Good Things Come in Pairs (Part II)

Back to My Alma Mater
I headed to TJC for a coaching session earlier this morning. The night prior I slept late, no prizes for correctly guessing what I was doing. Yet, when I stepped through the gates of my alma mater, the energy seeped in. Slowly but surely, it flooded my senses and empowered me with the energy required of coaching a bunch of energetic bunnies.

Insurmountable Route

Philip and Garick are the main coaches, while I adopt a more ad-hoc position. I'm very satisfied with the current arrangement, because I know how physically and mentally challenging it is to do three things at once: score decent grades in school, push my own climbing level and coach a school three times a week. I've tried and sadly, I've fallen short. 

So Garick had some last minute matters to attend to, leaving me to helm the fort in his absence. The time has come again for me to take on the mantle of a coach. I try very hard to live up to my ideal of a good coach, but damn, Philip has set the bar so very high.

I've shared with them my climbing philosophy (why do I climb?) and past experiences as a student juggling climbing and school work (funny how the more things change, the more they stay the same). I also empathize with them being devastated or depressed after under-performing at competitions. After all, such feelings do surface at times (particularly after certain setbacks) and haunt me. I don't think I was particularly eloquent or charismatic. In fact, I stumble on my pronunciation way too often, and often fall victim to mental blocks just when I need that perfect word, making myself look silly.

You are an Athlete, so Train like One
Mostly, I just play the role of a motivator. I instill in them the sense that it is a privilege to be in the team, especially since they have coaches of Philip's and Garick's stature, who are such authorities in the field. They also have an awesome and dedicated teacher in the form of Mr Kao. 

I tell them that they are athletes, so train like one.

Woe is Me
The team took part in Gravical, but because they suffered from nerves, most did not perform well. I could see all the signs - being rattled after slipping off footholds, the glazed and unfocused looks in the eyes, the shifty demeanor, among others. They were upset, silent and sullen during the debrief, and at the end of it, I was surrounded by a group of crying girls. Talk about bad karma! 

But I guess I should take comfort in the fact that they are so upset, for indifference only means that they have either attained a very high level of enlightenment or that it matters little to them. I would assume the latter.

Pardon the Shameless Plug

I try my best, but I acknowledge that I'm only but a small fish in the ocean of hard men. I always question my own capabilities, uncertain as to whether I'm up for the job. Which brings me to the end of this post.. positive feedback received in the form of a collection of handwritten cards!

 Thank you TJCCC!

Passion Creates Possibilities

I read each and every one of them, and caressed each word as if it were my first-born. Different people have different ways of creating meaning. Some like to go to parties and bask in the limelight. Some like to drink themselves silly. Some revel in the chase, or being chased. In my world of meaning-making, those escapades hold little meaning to me. Ahhh but these letters.. these are so precious to me.. 

Ok so sue me for being shameless, for I've taken the liberty to insert some of the letters which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Your Wannabe Coach,

Jansen Ko

Hi Jansen! The first time I see you is during the Climb X finals. I was very amazed by what you have done! Onsight such a hard route!

From there on, I got to know more about you. And just a few months ago, I found out from one of your batchmates that you had gotten into OPEN MENS in TJ! IMBA SHIT!! Just 1 year of training and you are in OPEN MENS.. Unbelievable.. Such an honour to have a genius of a senior.. Total inspiration!

Hope you will coach us again! Really enjoyed your sessions. Your enthusiasm, your style of coaching, your humble attitude! Really like the routes you set! 

Wish you good luck in your studies. And hopefully become a coach and spread the love of climbing to all your students!

Hi Jansen, just wanna say a big thank you for training us especially the period before Gravical. Really enjoyed your training sessions; your unorthodox PT sessions were not only effective but had also made PT seem so much more fun and welcoming. Besides PT, I also appreciate the times when you specially point out the details that I'll have to take note during the climb. Your comprehensive description of your thoughts during the climb has also benefited me immensely as it gave me a better understanding of what I should be doing. Will remember your advice on being more decisive when climbing and not give any half-hearted attempts :)

hey Jansen! Thanks a lot for your wonderful coaching the past few weeks especially before and during Gravical. The stories that you told really inspired us to give our best during the competition and to train harder than we normally would during training sessions. Furthermore, we really enjoyed the routes that you set for us during boulder trainings - your routes are very different from Garick's.

I read your blog recently and I must say, you can write really well! You would write a book on climbing or real estate (if you really have nothing better to do). I would be one of the first to buy it haha :) except for the real estate part. You would be very good at coming up with slogans and taglines if you are going to be a real estate agent. If you are up for it, giving birth to a football team would also really help haha.

That aside, I think you are a brilliant climber and a fantastic coach. It doesn't matter if some girls think that you have chicken legs or fair skin (I think fair skin's great!) when you are so good at what you do. It was a great pleasure to have you as our coach. I do hope that you would be able to coach us more often or that we'll meet again soon! Thanks a lot again for Gravical :)

Hello there Jansen :) Thanks for taking over Garick when he had to go for reservist (pew, pew, pew - shooting and all). You've been a really really really (x ∞) motivational and awesome coach to us (and me personally). I really admire how you know so much about climbing - handling nerves/stress/competitions etc. I call you a silent climber btw! 'Cause your footwork is WHOA. Wish I could be as good as you, tee hee. Gravical was our first comp as J2s, it really affected me when I didn't do well :( I guess its the 'pressure' to do well for TJ y'know. Unknowingly, I succumbed to these imaginary expectations I made for myself. It's okay! We'll train hard for our upcoming comps. And I'll tell myself that I cannot fall as a leader, if not my team members cannot move on as well. Thanks a lot for igniting a passion to train very very very hard during the times you were with us. I'll work hard yes! :) The higher one climbs, the more one realises there is no top :)