The Votes are In..
…and this year’s World Championships will continue to be in Tokyo!
After discussing the post earthquake/tsunami condition in Japan, the FIG finally decided that it would be safe enough for the Japanese Gymnastics Association to continue and host the World Championships in October.
Frankly, I would’ve been pretty upset if the competition got handed to a different country. From what I’ve heard from friends and relatives in Japan, there is currently nothing wrong in Tokyo. People are going about their daily lives and no radiation effects are present in that part of the country.
I’m glad that Japan will be able to play host to the World Championships. It’ll be a great morale booster for the Japanese people, especially after what they’ve been having to deal with over the last couple of months.
I’m currently busting my tail with the hopes of being part of the US team!
2011 Worlds in Japan!
By the way, I found the above picture to be funny. I first saw it on my friend’s facebook page. The funny part about it is that it shows the Golden Pavilion which is located in Kyoto, a city that takes several hours to get to from Tokyo even by riding the bullet train. It’s almost like showing the Statue of Liberty for a competition that’s going to be held in San Francisco 
Ten Inch Beam?
I know that some of the stuff that they show on ABC Family’s Make It or Break It isn’t completely accurate and doesn’t depict the true nature of gymnastics, but I found this one to be pretty ridiculous.
One of my friends this out. In one of the scenes, a girl is seen performing on a ridiculously wide beam. My eyes could be playing tricks on me (the girl could’ve had ridiculous small feet) because the picture itself is pretty small, but if it is in fact a wider-than-normal beam, then the camera shouldn’t have focused on her feet.
10-Inch Beam!
What do you guys think?
The Bears are Back!
I know that this is old news by now but I thought that I should make a quick mention because I did a couple of posts about this a while back.
For those of you that didn’t know, community and family members were able to raise enough funds to get Cal Men’s Gymnastics reinstated! Now all five teams (I think it was five) that initially got cut from UC Berkeley’s athletic program are set to return, and men’s gymnastics will be back for their 100th season! Huge thanks to the people that donated, spread the word, or simply prayed for their return. This is great news for everybody in the gymnastic community. I feel especially happy for the youngsters that’ll have Cal as one of their options for college.
Cal Men's Gym Team
I understand that their fight is not over yet. The current amount raised will only get them through the next eight years or so and they’ll need more funding if they wish to keep it running. For those interested in helping out, check out Cal Gymnastics Forever.
Far West Rice!
Far West Rice is the official rice supplier for Sho Nakamori!
My official rice supplier - Far West Rice!
As an Asian that grew up with rice in pretty much every meal of the day, rice is a necessity in my life. For some reason (I don’t know the science behind this) I seem to get the most energy out of rice compared to other carbohydrates. It’s definitely my source of life.
Fortunately over the last few years, I’ve become good friends with Steve Ross, who works for a rice production company called Far West Rice. Steve is also the boy’s head coach at Oroville Gymnastics, which is how I got to know him. Anyway, all of us in the NorCal gymnastics community has become a huge fan of his rice.
Big thanks to Steve and FWR for keeping my rice bowl full! For info on their products and their special green technology they use to mill their rice check out their site here.
Sign of Hard Work!
Huge apologies to everybody that regularly check into my website! I’ve been really bad about uploading new posts as lately I’ve been super busy both in and out of the gym.
My work outside of the gym has ramped up over the last week or so. I’ve been so busy that I find myself constantly on the computer if not at practice.
Inside the gym, I’ve been gradually ramping up the intensity. With summer right around the corner, it’s now the time to start preparing for some competitions again! For the last couple of months I’ve been playing it careful by nursing some old injuries, while learning some new skills. However, I’ve been working to switch over to that different mode.
Interestingly, I’ve come to associate hard work with some pain (both mental and physical). Obviously I don’t go and purposefully inflict pain on myself, but I do get that sense of satisfaction when I come home beat up and sore from training.
Recently, pommel horse has been giving me a good beating. I know at first glance it doesn’t look to be dangerous. The pommel horse is close to the ground and we don’t perform and flipping skills on it. But every single time we clip the horse with our legs, we’re left with cuts and bruises. I think the perfect way to describe my shin nowadays is that it looks like a battlefield!
Cut, bumps, and bruises are all part of training!
Gotta get through these tough trainings though! There’s no way around it!
