what a surprise to find this in my vector mailbox. i didn’t believe him when he said he had a surprise as this dear friend sent me a birthday card from toronto. with the time zone difference, we share a few hours of birthday together. i’m grateful for the connections life brings us when we least expect it and really cherish the ones who take the extra mile to make your day special
christmas party with espr hanging out with the gang and playing games. it gets competitive no matter what game we’re playing. the captains surprise us each with our own player card with stats. i barely got a chance to play the season before it all ended but it was certainly nice to be present during the playoff weekend. it’s always hard for me to attend the games knowing i’m only going to spectate. i hope to return to play with this team next summer but that fate is not in my control
in my second session back at tricking, i had the intention of working on butterfly twists. getting around is never expected because i’m so inconsistent even when i trained frequently, but i was hit by a bit surprise when i landed on my first try. it wasn’t pretty, but it’s a very good start. i wasn’t quite satisfied with my back tucks tonight but well aware there’ll be days when some things clicks better than others. super stoked i am gradually getting old tricks back one trick at a time. shoulder held up for the most part but did start to guard as the night wore on
surprised everyone when i brought home an electric scooter. i want to make use of it going to my studio when the weather is nice out. it’ll take some time to get use to riding one. i took it for a spin to my studio and that seemed fine during off peak hours. i’m surprised it had enough power for the big hills, but the battery life remains to be seen. hopefully this will help save some gas and kilometres on my supersonic
this year’s birthday was different than the rest. i felt like i had no one since i’ve shut myself off when i was struggled with my grandma’s passing. with my parents back at hong kong in attendance, it didn’t feel right for me to be here. i wasn’t looking forward to my birthday at all because there would be nothing to celebrate, but a few friends came through and surprised me. turns out this day was the best day i’ve had in the many months, one that temporary put my sorrows aside and put a smile that came from my heart. i’m grateful for these friends and our decades of friendship
first flightclub open gym session since february and i was worried i wouldn’t remember how to do any tricks. first and foremost, i wanted to move around but throwing an unspotted back tuck would be nice to have. i thought i would start from scratch and warmup in the pit for as long as i need before having the confidence to throw it, but i went for it only after a few jumps. this already made me really happy, but what made the session even better was throwing a wall flip. that one took a lot of timer jumps and pacing back and forth before i finally convinced myself to go for it. it’s nice to have retained some muscle memory even after such a long break
excited to distribute the fresh team jackets to the competitors during the final poomsae training before bc open this weekend. i was lucky enough to have the order rushed and finished in time for bc open. i kept it as a surprise because everyone has been working so hard and i wanted to make them happy. this is a dream come true to have my own athletes wear apparel that represent vector
i’ll keep my words of not going to flightclub until competition is over. in the meantime i’ll be cautious of what i train and how i practice. staying at home base for jiujitsu and self training doesn’t stop me from throwing an aerial. i was pleasantly surprised that it felt really good after not having done one in many months. just a few more days left and i’m extremely anxious about the poomsae draw and wish that they’ll post it soon
i was in for a surprise when i stepped on the scale this morning like i do every morning. it’s quite alarming to see this number on the scale because i have not been this low for years. this is the number i need to be at when weighing for weightlifting, but dropping another 1.4 pounds from yesterday for no reason doesn’t sound healthy. my mood, depleted energy, lack of urgency since returning has a lot to do with it. either way, i haven’t trained since being back, and i’m not feeling it at all. all i feel is a sense of emptiness after everything i have just gone through and completed last week
a sudden turn of events last night i never made it back to my hotel, but i got up extra early and made it back for the scheduled team meeting. it’s the first time i’m coaching at a national level event and making use of the nccp i finally completed after seven years of procrastination. seeing a lot of familiar faces from years back is a weird feeling and i’m sure they’re surprised to see me back. my role is a coach today and then i turn competitor mode tomorrow. i’ll admit i’m nervous but containing everything inside and trying to look like i’m fully under control
feels good i can manage this weight without trouble for four sets of five. at first i thought it was going to be a struggle at every set, but it didn’t end up that way. this weight matches the heaviest i have ever front squatted for doubles. what a difference i have noticed in strength since i started putting more consistent work and diligently following the coach’s workout plan. i want to see how far i can take my strength level
i met up with a friend and when we got into the topic of filming, he asked to see the full fight choreo. i was really reluctant at first, but i decided to put myself vulnerable. it was a pleasant surprise when he said he liked it. he said it’s a big improvement from the last fight choreo and gave some positive feedback. i’m not confident in my work yet because i know i can do better, but he pushed me to post it. i’m happy he gave me feedback because it means it’s worth his time to do so. i mulled about it some more and found the courage to post it on my social media
i planned sitting out but still going to support my teammates so i purposely didn’t bring my gear because temptations of playing would be very high. turns out my team really needed me to play so i booked it home to grab my gear. they put me in as a back catcher to reduce the risk of re-injuring my shoulder, but that didn’t last long because they figured out i wanted to be fielding elsewhere. i was expecting to struggle at the plate because my left arm only provided support and nothing else. it came as a huge surprise i batted three for three and even hit a triple. maybe this is the secret to making my swing better. i’m so happy i got to move around which really brightened my mood
to come out and show my demo reel to my coordinator friend took a lot of courage. it was meant to be a surprise but i kept holding off. i was really nervous when i revealed it because in my mind it’ll never be good enough, especially to those who are in the industry and are used to seeing high calibre stuff. being my first reel, i was proud seeing it all come together, but i was also ready to get bashed and ridiculed. thankfully my friend didn’t criticize it much; he was probably too nice and held back. instead, he suggested things i could work on and gave me a list with some video references. it’s my first go at making a demo reel, there’s a lot of learning and improving to be done and i only want to get better with each practice
the poomsae grand prix round one results are out and i can’t really explain what i feel. on paper, it showed i placed second within my category. to others, it’s great because placing means i qualified for the finals, but somehow i feel sad because i really wasn’t proud of my performance. i entered the competition without any expectations aside from hoping not to finish last, so to yield this result is unsatisfyingly surprisingly. all i can think about is how much better i need to be and how much harder i need to train from here on because i haven’t proven to myself i’m worth anything, let alone contend for a spot
haven’t done any wall flips since the turn of the calendar year because body just hasn’t allowed it. i got spotted twice and was told i could do it on my own. i’m really surprised it felt so good after such a long lay off, because i thought i had to relearn it from the beginning. i guess muscle memory does exist sometimes. i hope that goes for back handsprings as well because i’m aiming to get back to it once my shoulder works better
today i surprised myself by attempting and landing my first ever webster on the floor. i’m very happy i made my goal of landing it before the end of this year and very thankful to have a coach friend support me through this grind. tricking has been rewarding lately, i’ve really enjoyed pushing some limits. i’d be lying if i said i wasn’t disappointed my friend couldn’t join any of the training sessions thus far. i was really looking forward to training a lot with him throughout this holiday break, but at this rate i don’t think it’ll happen at all
my flash kick felt like trash recent weeks. for this reason, i haven’t been working on them much and randomly turned back to them last session. it’s been a long time since i last felt good about my flash kick. surprised the coach allowed me to progress to another setup, but i felt it was unfair he refused to spot me and said i shouldn’t do it if i didn’t feel ready. i knew i had to dig deep and go for it if i wanted to level up to a new setup. i tried it and pleasantly made it around on my feet. at the end of the session my other coach spotted me on the floor and also attempted one on my own. part of me was happy i made progress, but part of me was sad i didn’t push for it harder. now at least i know i can do it and will save it for next time
bench and pullups were on the workout menu today. i finally managed to complete twenty five pullups in one workout even though the end wasn’t pretty. the main objective my coach had given me was to complete twenty five pullups splitting it up as much as i need. the first two sets felt strong, but it fell off starting in the third set when the fourth and fifth rep became a struggle. my homework is to keep this up and do it three times a week and hopefully i can hit five by five with solid reps. the goal is to beat my max of eleven straight pullups. i randomly felt like testing my vertical and was surprised how close i got to hitting my head on the garage gate
still going strong attending classes and hitting up open gyms. i’ve learned that adopting to train everyday, but train at seventy percent may be better than going ham every other day. despite doms hitting hard after a heavy squat day the day before, i had a pretty strong session. i wasn’t expecting to do any power moves, but i was in for a surprised with both my flash kick and x-out. i took the x-out to the floor after two warm ups and it looked better than the ones last summer when i drilled them the entire session. my flash kick is starting to click for some reason; i wish i could take it to floor as well but i know i need to be held back to have a better margin of error before i do so. i have no doubt it will come in time
tongtongvision 