. more balancy and technical)

Haiz. Like that how to improve...Next trip at SAFRA I will not be a wuss!!

For those of you who'd like to view Dan Osman's speed solo offline, you can download it at http://www.compfused.com/directlink/965/ (scroll down to the "right click and save as" tab).

my tutorial session just now was more shiong than training. my tutorial coach is more coach than our coach... humm... the lim brothers... hahaha... madness!

aching rx...

NUS Climbing has a new member! He is non other than ASSAD! *APPLAUSE*

If you guys don't know Assad, he is this incredibly strong climber (He does 8A routes) who is doing his pHD in NUS Physics dept now. Hence, he is still considered an NUS Climber..lol

Can i ask a qn regarding footwork?

When is it useful to step on footholds using the tip of your shoe (ie toes) and when is it useful to step using the sides of your shoe? (ie edging)

Thanks

let's all name our teams..

My team is called Team rocket! (from Pokemon. A bit childish but i dun care...) We'll be training in the gym on Thur from 4pm onwards.

Team Rocket
Alvin
Weimin
Liping
Mei fen
Liu Li
Ning Feng
Kang Wei

Adrian, you only contribute eye-candy for the guys, but what about the gals?!? PRESENTING...RAIN!!! This guy is supposedly the hottest Korean nowadays la. I COULDN'T believe it when I first saw his picture lah. How can it be? What are the gals thinking? And he's becoming more popular than Jay Chou?!?!? WHAT?!? Then, I watched a few episodes of "Full House" (Ai Qing Man Wu?). Then, I realized why... So for Song Hae Gyo fans, you all can watch also. Quite funny actually HAHAHA (sorry I just remembered some of the scenes). Uh, to make it relevant to this Climblog, train hard during your conditioning sessions okay so that you can obtain a physique like his (heard his damn good wahaha).

Haha.. Adrian.. I think it's just you getting the HEATS. Looks like need motivation factors around for you to get inspired and climb!

SP today was pretty goood! Should try to go back more. But something, or rather, someone reminded me of the vast difference in skill level between the novice cat climbers.

TO THE FRESHIE CLIMBERS
I got to talk to Eugene (according to liyin he is the best freshie in SP) before leaving and he showed me a few routes (stupid sit start; should be able to do one). Juniors really got to train more frequently and effectively if we AT LEAST want to be a competition to them. He's training nearly every weekday (according to him it is becoz he needs to catch up with the JC's) and he's good. I'm not suggesting everyone to force themselves to climb everyday but we've got to be aware that our competitors are improving too.

Just come down to the gym with someone else or just come! There will definitely be someone there to climb with! I need to work on dynamic moves and difficult starts!!! Grrrr...

Hot Mama

Ahahaha I bet you were shocked when you lay your eyes on her! I know it is rare to have someone pretty to pop up on a climbing blog so I am doing it! I think she blends well with the new format too.

Friday was a shiok boulder day. It was raining and the gym was cool and there is actually some signs of a breeze. There were not so many people also at the start of my training. Bouldered bouldered bouldered and did some easy routes by Rong Hui. OJW gave a nice route too. Requires some fingers to execute the moves and it has been some time since I did that kind of standard. I got the sharma feeling that it is do-able! But yayaya...I did not finish it haha. Soon lah soon..zx aso did not finish so I do not want to pai seh him. Cant help to think I am becoming more sensitive! Muahahahaha looks like engineering fac did not corrupt me that much!

Friday was fun too doing routes. Maybe *cough* it may be due a sudden spike in temperature. Lotsa farnee people doing farnee stuff. Muahahas..it was farnee la. Just laugh. Beh tahan (cannot tahan). I was working a route with a pro too. Fuh..she is strong and hot. I very long never so dedicated to work on a route with someone already.

Most importantly, my fingers felt hot. After training, there is a sensation when I clench my fist. It was shaking too..vibrating fingers. Not parkinsons vibration but those vibration attained when people in comics gain super powers and then they tend to vibrate with an aura. I am glad that I had decided to train on Friday as Thursday's training was not effective for me as I do not feel trained.

Muahahas.

HELLO!! It's the weekend again!! Woohoo and we're climbing at SP's gym tmrw. Ihope everyone is looking forward to it as much as I am.

Quite disconcertingly, I've had feedback that some of you are feeling demoralised due to lack of improvement and also some say that e routes are too hard cos you haven't topped any route in months. Here's my 2 cents worth!

Firstly, to all those injured personnel out there, I know that the desire to train is high but you must control yourself! take a break. Immerse yourself in something else - be it schoolwork, drugs, anime or porn. There's definitely more to life than climbing(subjective). Forcibly climbing with injury can only do you harm. For eg, you have an injured knee but you still climb and hence overcompensate by pulling more with your arms or kicking off with the wrong leg. That would cause you to engram wrong moves... Or worse, cause the injury to detioriate and then you need to take an even longer break. I know kiat possibly caused extra injury to his finger by climbing with an injured shoulder.. :(

Unfortunately, for most climbers, it takes a lot more discipline to take a break from climbing than to keep climbing...

Next up, improvement worries. If you're climbing 3 x a week and wondering why you're not improving as fast as your friend who's climbing 5x a week, the answer is obvious. He's climbing harder than you!! I know that to chase the seniors, in yr1-sem1 there was this memorable period when I climbed 13 days non-stop. Of cos it couldnt be sustained due to muscle fatigue. But you get the idea.. Climb harder! On non-trg days, there are lots of things to do too..uncompleted routes, all the different 30move endurance routes, add3, ARC etc.

Of course, time spent in the gym is not all-important. The way you climb is very important too. Of fundamental importance is that your body remembers all the moves that you do (engramming) and hence each time you do a route the right way, something positive is added to your muscle memory. In contrast, each time you do a route by powering through it, your muscles learn something negative. SO, it's not that important to complete all the routes given to you if it's just by muscling through..because you learn nothing! But each time you do a route, learn from others if you see a particularly efficient way of doing it.. When you are finally able to compelte a particularly hard route, the lesson is not over yet either! Try to repeat the route again twice in good form to complete the engramming process...

Thought this is quite funny.

"Most sports require only one ball." — Seen on a T-shirt with a picture of a climber.

An idea for climbing T-shirt/singlet?

Kev

How is training so far for u?

yup... how is training so far for everyone? do you feel yourself improving? do you feel it effective? do you feel strong? ...
well well, personally, my ans is :"i dunno." was toking to alv, eli n jups just now abt training... alv said he n weimin feel strong and tat's v gd...
i'm just thinking i havent felt strong for a long time. haha the 2 months break during nov n dec decreased my strength quite abit. till now, i still dunno whether i had regained back my strength anot... mayb i did but just, everyone is improvin too as well.. haha..

i actually hate the stage i am in now. - i have many many uncompleted routes. - sometimes, it's my guts problem. sometimes, it's my finger problem. sometimes, i dunno what's the problem. when everyone know what their strengths and weakness are, i am seriously not very sure of mine. and everytime i asked, ppl will ans me with this : ur guts problem. but.. i am sure tat's not my ONLY problem. and so wat if i know what are my other problems, what are the effective ways to improve on them would be a better qn to ask....

strength or technique.. both are crucial to climbing. i know my technique sucks.. esp footworks... haha.. how to train foot work? eli once told me to concentrate on the foothold u are stepping... tried it once... but often, when u are too conscious of what you are stepping, you tend to use more strength to hold urself?.. humm? or i dunno, i just got shack out coz i reali concentrate alot on my footholds.. until i keep using my strength to complete my climb round the gym... so i guess i did it the wrong way... haha..

strength. my left hand = useless. no power... even my right hand isnt as powerful as last time. i dunno if the pull training are working. but i am still the same hahaha... mayb the locking one will be more effective for me. but even so, i use more of my right arm to pull. but now, i am trying out jups 's method - this weight training for my left arm. hopefully it works...

and... i just wish for 2 new fingers now... i dont wanna rest again (even thou tat might be the best sol?? )... becoz i rested once.. and my fingers still didnt recover... =(

Physiotherapy

Hello team, more to share. Still assembling my materials on that Shoulder section that I mentioned before. Meantime, here's something on the seeking of physiotherapy.

1. You are injured. Time to seek treatment. Again, this is not a sure-cure solution, merely an alternative to your favourite chinese sinsehs, medical clinics or 3-generation secret home-remedy ...
   
2. Depending on the injury, muscular soreness, pains ... joint weaknesses and pain. These are just some of the possible ramifications from climbing too much (or too hard), When this happens, and you wanna consider the possible benefits that therapy could have for your recover, you can do the following:
   
   - Approach the University Health Services
   - Visit a Polyclinic near you
   - OR head straight for the physiotherapy clinic recommended by/ to members of Climb Asia
   
3. The first 2 options above will generally lead to a referral if the doctor attending to you is convinced of your need for physio to assist in your recovery. Request for a referral right away if you feel that you should seek specialist assistance. Your referrals from UHS or the PC should then lead you to:
   - Alexandar Hospital
   - Changi General Hospital
   you may wish to call and enquire on rates and appropriateness of seeking treatment from them before visiting UHS or any PC.
   
4. Alternatively, you can also request for a referral to Singapore Sports Council's Sports Medicine or Sports Physiotherapy Department, which as of when I was still a sportsman with the University, were the default referrals for all injured atheletes requiring rehabilitation assistance.
   
5. Climb Asia's recommendation is apparently sworn to be 'one of the best' by those who have visited her. As with all the rest, I've never visited any. Everything stated here is based on research.
   
   Virar's Rehab Centre
   553A, Balestier Road
   Ms Thila Govindasamy
   
   Climb Asia Member - $45/ session
   Student - $30/ session
   
   Call first to make an appointment - 6256 3106
   Bring along your student & membership card

I hope no one ever needs assistance from any of the above sources. But *touch wood* if ever the situation arises (as it seems to have, with some of you), I hope you've got some idea on the options available other than the street-corner sinseh or that special putrid-smelling plaster that your grandma might be so fond of.

its times like these, when my nose is stuffed up and my throat is swollen like a football, that i really really crave the fish and ginger soup at coco restaurant in krabi. gimme gimme!!!



~mei~

I found a new rock climbing video site!
Moon Climbing Videos

Also, a very interesting article-->
>
Starting Training and Goal Setting
by Rich Simpson

And I have all the WC videos in a disc, bring ur laptop along w/ u if u want them on wed/thur..

Will also be giving out chalk then

CA Should build walls like this for competitions..woohoo!

importance of....

1) Setting routes.
We cannot wait to be fed routes all the time... Like hungry chicks waiting to be fed by mother hen. And lets say one person sets all the routes all the time..not only will the style of routes become stale, the person that sets the routes will be v sianz always doing his/her own routes...Don't u think this is v unfair? So we must all set routes for each other :)

Senior girls pls take note..can't always say that dunno how to set routes. Practice makes perfect! If set badly, it can still become a good route by modifying a few tiles here and there. Honestly, eli's routes were damn lousy last time..(I always thought that she just randomly chose the suckiest tiles on the wall :P) but now they're really quite good. (Actually, the guys also seldom set routes nowadays due to over abundance of guy routes since we started to climb with dinos..[wilson got neverending supply] still, I hope to see more senior guy routes from now on.. A lot of hidden good route setters among u guys...I used to like weimin's routes a lot)

Juniors can start to think of routes to set for ea other too.. When there is a small grp of u climbing together in the gym, (let's say a non-trg day) it's fun when each person sets a route and then together, you try out each person's route one by one. it's interesting to see how many different ways a route can be done..Feel free to give routes during trainings too! don't always need to be routes from seniors.

It is always with gr8 satisfaction that you see others doing your routes and then passing it on and on to more and more ppl..

2) Choosing projects that are beyond your abilitly.
When going to Yishun Safra/Climb Asia, try to look for a project that intimidates you... about one or two levels above ur max level. Something that you know you definitely cannot do even on a good day. Work on it slowly, and as you improve and grow stronger, soon you'll find it within ur reach! Then, you'll know that you are improving and also, you have a specific short-term aim to sustain you during your trg.. It's always extremely satisfying whenever you finish a project...I stilll remember doing my first 6C at climbasia last semester...amazingly happy.

For eg, my project at Yishun is the green tile route on the right side of the overhang wall (i got no balls to clip in the 5th clip) and at ClimbAsia, the 7A endurance route. .can't wait to complete both

Hope u find this helpful

Hello team, I was sorta in the graphics and printing line (including apparels) for a year before joining climb asia ... maybe I can help with the team attire?

I understand ideas are abound for a new team attire, of possibly singlet cutting and maybe dri-fit material ... I've got a lobang for a dri-fit shirt maker, biggest plus is that this fella can customize the cutting of the shirts required, at minimal additional costs. So for a start, maybe we can all go back and see if there's this really exciting n**e, ad***s, r****k, f**a or any other brand tops that you'd think everyone can look cool in. Then we can pass it to my supplier, and he can advise accordingly!

Next, the design, we'll never come to total agreement on the colour the shirt should be, so we can all vote on that at a latter date. Once the rough design is out, every possible colour variation can be devised, put @ yahoogroups, then we can all vote for our top 3 k? Meantime, the team's err ... well, motto ... is passion freedom dreams, so that's the 3 logos we can play around with. We need a killer tagline too ... anyone has any award-winning ideas? I like the gecko/ lizard idea ... but just note that prints that run over mutiple surfaces (ie seams) ... cost more, and have a tendency to go slightly wrong (any alternatives CloudBerriez?) Haha, as some of the ladies have requested as well, maybe a less 'scary' lizard?

I have an interesting suggestion from some ladies who might be particular squeamish to adopting guys' singlet cuttings ... we could consider purchasing nice (cheap) tank tops (from Giordano?) for printing with the same design. Voila! slightly more fashionable team attires for the ladies, same same ... but different ;)

Sleep on it, especially the creative nutz among you ... we need all the exciting ideas u have! Put your sketches down on paper if you have to... I'll help you put it onto screen :)

Mock Competition fotos

OF LEGS AND FEET

Footwork is always a problem, period. Sometimes I think the whole problem with footwork is that it's about efficiency -- footwork shouldn't hinder you, it should always set you up for the next move. The trick to make it efficient is to max the leverage you get with each move (i.e.: reach further without changing foot) and max the stability of each position (i.e.: controlled movement so that you don't waste strength on each position).

Now the biggest problem I have is trying to make sense of it on long routes...my upper and lower body seem to be disjointed especially on long climbs. Sheesh... working on it... i've been recommended to practice on vertical climbs. Alternatinv between bouldering and vertical climbing seem to allow your brain some time to "defrag" and get in tuned with the way you wanna climb.

Was also thinking about footwork and considering some styles that I've seen people climb with. Hope you guys don't mind me mentioning them here... Maybe can think about it and see if there really is something that you can work on.

1) Some junior team members I have seen seem to have a rather dynamic style of climbing. Nothing wrong with that, but as I mentioned ot Kaleb once -- dynamic climbing doesn't mean doing a whole lot of movement and swinging. The main difference between dynamic climbing and any-how-climbing is CONTROL. With sufficient control, you can be static or dynamic and you will still be able to complete routes.

2) For strong (roar) people who like to cut their legs loose from the wall, this one's for you. There's a BEEEEEEGGGG difference between cutting loose to gain momentum and loosing control. YES. Consider this: cut loose only if your feet are unecessary for the movement -- that's being efficient. Cutting loose cos your feet can't stick -- that's gonna make your movement more difficult cos you're less stable. Cutting loose cos you need to -- that helps to make a move, that's tricky cos you need to quickly regain your placement once the move is made. Think carefully ah... got difference one...

Sharma-style has its advantages, but only if you know how to use it. Remember that Sharma has really powerful finger strength and every-single-sticky-thing-strength.


JKLM

dear anasazi velcro,

your performance is simply fantastic. i felt your power pulsating through my toes and legs upon the stepping on a footie. you were shaky at first, you even resorted to hurting my legs. ahh..my sole and toes are aching with a farnee farnee pain now.

it was a happily happily experience tipping on a tile. the footwork was so firm yet i felt the shape of the tile on my feet. hooking, dyno-ing and changing foot was pleasant too. for the first time, i was aware of how i was stepping tiles and how much pressure is needed to step on it too.

there was this moment where you blatantly showed your power. i was stepping normally on a foothold. but you insisted on breaking the foothold. power siah. imagine the power you will exert upon lunging for a tile. fuh.

you should have seen how some of us pia push-ups too. they were pumping after doing pull-ups haha. yes i know i need the extra strength but let's work on one thing at a time now. anasazi, we will complete phase one of my secret training together.

love,
adrian




dear adrian,

yes i am the formidable anasazi. i've conquered all the sick routes in the world. my friend, V10 says hello to you too. adrian you are the best. i like the smell of your legs muahaha. although you lack strength, i am sure with my help, your form will skyrocket and you will finish your secret project.

ahh..the smell of your leg still lingers in me..gimme more..

more love,
anasazi velcro

Taping

Why tape? There should only be 2 reasons for you to tape:

- Limit potentially damaging finger motions

- Remind yourself you have an injury (ie. Reminder to rehabilitate!)

If you're not sure if you're taping correctly. please ask me, or some of the seniors whom I've already spoken to about this topic

Lessons in Taping:

1. Taping is NOT meant to make your finger stronger. It is NEITHER a replacement NOR supplement to the tendons and ligaments in your fingers. Correct taping is meant to RESTRICT your finger's bending ability (and hence further injury as you apply pressure, especially when attempting to crimp)


2. Recovery is a process. And pain is an indicator. Climbers have a habit of ignoring or shutting out pain, hence the very common popped shoulders or knees after a range of seemingly impossible body-contorting moves on the wall. Pain is NOT a sign of weakness leaving the body (Uncle Ben might declare otherwise =P), so use it as an index of the damage that you are doing or should stay away from.


3. In war there are pre-emptive strikes. In climbing unfortunately, there is NO SUCH THING as pre-emptive taping. You make the first mistake mentioned in Point 1. Attempting to strengthen only results in longer term weakening of those same tendons and ligaments as they grow dependant on external (and unecessary) support.


4. Tape slackens over a short period of usage, so re-tape to ensure it's effectiveness.


5. And for those psycho-maniacal climbers among us ... REST! Take the time your body needs (NOT how much you perceive you can break from climbing - which unfortunately amounts to nothing beyond a few days in most cases) to rehabilitate from injuries.
   
   Controlled Hard Training = Physiological Overload, Add a generous dose of REST = Strength, power, endurance and all the other good things you want out of training.
   
   Take away the REST? = Muscle degeneration

As with all other climbing injuries, be smart about it. Your injury's worst enemy is your ego. The same passion that drives us to climb, often drives us too hard, and hinders our recovery. Climb safe y'all ...

*These notes here are at best a guide. See a qualified medical specialist if need be. As Kelly can attest to, your auntie's favourite chinese sinseh might not always have the solution to your very unique climbing injuries. An experienced physiotherapist might often be what we as climbers need for treatment. More on this and another common climbing injury - SHOULDERS, coming soon ...

Ladies and gentlemen,


for the first time in my life today, i lead climbed. amazing? haha yes, considering how i managed to siam it so many times. its some scary mama shit man. can you imagine what lead falling will be like on that new bian tai wall they're building at yishun. OMG. OMG. OMG.



congrats to lipeng on her new found passion for lead falling. and thanks to junwei for belaying me on my first lead fall. this is a momentous occasion my friends. hahaha



BY THE WAY, OJW is one of the most encouraging belayers i know. Do you know, that when lips refused to lead fall at first and downclimbed instead, he exclaimed very loudly, "SIMISAI?" haha and he's full of empathy too, he screams when you fall. How nice right? haha



~mei~

Cheated... =(

Damn it lar~ juz went to sinseh to check up my wrist this afternoon at clementi... n i tink der sinseh cheated my $$ sia! he juz asked which part of my wrist where i feel der pain... massaged a lil here n there... den bandaged my wrist liao. At the end of der session he even asked if my wrist felt betta n i replied flatly "No leh, like no difference". He seemed to be at a lost and attempted to change der topic "Ok, remember not to carry heavy stuff these few daes and refrain yaself frm climbing. You can come back for follow up on Thu or Sat...[bla bla bla...]" Yeah rite~

All about falling

Nope this is not a post about falling in love. This is a post about falling properly.

As I was doing my work, I remembered seeing people falling dangerously during bouldering. Yes I know there are bouldering mats but there is always a possibility that the mats are not placed properly or you falling awkwardly (falling sideways), thus spraining your ankle.

In my humble opinion, a fall must also be executed properly so injuries such as sprains or broken ankles can be minimised. When I fall, I try not to fall with my ankles facing sideways so I will not injure them. I also practise crumple-falling, meaning falling like a ninja. Haha it is not to act 'seh' but this increases the time of impact thus reducing the force exerted back on your legs. In case my ankle is not placed properly, at least the chances of spraining the ankles are lessened.

Falling properly will be more important when we are bouldering outdoors. With just a crashmat, falling the wrong way may sprain your ankle or even cause your death. So maybe when we are doing routes and we see that a climber may potentially fall clumsily, maybe we can spot him/her. Some ankle strengthening exercises can be done too so as to decrease the chances of our ankle giving way to a sprain.

today jups taught me how to close hand crimp! been using open hand crimp all the way since i started climbing when a senior told me that it was less taxing on the fingers. Seldom had routes where I needed the extra strength from close hand.

But on sat couldn't use open hand on the 400 pt route in mock comp cos the tiles were too small! And didnt know how to close hand crimp properly also cos it hurt too much..ahhh stupid me after one yr then learn

That's true lah

Some of the best climbers I know perform well in their studies. Seems like they are freaks but no! They are punks like me..climb and climb but they think differently. After climbing, they will chiong to study while I sleep. I got a friend who does a lot of hard math problems before he climbs then he lets the frustration out during his climbs. He just chiong the route. He was the top math and further math student during my college days..top climber also..

I am currently doing a lot of endurance stuff..I train on the pre-assigned training days..Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. My *cough* secret training days are Tuesdays and sometimes if I got no assignments, I shall train on Fridays. If anyone wanna join just join muahaha can work on some routes with you..if I am feeling really bored, I will train on Sunday morning too. So the year ones..dont feel awkward coming down! Just come sure got a familiar face there one muahaha

Share with u some fotos i dug out from our the first krabi trip...where we were all v lousy and spent a disproportionate amount of time at one-two-three wall (The wall with the easiest routes) and playing at the beach instead of climbing..haha! but it was fun.

hmm..just want to say smtgh..

I hope to see the juniors coming to the gym on other than trg days, making appointments with each other to climb... dun come by urself la, it's very lonely! Climbing with a partner always spurs greater growth and is so much more fun too. I dun think it'll affect ur studies! :) Can treat it as a de-stressing session..as our ex-vice-cap ong junwei said, he goes away from each climbing session physically tired but mentally refreshed to study at night! And he is top student in Real estate faculty...*kowtows

I dunwant to splash cold water but it will be hard for you to do well in competitions next year without extra lot of effort.. Because JC climbers have an 8 mth headstart on you, Poly climbers have a 2mth headstart! In this early stage of ur climbing life, these few mths mean a lot... And it's not like they climb 3x a week ..probably 4 or 5 :D

Jia You!! you can do it!! Me, Kesheng, Eli, Ruixuan, Shumei, Kaiyin etc still could get into finals a few times last semester!

Many thanks to Coach Jups for organising the mock competition !!

And the seniors like Ong Junwei, Kelly, Siang Liang, Jessica, Wilson, Henry for putting in so much time and effort to judge and set routes..
And NTU ppl like Hanling for setting some nice routes!

Hope i didnt miss anyone out..

i'm back..hahaha!!!!
there was a little too much that was going on on the shirt design i posted up last thurs....too messy...heres the new and improve one....comment????








1. shifted the lizard over to the left...as in over our hearts...then had to shift the tail too..duh.....haha=D
2. reduced the logo sizes on the back and concentrated them just below the collar...doesn't look as cluttered...gives only one focal point. like a brand....the words corresponse to the logo in clockwise direction.

heya people.....

just want to start of by saying SORRY........for being in such a foul mood early yesterday morning...guess i got a little too psyched up for the mock com, and was really disappointed with my initial few climbs and my knee....I'm sorry....

what alvin said was very true...frustration does really affect our climbing....i found out the hard way...frustration killed me yesterday, and i couldn't control myself...i was so in The Zone, that the more i fall, the angrier i got which screwed up my technique leading to more falls and more frustration...one deadly viscious cycle...sigh=[
i'm so used to funneling and concerntrating my temper and anger previously into my sport for aggression...which though work for paddling, but definately not for climbing. when anger creeps in during climbs, i believe it clouds our judgement, which then leads to us falling back on our default style which in my case is all-arms-no-legs....hence...KAPUT!!!!! everything down the drain..

oh well, i guess, i just have to climb more...a lot more...i dunno how, but more now is not enough....sigh!!!!! hope no one else falls victim to this deadly viscious cycle no more...patience, calmness and relaxation thets the key=]

oh yar.....and THANKZ for organizing the mock com snrs=] at least i found out my weakest now...rather than later...


-cheerz-
pek

Yo!!!
Well just wanna comment on today's mock com...I think it is really fun n exciting, though i doubt i performed well...Nevertheless it's a good
exp for us juniors... :) Thnx for the organizers for such a wonderful job!!! Three cheers n three cheers for organizers!!! Hip Hip Hooray!!!

FireD UP

Agree with Adrian. It was HOT. Not only the weather, but the pent-up fire to tackle the routes set and perform better. Freshie Guys, it's time to climb more and finish those routes!

Anywayz, just to share a little hindsight on my own performance. Apart from strength and technique, still lacking in the route-reading area. Simplier routes are alright, but when it comes to the harder ones, can't visualize yet. Also, not experience in "on the climb awareness and calmness". One other thing I gathered was that still not quite sure (and take advantage) of my span, like Yap and En leung advised. Must try moves to test...

Righta, that's it from me. Cheers to the committe for putting up this event, was a charmer!

HOT

The mock competition was HOT.

Haha it was a good thing that the committee had it at a carnival style instead of the traditional style. It increases the exciting factor muahaha.

I do not know why I cant do the 100-points route..the one at the wall with the 400-point route. When I tried doing it, the route seems really demanding for the arms yet the females flashed the route easily. Somemore it is at a corner. Squeeze here and there. Fuh.

Perhaps the freshies may wanna attempt the routes on the 45 degree wall..the most 'siong' wall. Not sure if it is 45 degrees but the tiles there are really sweet as climbers placed all the best tiles there. It is little wonder why most of the time, everyone 'chiong' that wall. There is also a route..the 250-points one that has a cramped start. I think the freshies very rarely attempt cramped starts. Han nah I know I am a freshie too haha.

Hmm..nothing much to say about the routes already. Hot siah..

hallo climbers! anyway, i just wanna say that don't be demoralized if you ranked among the last few or even last for the mock comp. you can be sure that i fully understand, because i also kena before (right, jups?!? haha) but the thick-skinned me just continued training, and eventually actually won something - novice third for pumpfest 2004. FYI, alvin also ranked last for his 1st mock comp as a junior - but after training like a madman, he later won novice third for pumpfest 2005 (coincidentally). so to say, if you ranked last for this mock comp, CONGRATS! you may well win something for pumpfest 2006! hahaha...

have fun sharing tips with one another (esp. the winners) on the mock comp routes.