Archive for June, 2011

Congrats Kevin!

26 Jun shonakamori No Comments »

It’s about a week too late but last weekend, I attended my friend (and 2008 Olympian), Kevin Tan’s wedding party.  His actual wedding was held in Pennsylvania where he currently coaches and attended college, but he had a reception party-type thing over in the Bay Area where he grew up.  Congrats to Kevin and Jessie and I wanted to wish them a bright future together!

Huge congrats to Kevin and Jessie!

New Promo Vid for the World Championships

16 Jun shonakamori No Comments »

Looks like my buddy, Fabian Hambuechen, from Germany recently went over to Japan to promote the World Championships to be held there later this year!

Just wanted to share that video today.

YouTube Preview Image

Again, I’m glad that the competition is going to stay in Japan!  This will be a great thing for the country that had to endure so much earlier this year.  Speaking of Worlds and Japan, the Japanese team was just selected over the weekend.  All I can say is that once again, they’ll be one of top teams along with China.  I have some personal friends on the Japanese team so I’m training hard to get myself on the US team so that I’ll be able to compete against them in October.  The American team will be selected in August.

Another One for the Card

11 Jun shonakamori No Comments »

It was another successful year for Stanford Athletics!  Wanted to say a quick congrats to the University for once again winning the Director’s Cup.  The Director’s Cup is awarded to the college with the best overall athletic program (they tally up the points for all sports at each of their the national championships), and this is Stanford’s 17th straight!

Director's Cup!

Even though I graduated a couple of years ago, I’ve been following Stanford athletics pretty closely, and it’s great to see that the excellence is continuing!

Check out the article here.

Thanks for the Contribution!

09 Jun shonakamori No Comments »

Wanted to say a quick thanks to everyone that contributed and donated to the Japan Relief Fund!  After doing some fundraisers at this year’s Norcal State Championships, Region 1 Championships, and various clinics, I was able to collect a total of $550.76!

The other day, I found this in the mail.

Thank you letter from the Consul General of Japan

It was a thank you card from the Consulate General of Japan, and said that the money will be sent to the Japanese Red Cross.  I know that it’ll take time, but I hope that they’ll be able to rebuild quickly and for the people that were affected to be able to return to their normal lives again.  The Japanese are a resilient group of people.  And, with the help of people around the world, I’m sure that they’ll be back stronger than ever before.  Go Japan!

Crazy Times

01 Jun shonakamori No Comments »

The last couple of weeks have been slightly crazy.  On the gymnastics side, I’ve been continuing to raise the intensity and pushing to get stronger.  With some big competitions coming up, now is the time to push myself to get to that next level. However, it’s important that I do so in a smart manner. Despite telling myself that, I had a minor accident the other day when I slipped off of the horse and jammed my knuckle into the equipment.  I kept telling myself to be extra careful as I was feeling fatigued, but unfortunately it happened.  Sometimes these things are unavoidable, especially as athletes, we are always pushing ourselves to the limit.  Luckily I walked away with a bruised/jammed knuckle and nothing more.  I’ll most likely play it easy for the next couple of days but I’m glad that it wasn’t anything more serious.

On the work end, I’ve started a new position!  I’m still working for the same company but now I have a different title, which means I also have s0me different responsibilities.  Definitely glad that I’m able to switch things up a bit!  Although managing time between training and work can be slightly difficult at times, it’s really nothing I can’t handle.  When I look back to my college days, things were much tougher, especially when I was taking an upward of 16+ units a quarter.

Despite the busy-ness, I feel that having work outside of gymnastics is a good thing.  I believe that a good balance with anything is important, and this is no different!