Friday, September 30

test

The Myth


Has anyone seen the myth? There are some really breath taking scenary shots...Breathtaking because the screen is filled with boulders that look perfect for climbing!

some tips on route reading

The best way to improve this skill is to do more routes set by ppl with different climbing styles. For eg. we may do well in boulderactive(organised by NUS) but flop in competitions organised by SP because of vastly differing styles. NUS climbers generally suck at dynos :)

Don't always wait to see ppl attempt the route first before you start. Try the route at least once without seeing others climb it first. Lack of confidence will inhibit your improvement! (of cos overconfidence too)

Another good way is to start setting routes for others to do. When planning routes, we generally plan it such that certain techniques are forced out. This will get you thinking consciously of what kind of tile and foothold placement require what kind of moves.

These are long term tips. Short term?


1) Look at the general layout of the tiles quickly and plan out Roughly how you want to do the route. eg. hand sequence to minimise unnecessary hand matching on the wall(waste energy) shouldn't have such situations when u suddenly realise that argh! wrong hand!!and then desperately try to match on a small crimper or climb backwards.

2) Plan out exactly how you want to do the route. eg. Where to place your foot at each particular moment and visualise yourself doing the entire route.

3) Plan out alternate sequence for crux portions which you are not particularly confident of.

4) Look out for the best way to hold each tile. eg. a slightly deeper groove on the right side? Tiles meant specifically to side pull?

5) look out for tiles off to the side which ppl always miss during competitions.

Thursday, September 29

sorry for not posting this up early...but here it is.....feel free to comment, then i can try and make the changesThe front followes by the back..

SOME COMPETITION TIPS

Hey peeps, here's some of my own pointers for preparing for the mock comp. Do feel free to comment or add on more!


GET SOME REST before the comp. 6 hours, at least. Insufficient sleep causes you to get pumped out more quickly and reduces your coordination. Also, it will eventually increase your chances of injury.

OPTIONAL CARBO-LOADING up to 2 days before. That means you can try eating more rice / noodles / bread during meals before the competition. You don't have to overeat, perhaps just be a little more liberal with the snacking; alternatively, go for more frequent but lighter meals. The idea is to let your body get used to and stock up on its carbo store -- for endurance and sustained climbs between boulder problems.

EAT A LIGHT BREAKFAST, preferably stay off oily foods and proteins in the morning; go for light high-carbo meals like bread or pastry. Oily foods and proteins take a long time to digest adn realease the energy.

STRETCH / WARM-UP WELL, simply because cold muscles = <100% cramps =" tak">

MENTAL WARM-UP can be tricky... but you'll get the hang of it with practice. Fro now, here are some of the basic points to consider. Focus by practicing breathing: close your eyes, imagine you're climbing, breathe in and out slowly at first, then more and more quickly, and then slow down again. All the while try to remain focused on your imagined movements and climb. This is to simulate your climbing conditions during the comp.
Another tool you can use if you find yourself nervous / disturbed by the environment is to close your eyes, concentrate on counting your breathes until you feel that your breathing has calmed down. Then, with your eyes closed and ears open, try to get used to and assimilate all aspects of your environment -- get used to distractions and try to focus on the climb ahead.

MENTAL CLIMBING during your comp can be useful. Some call it psyching yourself up. Find what motivates you about the environment and try to take it in and ride on it, in other words, if there's something you like, try to accept it and feel good about it. For some, music is a useful tool, though it can be inconsistent sometimes.
Stay focused on the here and now, if the enironment is a little distracting, then just try to concentrate on the climb. If somehow, you still feel very distracted, here's a little breathing exercise to help you relax -- breathe in deeply and exhale quickly, letting your shoulder slump, your chest and jaw relax. You might feel like you're collapsing inwards a little, but it should distract your body sufficiently to allow it to calm down a little. Beware not to overdo it and result in cooling down before your climb!

That's all from me for now. Anyone else has anything else to add? Perhaps the more competition-experienced peeps like ZX / Kesheng can offer a little something on reading routes?

JKLM



Wednesday, September 28


Juniors of yesterday, Seniors of today. Freshies, your time will come. Just train hard! And have fun!

(check out their fat arms! haha)



Tuesday, September 27

Donations?

Hi!! Does anyone have an old back pack which they don't want? It's for carrying with weights when we do pullups/lock offs. The one in the gym has a broken strap..

Anything will do! even those old school bags with pikachu(!!) or teletubbpy (!!!!) prints.

Sunday, September 25




i am just a lil bored.. so decided to post this photo here.it was done by jess and i find it a lil pretty. so i saved it and shared with the rest here.. =p
they are photos from boulderactive 2005...

Thursday, September 22

Pekhong has come up with quite a nice design for the team t shirt...thanks! (Maybe he can help to design the new gym next time too...archi le!)

Meanwhile, if anyone else has other ideas, do bring down a drawing during next mon's trg...

There will be no trg this sat. Next week, there will be monday trg (but optional), no midweek trg, and sat training will be a mini comp at Climb asia.


This is due to e kind committee giving everyone a study break for their mid term tests :)

YiShUn SaFrA

rain again. farnee farnee. anyway i had fun climbing. it was like being with my long lost friend. having fun with colors too. wee~~~

Wednesday, September 21

somthing very bizarre happened to me on sunday night.
just as most of you were amusing yourselves in the gym in the wee hours monday morning, a stabbing pain woke me up in hall at 3am. i got out of bed and felt faint. i stumbled to the toilet and tried to make myself shit but i couldnt. my stomach convulsed in spasms. and by the time i made it back to my room again my legs were jelly, hands were cold, face was pale, and i was in cold sweat. Next thing i knew, alvin was driving me to the 24hr clinic in clementi, with rx and lipeng helping me along. (im sorry i woke u girls up and u had to get up sooo early the next morning!! thank you so much!) 1 injection, countless spasms and abdominal painkillers and $107 in medical bills later, i still dont know what that was all about. i think it was probably the teh tarik i had. the next morning, i was still in pain and having diarrheoa. so a warning to all u climbers, i know teh is like the most popular drink among us but be careful make sure its clean or else it could be potent!! =/

on a different note, its heartening to see all the juniors getting along so well and having fun! bonding is really impt in a team and although climbing is hardly a team sport, training is definitely a team experience! climbing is only fun when u have people around to climb with, constantly motivating and challenging you! i remembered getting abit 'sian' at times when i just started out climbing cos being confronted by all the routes, seeing pple flash them when u yourself can hardly even start them, can get a little demoralising. BUT remember that you're all merely beginners and if u dont try, you'll never get anywhere, be patient with your personal imporovement and sooner or later you'll see results! =) beginners learn and engram moves the fastest so give your body time to adapt, the more u climb, the more u'll recognise the moves and thats how climbers become increasingly addicted to the sport. Climb on! =)
eLieLi

Tuesday, September 20

I cannot stop dreaming of climbing natural surfaces..krabi krabi! i can't wait! And I think before Krabi, we could squeeze in a road-trip to Malaysia! tampin(bouldering - Malacca)! and Niamook(vertical - KL)! It'll be quite fun to visit KL also and climb at the various rock gyms there...

I went to Summit Rock Gym at Subang Jaya once and although the place wasn't fantastic(a bit old), you really realise your deficiencies because their climbing stlye is so different. Doing a simple 6A or 6B there suddenly seems very hard! much harder than at yishun safra.

Imagine...one week in m'sia.

2 days malacca, bouldering.
1 day KL, eating, relaxing
2 days niamook
1 day sunway lagoon
2 days visiting gyms!

hey all, finally got rested enough after the camp, muscles still aching like mad though. wasted a whole day in bed...planned to study but oh well, wat the heck....i still wonder, where do you all (the juniors) get so much energy from???

the camp was generally fun and useful, technique clinic n climbin' at climbasia, playing ball, sentosa and stuff but i feel activities wise should have more group activties which allows more interaction, like play ball or some *ahem* others that were played way past midnite. rather than having so much free n easy time thru out the camp. like someone (forgot who) mentioned during the debrief that a lot of time was wasted waiting, like the 90mins free time cum bathing time, n stuff.

to the seniors: u all missed out a lot cos you did not stay back with us!

did interesting stuff like the 'passing out' thing, actually found out more about each other during the past midnite hours than that 'forced sharing session' cos it seemed awkward and hard to think about something which others may find interesting. cos it might be something which you don't think it is.

had fun bouldering in sentosa and PGP, throwing and being thrown by judo moves, jumping around doing gymnastic moves, etc. glad to have such onz juniors around. you all rawk! lets all keep the passion in climbing going =)

Keep it up juniors! Well done Seniors!

Hey... I am so glad that I stayed in the gym on Sunday night! I learnt one simple truth about the team's juniors that night... They are all perpetually drunk! Anyway, I am seeing lotsa passion in the juniors. Keep it up! Just a note, you ppl have to do more climbs (trainings are not enough!) Have some light climbing on non training days (like what Cheryl and Jun Bin said) I see lotsa potential in you ppl. work hard.

To the seniors (esp the managers and the captains and Junbin)... thanks for the effort in organizing the camp! Well done! Seeing the amount of changes that the team is undergoing, is really heart warming. Last year during the camp, I was forcing you all to mug in YIH! Haha... (cos Jun Wei and I were very concerned about your studies... hee) A simple 2 day camp... nothing spectacular... this year I am really happy that you all extended on this idea and make it great!!!! Continue to innovate! yeah!

Cheers
"Aaronnnnnn"

I'm still a little pumped out from the camp -- forearms still aching after that crip-tastic climb at PGP as well as the endurance training at Climb Asia.

Discovered some interesting things about climbing in the recent months: climbing style is something that you'll eventually develop, can't really be forced. What you can do to help improve your style would be to pay attention to your training in the early stages, because they will lay the foundation for later and more specialised development. Knowing your style / inclinations during climbing will also help you to focus your training in the right areas later.

Maybe I can draw an example to illustrate.

My style is, in the words of Jups: strong. Alright... before you tear a muscle laughing, allow me to elaborate why. My physique is slightly mesomorphic, at least in comparison to my brother. My past sporting experience had been in strength-biased sports like competitive canoeing. I don't play a whole lot of soccer, so my feet haven't got any extraordinary talent.

Basically, this makes me a rather upper-body and strength-biased climber. Not that it's a bad thing really -- competitive bouldering frequently boils down to a matter of strength at the cruxes. However, when I pay attention to the way I climb, I frequently find that on long routes, my upper body and lower body seem to be somewhat dis-jointed. This can be seen with my uncertain / inconsistent footwork as I progress on long routes at Climb Asia. While I may climb alright for short boulder problems, my apparent lack of coordination on long routes could hinder my progress in climbing -- it stems from a more fundamental flaw in my style that I must correct.

Insufficient training? More like incorrect training. I haven't quite worked out the solution for myself, but I have an idea. While I should still push hard to work on basics like finger strength, contact strength, endurance, power endurance etc... I think I should focus on a few other areas too -- core body strength, full body coordination and mental training.

Core body strength will come from trainings that involve flexibility training, abdominal workouts and playing sports that require me to jump, twist and bend. Playing sports like volleyball, hand-ball and even soccer and basketball would not only serve to engage your entire body, they will also do your cardio a service. Finally mental training for me would come in terms of focus, route-reading and also visualisation. But that's another lesson for another time...

Anyone has more ideas?

We're given some money to make a team t shirt, so let's target completing the design soon..

I was thinking of using the logos created by coach jups some time ago (passion, freedom dreams) for the back with the words 'Climb is Life' in the centre.

The front part just a logo 'NUS CLIMBING TEAM' above the left chest..

Any other suggestions? Anyone can make a nice "Nus climbing team" logo? i'm useless at grahpic design...as you can see.



Guess where?



Climbing to the camp...

Damn tired right now. Grin... Wanted to sleep early but realised that I had sooo very much of piled up work to clear that I was unsuccesful in visting my dreamworld sooner than I would have wanted to. Screw work. The camp had been receiving rave reviews from everyone and it deserved every praise. Am glad to have ditch the drudgery of the normal mid-sem "break" routine for it. Saturday had been a rather hard worked day with training n all but Sunday was a nice twist to the training routine. Sentosa. Albeit the rain. Bouldering on fake boulders, tanning on what sun that was available, beating our own record at volleyball (and getting beaten after), eating sand during soccer, flying new distances at frisbee and whistling with our mexican compatriats. Haha... little was to be known that the real entertainment came after. Dazzling (S.H.E) concert performances, "Emperor" entertainment and brother mike TRYING to sleep. We all have a inner child as they say. Oh and tao pok-ing too. Too much to cover. Grin... BEen a great 3 days! Thanks to the comm for making it possible. And everyone for the fun too. Cheers guys!

Oh... shall heed the advice of our dear "modern mom"... in her words of wisdom, "tell you dont climb so much already still want to climb. See lah! Now pain" =] Haha... see you all.

Monday, September 19

Just wanna say a big THANK YOU to coach and team committee for orgainsing such a wonderful Climbing Camp. Though i could only appear at short intervals of time, but it was fun-filled and thrilling, especially climbing at 'special places' (cannot blog here location, police keeps close tabs). Organising a camp requires planning and efforts. Can see that coach, captians and vice, and managers quite shack. In recognition of your efforts.........

My chicken egg noodle and vege soup with pasta (all instant!)

Sunday, September 18

being unable to climb because of an injury is frustrating. dun care much bout bouldering but i really miss climbing. bathing with one arm is challenging too. going to climb once i recover. dun care. muahahaha..if i recover..

Friday, September 16

to any dino who can read this, the gym is open this coming monday! no team trg...sorry for e inconvenience! forgot to write on the white board outside..

Thursday, September 15

Hi, it's Alex here.
I am waiting for my match to start later on TCS5. Wonderful cummies, airing my match in the middle of the night so punks like Adrian stay up late to watch it. It is to little wonder that he ponders on why his training effort does not measure up to his improvement, if there's any.
Stop it Jose, you are interrupting me blogging!
Anyway, it has been brought to my attention on why climbing hard doesn't neccesarily improve your climbing by the same ratio. Not that i know much about climbing except to climb over Old Trafford to retrieve my sneakers in the locker room. That noisy git Adrian has been asking me this over my e-mail. Now now, I do not know either. There are people who train relatively less than some but yet their improvement is huge. Might it be due to talent? But again, talent is nothing without training.
Perhaps it maybe that they made their training effective. For every hour they climb, they achieve as much as Adrian did in climbing for a whole day. Bless you young man, you need to study too. Goodness me.
I do not know. I think I shall adjourn for a cuppa english tea. Wonderful creation this tea. Ah..there goes Rooney chasing my dog all over my lawn. Blimey, he should be getting ready for the match later.


For the camp, anyone who can drive and can get hold of a car, please do..so transportation will be easy.

Just finished my bowl of self-cooked egg noodles. Slurrrpppp!!!
Back to da books!

Wednesday, September 14

1) I know I sound very "parentish", but please study hard hor. Especially for freshies. I have alot of friends who slacked in their 1st year and haven't been able to recover. But this is still NO excuse to miss training. Look at your vice-captain, climbing 10 days a week (assuming a climb-day is 2 hours) and still in top-class honours range! Climb hard, mug hard!

2) Alvin commented my footwork improved. I think MAYBE got improve slightly because I have been watching those climb videos (on natural cliffs). Since I cannot climb physically, I have been climbing visually and mentally. I will be getting more nice videos from Wilson, woohoo!

3) Yes, breathe naturally when you climb. For me, before I make a difficult move, I may take a deep breath and blow it out. It does help for me, I think. Try for yourself!

4) Kevin and Zhengxin, maybe you can encourage the committee to interact more with the team. So that they won't be replicas of Ruixuan, Elisa and Liping when they were in comm! Heh

Notice:

I have noticed that the gym is wayyyy too crowded on wednesdays...So..if it is possible, you can come down on thursdays instead for trg (esp those few guys) I will be your dedicated route setter. :D The gym is usually quite empty on thur.

Wednesdays are one of my personal trg days so i apologise if u feel like i bo chup the freshies today :)

Anyway, there's a new 26move route (named JAWS) in red tape on the 35 degree wall set by wilson, junwei and siang liang.. nice! I'm one move away from the end still..argh...

Another tip to the freshies (and seniors too):
The best way to improve is to climb.. Climb more routes! Try the harder endurance routes in the gym! (Lots of effort to tape them up, don't waste pls.) If you can't do a certain move, skip it and try the rest of the route. The freshies can gain a lot from ARC at this stage too as it gets you climbing more smoothly. Try going the big rounds round the gym together with a frd to work out the best sequence for this.

this is smtgh i learnt today.

When climbing hard endurance routes(hard for me of cos may not be hard for you..), I hold my breath. Forcing urself to breathe can help to calm the mind and of cos prevents u from getting so breathless.

thanks kiat!

Tuesday, September 13

yup yup....Cloudberrie's me...pek=] sorry if there was any confusion=]

yeah, don't overclimb. or you'll end up like me! finger injury, not JUST finger pain! sianzzz...

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/167893/1/.html

maybe we could try the above during the december hols. i don't mind! let's do it over and over again, 10 times, 20 times etc. confirmed when top-rope climbing or EVEN lead-climbing, fall also no kick!

Monday, September 12

I think depends on how and why u tape. Example if yr fingers are injured then u may want to tape and REST. But if u tape and then climb somemore then u may unknowingly injure them further, cos’ taping gives yr fingers additional support and gives the impression that yr fingers r stronger than they really are.. aniwae cloudberries is who?? Pek hong? Haha..aniwae I not really sure abt. taping lah..i dun usually tape them..
Everyone dun climb until fingers injured!!
shumei

Sunday, September 11

Guess its about time I post something here…hahaha!!!
Since Alvin specially mentioned and indirectly ‘instructed’ ….haha!! Orders from the vice must be taken seriously……haha=D

Firstly, I must say, I’m really thankful to have been able to find another sport to replace my passion for my previous sport. To give up on something that was basically what I ate, slept and breathed for the past 7 year is tough, tried to do that during JC, but still ended up back in it… but oh welz…..at least climbing has done it…YEA!!!! So now, I dun have to eat, sleep and breathe Archi completely,( …FINALLY!!.....)=D Though I must add…being in a size 81/2 pair of shoe (when I’m a size 101/2…) I FEEL LIKE A CLUMSY ANCIENT CHINA GAL WITH BOUNDED FEET!!!!! Haha!!! Any similar feelings out there??

ClimbAsia yesterday was more then fun, it was AWESOME… fresh routes, fresh tiles, and more climbing time…what else can I ask for...hmmm…maybe a bit, no , a lot more FLEXIBILITY. Being all heavy and not flexible at all is really a hindrance…but all in all, the experience was great. The feeling of conquering each new route is indescribable, it always new, its always something special. Every route is a competition by itself. Between wall and me, between each tile and me, between me and me…haha=D

Apart from this, I think the next best thing of climbing is…THE PEOPLE YOU MEET…=D maybe that another reason why I could take it up and put rowing down. Just seeing and hearing the encouragements that ‘bounces’ around the gym when someone’s on the wall...that is what a worthwhile sport is to me. Like yesterday, the seniors were encouraging the juniors, the girls encouraging the guys, the guys encouraging the girls, and of course Jubs encouraging everyone…all I can say is….NICEEEEE!!!!!!!

Ok…before anyone starts imprinting their keyboards on their forehead while drooling all over their spacebar, I better ask the more important question…can anyone tell me whether tapping of fingers have any detrimental effects on climbing??

In response to lin foong's post, you all will definitely be able to catch up with us!

At least, that is the whole idea of the trg plan...:). What is most important is for the juniors to improve together as a team and motivate/encourage each other... Climbing is an individual sport, but the way we train shouldnt be!

Saturday, September 10

New Routes! Come Come Try!

Ish the make up tutorial today held me from going ClimbAsia. Argh. There's a nostalgic feeling bout the tiles..yes they are slippery.

Anyways, after tutorial I dropped by the gym. Rong Hui was doing routes and he came up with two new ones which is really nice! It test your technique and it has really nice tiles! Fresh routes, a far cry from the normal routes in the gym! Even the girls can flash them! (flash the routes la..not that one)

Route One: The RH route with square red tapes and RH on it.
- Start with both tiles on the sun-moon wall..the wall on your left when u enter the gym.
- Only can use certain parts of the tiles; eg, only one side n you cant use your thumb on the tile.
- No worries the tiles are reli nice so using one side is no problem.
- The red tapes usually denote the place where you can use..got arrows on the tapes.
- For enquires, please feel free to contact Rong Hui or Adrian.

Route Two: The "Tsah!" route with square red tapes and tsah on it.
- Start at the corner..use only the top of starting hold.
- Proceed to do the really nice route.
- Both routes will cross at the center of the wall so be sure not to be confused over which red tape belongs to which route.
- Hiya I will show you the route if I meet you there. You can ask Assad too!

Happy birthday captain cheryl!

Climbing to the first post

As promised to alvin, shall have to put up a blog entry after climbasia. haha... Been really fantastic to join the climbing team and indeed it's both an eye-opener and motivation to witness to abilities of the senior climbers. Definitely will have to work hard to play catch up (if even possible in the first place!). Gonna pace a little though, getting a few aches and pains along the way.

Climbasia was a nice alternative to the nus climbing gym, being more spacious and yeah... more fresh air.
haha. Though somehow the tiles seem more slippery. Wouldnt mind going again! Especially if it is free!

Oh yeah, wanna drop a word of thanks to the rest of the team for the coaching and the advice. Without which i doubt i would have learnt anything. CHeerS!


Friday, September 9


I agree with what Manager Rui said.

Some of the juniors si beh pia (superly chiong to a specific goal). Take care of the tutorials and fingers. Although they don't seem to be much, finger injuries can effectively end your academic career. Once injured, you cant climb much too and your training would be wasted.

If finger pain, remember to tape it up. Don't do so much deadpoints to crimpers. If finger pain, do more sloper problems instead. Balance. Got once my fingers swell till i cannot hold a pen. Imagine if the joints swell then bluak! The joints burst and everything bleeds.

But I've seen the freshies who improved like madness. Han nah i know I am a freshie too. For example, Pek Hong. His rate of improvement is 30mins per improvement. See him cannot do a route den after a while, poof! He did it already. Strong willpower.

Time to save money haha going to buy new shoes wuahaha.



hihi, how's training so far for everyone?? hehe.. i hope the juniors are doing fine.


this wk probably is the most shack week so far. super drained out from climaprix (doin 6 routes in like half an hour is reali super tiring!!!) then monday's conditioning training( more like killing me training!! haha) then the tues's sports ball (argh!! y didn't eli n mei win!!!!) plus the piling of undone tutorials and upcoming tests... haha.. i need a break...


some things to mention....
there should be a camp from the 16th to 18th sept
juniors!! u are encourage to attend!!! most likely will be an overnight camp.. don't worry, we will try to get the conference room above the gym!! (if not, we will just slp in the gym?? haha)


overclimb
i realise some of the juniors(some seniors also) are climbing like almost everyday. haha.. i know ur passion for climbing =p but just a note - take care of your fingers!!... finger-injuries are damn bad.. once you injured it, it's reali hard to recover. so ppl!, try to rest in-between climbing days ok.... give your muscles a rest too.. haha..


captain's bd chalet this sat!!
humm, think most of the seniors will be going down to cheryl's bd this sat. any juniors joining?? give us a msg if you are going ok!... again you are encourage to go down... or rather pls go!if you are free!! haha.. hope to see the juniors k!!...
it's at national service resort country club, bungalow 28, starting at 630pm
... haha i am talking as if i am the birthday girl.. watever!! ...
** most probably we will go down from climbasia?? =p

... ok.. last words.. i want sports ball photos!!...
=p
... rx

Thursday, September 8

This has been a very bad week which im very glad to survive. school term = bz!

climbing and trg for the past 2 weeks non stop has resulted in many things
1) Tutorials undone = stress (mainly cos of climbaprix)
2) finger tendons pain
3) Pullups drop from 29 after training to 22 before training.

And most importantly,

4) I didnt climb well for the past 2 days! Routes which others flash seem insurmountable to me. Eventually, everything looks hard because I just don't feel strong enough to grab the tiles. It makes me v v v v upset!@@ #@$#@$@# ROARRRARARARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

From our coach Jups

Monday Trainings - NUS

Time Girls Guys
1800 - 1815 Stretching
1815 - 1845 Jog WARM UP: 6b - 15° wall
1845 - 1915 WARM UP: 6a - 15° wall Jog
1915 - 1930 Stretching
1930 - 2030 Conditioning Exercises
Pull-ups
Push-ups
Crunches
Resistance Leg Raise
Lock-offs
2030 - 2100 Introduction of new exercises / Cool Down
2100 till late Seniors: Mentoring of Girls with Guys

Wednesday Trainings - NUS

Time Girls
1800 - 1815 Stretching
1815 - 1845 Pull-up & Lock Offs
1845 - 1915 WARM UP: 6a - 15° wall
1915 - 2000 ATTEMPT: 6b+ - tsunami
2000 - 2045 Junior Girls: Routes by Kesheng
Seniors: Climb with Dinos!
2045 - 2100 Sloper Hangs

Thursday Trainings - NUS

Time Guys
1800 - 1815 Stretching
1815 - 1845 Pull-up & Lock Offs
1845 - 1915 WARM UP: 6b - tsunami
1915 - 2000 ATTEMPT: 6c+ - 38° wall
Junior Guys: Routes by Alvin
Seniors: Climb with Dinos!
2045 - 2100 Sloper Hangs

Sunday, September 4

alright!! the first improvement: i would like a bigger climbing gym! haha...wishful thinking though...src no $$ for us

ok...i'd like to suggest a gym cleanup, maybe one day during the 5-day (actually 4 only) mid-sem break. *ughh* yes yes...we're all lazy to do so, but its good to have the tiles rearranged every half year or so. then there all be more new routes! not the similar stuff our routes are becoming, like "hey this moves looks very familiar, i think its from some other route".

about the screws...we're lacking the 8mm round head one....got lotsa of 6mm countersunk ones. especially to screw tiles onto the concrete wall, the thread is of limited length so too long cannot screw in liao.

tiles! yes....we're lacking lots of jugs....too little already, esp when a lot is on the enterprise wall to facilitate climbing courses. slopers...well....nus has lots of slopers, but a few more interesting ones would be nice. could get some ledges or pinchers too....
i think climbasia still has some of our tiles from Climb On! so we actually do have a bit more tiles. still...more tiles the better! can play around with routes.

Improvements to Climbing Gym

Good Sunday dear climbers,

I would like to invite you guys to spam me with comments and suggestions on what you wanna see changed in the current climbing gym. Among several good suggestions that I've received from Alvin are:
- Buying more tiles
- Boarding up the finger board area so climbers do not accidentally fall down and die when they are too shack doing finger board
- Buying more short screws to screw tiles

Feel free to spam me with your suggestions. You can either reply to this blog or find me at looi_adrian@hotmail.com. If you wanna buy new tiles, it would be really nice if you can explain what kind of tiles you want that may increase the potential our gym has to create more creative routes so we do not get sien doing routes.

Please try to spam me faster faster as I am coming up with a proposal to Kelvin, the club's president so he will approve the budget before he uses the money for other things haha. Don't be shy just spam me lah so we can happily happily climb.

Many many thanks.






yo~! today (or rather yesterday) was climaprix and i believe it was a great experience for both juniors and seniors who took part, and to those who watched and didn't participate.

to the juniors: you all did real great! its only been 2 trainings and you all were thrown into the competition...and its really not bad....hope you all did have fun. there's a lot more to learn and to improve on....and by the next comp, after few mths of training, i'm sure all of you will do very well.

to the seniors: its quite an eye opener right? the routes and moves there are quite different from the ones we usually climb in the gym, and i believe its a good exposure for all. there's a lot to learn from it. and well done to all! =)

the only down thing is the super long wait to climb, especially for the men's open category. was the last climber cos i had to go off for a while, when i came back...the 6th climber just went in....and i was the 32nd. sibei sian. but the wait was worth it...the routes were nice, but some were really not for me....not strong enuff to do certain moves. too bad couldn't get to see the other climbers climb, else it would be much better.

overall it was goooooooood! a gd experience for all.

Saturday, September 3


Pre ClimbPrix Thoughts

It is raining again. Competitions at Singapore Poly has a tendency to herald the rain. I wonder how the routes would be like. Is it power packed? Would extreme finger strength be needed? If it rains, I cant do tutorial at the isolation later as the stray raindrops will wet my books (yes i know i sound nerdy).
I hope the isolation will not be super long. Just get it done and over with. Chances of winning is low. Tried to hype myself yesterday night to no avail. Alvin and coach said the routes set should be challenging as the route setter would had put some thinking into setting the routes. Haha cant wait to try good routes. For a fee of two bucks, it is really a good bargain. Argh cant wait to try new routes. Hope the SP people leave the routes for us to try while they compute the results after the end of the guys competition.


GOOD LUCK TO ALL FOR CLIMAPRIX!!!

Friday, September 2

Hi guys... Since I saw a request for freshie's to start posting on the blog, I guess I should post one. Oh, btw, this is also going to be my first blog post ever. I'm a freshie in blogging too. =D

Hmm, climbing has been very fun so far, and in the two days that I've trained, I've learned quite a lot of things. That's expected of a freshie, right? One of those things is that i've figured out how to do a side-step. Is that what you call it? The thing where both knees point in one direction? Anyway, I've learned how to stick to the tsunami wall like that, and how to stretch from that position to get to higher tiles. Before, I was always doing frontal on the tsunami wall. Even when I tried to do the sideways thing, I think I wasnt doing it properly coz it was still too tiring. So yeah, I finally got it I think. Thing is, even though I can reach for tiles on the sloping part of the tsunami already, I can't hang on for long coz my forearms tire too fast. So that's the thing I should be working on I guess. forearm strength.

Okie... That's all for me. See ya all tonight at the AGM and good luck for the competition tomm... =)

one revelation i had this week.
and although all climbers already know this, it is often overlooked.
TRAIN YOUR WEAKNESS!!!!
for me, my weakness is my right hand. very sad!!!!
climbing with the dinos today was fun..alot of good routes to do..and it motivated me to try even more!
as i begin to climb harder routes, i realise that versatility is very important, and that highlighted my weakness even more - i have absolutely negligible power on my right hand!!! my left hand is way way stronger and so when i get routes with cruxes requiring alot of power or lock offs on my right, i totally cannot do them. =(
assad told me something very enlightening that day, and its like the age old climbers training rule that we so often overlook.

- theres no point training only what you re already strong at cos more often that not its that one weakness that pulls u down. theres no point doing routes that u know u probably can do but avoiding those that u feel u confirm cannot do cos theres a -*insert own personal weakness here*- in it. must at least try!!!
i think its very true.
so im trying to set right hand moves routes for myself lately.

we tend to do routes to our own favour, using only what we re strongest in, be it powering through, statically reaching for a tile, using only your power hand etc. but you ll realise that it is provided that the route itself allows for you to use ur strong points, so the hard part comes when u get routes with moves that are very specific. say its a move that can only only be executed with a jump and deadpoint and thats exactly what ure bad, den die la. and as we go up higher levels, routes tend to have very specific moves in them, even more so for natural vertical climbing.
i think if u dont train ur weak points, sooner or later the discrepencies between your strengths and weakness will show up greater and thats where we'll plateau, so we must all identify what we re weak in and work specifically in it, even though it feels really sucky..=/ i hate doing right hand locks cos it makes me feel very very weak. but i think i have no choice. please set more right hand locks and right hand power moves for me!!!
i can give left hand moves if u all want!! =)
eLi

the fun-ness of system training

it's been some time since i've felt so shacked from a climbing training. whole body pain haha guess the period of not climbing really fattens me. although i had great difficulties keeping up to the seniors, it's good to feel pumped. weird huh haha but it brings back the nostalgic memories when i was still a young man climbing *cough cough.*

starting to feel frustrated over some routes which is relatively easy but due to trembling arms and weak fingers, it is no wonder i finished zero routes today. argh. pathetic. and those ppl are mad siah..they are so strong. there's one funny senior too he got a tattoo on his right back. funny guy, kept giving demos of routes but falling off them haha. we need more people like him when we climb so we wont feel frustrated hahaha

going to eat now thinking about unfinished routes makes me hungry. growl.

I climbed on 10 out of the past 11 days!! Yes that meant saturday and Sunday also.... Came back to sch on Sunday to do my HW but in the end.... :'(

I think living at Old Kent Ridge is simply not a very good thing! too near to the gym for my own good... haiz.

Nowadays, my fingers are so tired that only after very rigorous warm up will I be ready to climb slightly harder routes and exert strength on sucky tiles. But no injuries yet. Really improved also cos I can send harder routes now... But I think climbaprix is a gone case cos there won't be any warm up climb to limber up the sore fingers.

Hope the freshies don't expect so much from the seniors also :)


And hope the freshies start posting on the blog soon.
Tell us what made u join climbing and what you enjoy about it..any negative things too

hello hello

it is almost a week since we returned from tampin..
eh.. tho i had a feeling that we are going tampin this week.. or i wished i could go tampin again this weekend.. this tampin trip was great.. tho there are kinda limited stuff for us to do.. and the stuff we did.. are kinda of same .. but it was fun.. more fun than the krabi trip this yr..
even tho tampin doesnt have the beautiful beaches..friendly thais.. breath-taking scenerys.. but i think the most impt thing.. the company was great.. haha.. cant believe the people on the trip are so nice.. even tho we dun realli know them.. or jus know them like accquaintance.. but they are nicer than those we had known them like ages..
people like chuan..ginno.. irwan..ivan...garvin and our coach jups... all very strong but very nice too..then they jus cheer u on.. spot u.. even they are nt asked too.. instead of finding routes to try.. they will help us to do routes first.. before moving on to doing their own conquests..
accomdation was cool.. it was a bungalow.. with a swimming pool which i will swim in the morning or in the night.. if the guys havent jumped in w/o showering!!! and dirtied the pool..
but it was cool.. i got my long-awaited bubble bath..i wasted half abottle in the pool.. in the bath tub..
there were nt enuff rooms.. so some of the guys have to sleep in the living room..; so poor thing.. the malay boys, hafiz, yazid, irwan, then garvin.. mr nice guy.. ginno.. mr lots of injuries... and ks.. the bungalow is at afarmosa.. haha.. damned nice
food was good oso.. but to me.. bubble gum was alr enuff.. but we went to eat chendol and food at chinatown.. it was realli quite nice. the chendol.. lots of coconut milk.. the chinatown.. realli quite nice to shop. but it was quite late when we get there..and with my twisted ankle.. couldnt walk as fast oso..

there is a very good feeling ard our group.. like no one is a burden to other.. becuz even i m nt good.. or nt able to complete routes or need a 1000 tries to complete routes.. we jus sorta wait for each other. spot each other.. encouraging each other.. haha. that is how climbers shld be..
this is the first time i have this kinda of feeling.. dun have it at krabi.. tho..haha..

with regards the crowding of the gym..
i think the club shld start collecting money from the NUS peeps who are not members but are starting to climb our gym.. instead of saying.. u can climb first.. pay later.. i dun think it shld be done like tat.. the comm shld start collecting money.. if nt .. the words of a free gym to be used.. can spread like wildfire.. the gym will get even more crowded..
ideas to new comm.. realli have a new card system.. to keep account for the members.. like CLimbasia.. print out the cards on paper. and laminate them.. wun cost alot .. and it will be fast too...

gym supposed to used by NUS Climbing sub club members, NUS IVP team memebes.. and alumni and friends of NUS.. friends of NUS are those who helped to build the gym, help organise boulderactive.. helps out in gym clean-ups.. but nt those who are friends of the comm members or team members.. i mean.. i m nt against them coming to the gym.. but realli nt during peak hours or training days.. from 5- 8 pm.. we already have a very big team.. of more than 20 people.. even on mondays.. with only the team onli. the gym is alr crowded..
come on sun mornings.. weekday mornings.. crowding of the gym will turn away our precious alumni too.. which i think are more impt than those who are unrelated to NUS.. but jus using the gym for free..

mayb the guys might think that it is good to have outsiders to climb in NUS.. cuz they are good climbers.. giving good routes for u guys to try..but i think this can be done somewhere else.. or nt during training days la.. some say that we are nt focused enough.. of cuz we cant be focused.. when constanly there is a possibilty of someone dropping onto u.. or u have to move ard.. to move away from falling people..coming down halfway from a route.. becuz someone wants to cross... how to be focused? when it is nt possible to do a route without coming down or blocking other people's way.. or we are jus nt advanced enough nt to allow external factors affect us during climbing..

i think everyone in the committee and team has a role to play to keep the gym a place free of outsiders.. cuz our gym is becoming unsafe and dirty and messy.. mei had lost $$ in the gym.. i think if we see any outsiders or unfamiliar faces.. we could jus ask.. if they are from NUS or where are they from..mayb we could jus ask nicely or nt in a confrontation manner.. it is a precaution we can take to keep the gym safe... cuz the gym is the second home to most of us.. recently.. like shoes are lying ard.. watever sorts.. so we could jus ask.. i feel there is nothing wrong with that..

so let's try to keep the gym safe and clean.. and climable to us..
missing tampin too..

cheers
Liping

Thursday, September 1

SPORTS BALL

Sports ball is next Tue 6th sept at The Fullerton. Good team bonding session!! Freshies highly reccomended to form groups and come together!! pls sms me asap...

Currently, 13 ppl going:
CHEN RUIXUAN
JESSICA GAO
YAP JUN WEI
ONG JUN WEI
KONG CIRUI CHERYL
NG LI PENGTEO SHU MEI
KEVIN KWA LEONG BOON
TEO WEI MIN
YEO KESHENG
CAI KUNMING ALVIN
CHEN ZHENGXIN
DEBORAH LIM YUJIAN