Tag: Cheerleading Singapore

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Handstand: How long will it take to learn?

Author : CheerForce Singapore

Date:16-12-2020

How long it would actually take to learn how to do a handstand? Let’s hear it from the expert! Our local circus artists Beverly is here to share her experience and knowledge on learning handstand with all of us.

Back in 2017, Beverly started exploring handstand after being inspired by an Australian acrobat when she was at Australia where she was sponsored to attend circus training courses taught by professionals and got the opportunity to train with acrobats all over the world.

How will a typical training session be like?

Beverly clocks in freestanding handstands, straddle presses and contortion handstands in the first hour before she start venturing into higher level skills that she’s working towards. Her level of dedication to handstand training is intense as she shared that in the beginning of her handstand journey, she was doing handstands every day, every minute in between classes, during lunch, dinner breaks and even after school!

How many hours do you practice every week/day and what are some of the challenges face while learning hand balancing?

Beverly handstand training is usually about 2 hours and 3 – 4 days a week. “But everyday I still do a couple of handstands just for fun!” remarked Beverly. Beverly shared that she had injured her wrist once in a freak accident, and since then her wrists became more susceptible to overuse injury. “I have to be very careful and gentle with my training, but this has also taught me to train more responsibly…like warm up first.” says Beverly.

What is the one most important factor when it comes to hand balancing?

“Patience, resilience and discipline are very very very important. Rushed and frantic handstands seldom ever work unless you’re incredibly strong. You can expect to have some days where you have zero success and want to give up, and you’ll need to do handstands every single day even if that means you’ll be staring at the floor for 2 hours.” says Beverly.

What advice would Beverly give to beginners who are starting on their hand balancing journey?

If you are just starting on your handstand journey, here are some advice that Beverly would like to share to help you with your initial phase of your journey.

OVERCOMING FEAR – You can kick up to a handstand against the wall but can’t do it freestanding is because of fear. After learning how to twist out of your handstand, you’ll realise it’s no longer dangerous to go upside down, training will feel much less terrifying, and you’ll dare to kick up to your handstand.

STAYING FOCUS – Handstands won’t feel like you kick up to centre and then float there. Once you find your centre, that centre will keep shifting around so it’s a constant focus on balance, constant pushing and pulling and constant gripping and releasing. 

GETTING UNLOCKED – you’ll have no idea what it feels like to be in balance upside down. In other words, you don’t know which point/feeling it is that you’re looking for so it’ll feel like a pointless search. But once you unlocked it and you know what it’s supposed to feel like, the journey towards finding that spot will be a lot easier.

Are you interested to learn more about handstand and other movements like the front walkover from Beverly? Check out our classes page to see what are the upcoming classes that she will be conducting at CheerForce Singapore’s cheerleading studio!

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Improve Flexibility: Mastering Of Splits And Pancakes

Author : CheerForce Singapore

Date:25-11-2020

Today we bring to you an interview with the flexible sister duo Margarita and Christina and they will be sharing with you their journey on flexibility and some challenges and tips they picked up along the way. They will also be sharing how their flexibility training is like as well as advice for you if you are starting or has already started on the flexibility training journey of your own.

WHO ARE THEY?

Marga is an advanced level pole dancer and has participated in amateur level competition and holds the title of “The Brass Barree’s Freestyle Battle Queen” whereas Christina has a versatile dance background from hip hop, tap, contemporary dance and pole dancing. She have been consistent in building her strength and flexibility to compete internationally.

WHEN AND WHY DID THEY STARTED LEARNING SPLITS/PANCAKES?

It all started as a sibling thing where Marga started training splits when she saw Christina training for it and wanted to see if she could do it as well. She managed to achieve her front splits in secondary school but lost it for a period of time as she did not continue training until in 2018 where she started working on her overall flexibility.

It was Marga’s aim to get her flexibility back after losing it, and over time she found more reasons to train her flexibility to have beautiful lines when she dances. Marga explained that the ability to do more tricks requires some degree of flexibility, and the sense of satisfaction from achieving each minor milestone motivates her to work more on her flexibility. “It has become a journey where I learned to enjoy and develop interested in this craft.” said Marga.

WHAT IS THEIR TYPICAL FLEXIBILITY TRAINING REGIME LIKE?

“Twice a week, one hour each session” was their answer.

“If I can’t follow through with this on some weeks, I will find ways to incorporate some deeper stretches in her warm-ups before my self practice pole dance sessions and throw in some tricks that supplement this as well.” said Marga. Some of her deeper stretches includes oversplit stretches and tricks that require the same level of flexibility. “On rare days I will work on my middle split which is my least favorite part to train” said Marga jokingly.

As for Christina, her typical training session would be an hour long focusing on certain muscles groups and always trying to incorporate active flexibility work.

WHAT CHALLENGES DID THEY FACE WHILE LEARNING SPLITS/PANCAKES?

Marga big challenge is getting the right form to make sure she is stretching safely while maximizing the stretch because sometimes getting into the right form itself can be a challenge. Marga makes a conscious effort to focus on each stretch and try to progressively improve her form. It’s definitely not something that came easy to her because she really needs to be aware of her body. “It would help when you have someone stretching with you because they will be able to help you check and correct your form”, suggested Marga.

As for Christina, she faced days where she have difficulty in finding motivation to stretch. “Let’s face it, stretching can hurt and may seem really mundane, but I usually set a certain goal in mind (usually a trick I want to do) to help me push through”, shared Christina. It was the saying “Embrace the suck” by Tom Merrick that kept her motivated and pushing through her flexibility trainings.

They also shared that overcoming the pain should hurt and will hurt but there’s good pain and bad pain. Good pain should feel like there’s some mild tension or some degree of discomfort but nothing sharp and highly discomforting as this might mean you have strained, overstretched, or pulled something, which is bad pain.

WHAT IS THE ONE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR WHEN IT COMES TO SPLITS/PANCAKES?

Consistency is the key factor when it comes to flexibility trainings. “Unless you’re naturally flexible, it’s quite unlikely that you will get your splits/pancakes in a short period of time. You have to be consistent in dedicating time to stretch to see results” said Marga. “I personally think that training with intention and consistency is the most important” said Christina.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD THEY GIVE TO BEGINNERS WHO ARE STARTING ON THEIR SPLITS/PANCAKES JOURNEY?

“Have patience, some people can achieve their flexibility goals in weeks, and others take years so be patient with your body and celebrate every little milestone along the way. Being patient can make your flexibility journey a lot more rewarding, a lot less painful and a lot more enjoyable’, advised Marga, “You’ll also want to experiment with dynamic and static stretches to find out what type of stretches works for you and incorporate more of such stretches into your own training.”

Christina advised, “Be patient with yourself, everybody’s body is different. Your stretch journey is YOUR OWN journey, enjoy it!” Christina also suggested to take inspiration from other people online but never compare their progress to yours. Use others as your motivation and not as a way to put yourself down.

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CheerForce Recruitment Drive 2020

Author : CheerForce Singapore

Date:26-02-2020

We are truly thankful to those who came down to our CheerForce Recruitment Drive 2020 last Saturday to stunt and mingle with the rest of the Singapore cheerleading community. We are pleased to host around 25 new members on that day, with many of them coming from NTU hall teams.

The ice was broken between everyone during the games at the start of the session where everyone had a good time trying to fit body parts within a piece mats and also not forgetting the fun we had passing the hoops musical chair style.

We went through the theory of coaching tumbling skills such as how to progress from handstand to cartwheel and from chartwheel to round off, we demostrations from CheerForce cheerleaders. We hope that through these progressive techniques, hall seniors and seniors-to-be will be able to help teach their future juniors and new members tumbling techniques in safe and progressive manner.

After tumbling, we went through 180 full up and how it can be transitted into a 360 full up as well as pop full cradle techniques and what is required to achieve an easy double full from any given body positions. The participants were also given the time to try out the skills that was taught and they are really talented as many are able to achieve the twist to extended height within the short session.

We ended the session with synchronised stunt videos and free-an-easy session where members are allowed to go around to mingle and try out skills with other cheerleaders. We would like to thank everyone who came down for our recruitment drive to support us, and our support team and CheerForce cheerleaders who made this recruitment possible for everyone!

The photos from the session will be released on our Facebook page soon so do follow our Facebook page to be notified when it is published! If you’ve missed out on our recruitment, feel free to drop us an email or DM us on our social media as we are constantly recruiting and growing our CheerForce family!

For coaches and cheerleaders, do let us know if you would like to learn more about the progressive training from skills to skills and we would gladly share it with you. Till next time, stunt safe everyone! Cheers!

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CFXVQ 2018 CF Elite Cheer Exchange Tour

Author : CheerForce Singapore

Date:17-10-2018

The term CFXVQ might sound foreign to many people but to members of CheerForce SG, it is something we hold close to heart.

It all started back in May 2016 when we decided to reach out into the Thailand cheerleading market for an overseas exchange. Being a young team of only one year old, it was not easy to have teams that wanted to have exchange with us.

After reaching out to 6 teams, we got in contact with P’Tan. We made an overseas call, confirmed the dates of our exchange and our first exchange with Vanquish Cheerleading Team was set.

Throughout the past 2 years, we have made numerous trips to Thailand for exchanges with them. As we try to work past the language barriers, cheerleading has always been the common language that we speak and through cheerleading, we have built stronger and fonder memories together.

Earlier this month, 10 of us made a trip up to Thailand for our CFXVQ 2018 exchange. Despite both teams having new training place and new members in the team, the feeling of family is still always there.

Every exchange feels like a long awaited family reunion of brothers and sisters and it’s always heart warming to see their faces welcoming us every time without fail.

Despite them busy having practices for their upcoming competition, we had a great time bonding with them during their breaks and after training as we exchanged skills, laughters, Facebook and Instagram.

On the day that we are leaving Bangkok, we were touched that the team came to send us off at the airport. As we took our last few photos and hugged them goodbye, we know that we will see each other again soon, in Singapore or in Thailand.

This exchange may be a first for many of the members of both teams and we hope that we will all keep in contact on the team level as well as on the personal level so that when we meet again, we will have more stories to tell, more memories to share.

We are very fortunate to have the support of Vanquish Cheerleading Team for the past two years and we look forward to many more years of friendship to come! Special thanks to P’Tan and P’Ben for their unconditional support and always believing in us!

CheerForce & Vanquish! Two Teams, One Family!

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CheerForce SG NDP Outing 2018

Author : CheerForce Singapore

Date:08-08-2018

As August arrives, it marks that National Day is just around the corner. For those who do not know, National Day is celebrated in Singapore every year on the August 9 in commemoration of Singapore’s independence in year 1965. This year our nation turns 53 years old and CheerForce decided to have a team outing to visit various tourist attractions.

Starting off the tour at Marina Square, the team ventured off in high spirits to the Merlion Park. It happened to be the day of the NDP Preview 2 and DHL Asia Cup at The Padang so the area was packed with people in celebratory spirits. Navigating through the crowd, we finally managed to arrive at the Merlion Park.

Filled with tourists, we managed to find a less crowded spot and began our picture taking. Everytime we were to do our stunts in public, it would attract many “wow” at first and gradually people will start turning their phones towards us to snap a photo or two. That’s the magic of cheerleading, it makes heads turn and people stop to see more.

As our picture taking and entertaining the crowd comes to an end at the Merlion Park, it started drizzling and we seeked shelter at our second stop, the Esplanade – Theatres On The Bay, a performing arts centre located in Downtown Core near the mouth of the Singapore River.

As the rain comes to a halt, we ventured out to the open space in front of the building for some photos with the landmark. However, shortly, we were notified that we are not allowed to take stunt photos at the landmark unless we are licensed performer of the Esplanade. Hence, we took a train to our next destination, Marina Bay Sands.

Over at Marina Bay Sands we found a prime picture taking location along the Olympic Walk. Filled with high traffic, many people slowed down and stop to watch what we are doing. As we send more stunts and tosses up in the air, more crowds gathered to watch, with occasion “good job” and “you guys are good” from the crowd.

As the sunset draws near, we concluded our picture taking with some pyramids and ended our day with a team dinner at Hifumi in Marina Square. Hop over to our Facebook Page to see some pretty sights from our wonderful little lion city!

Visit our official website to find out more about us and the cheerleading performances that we have. Contact us now and let us bring the hype to your event!

Cheers!

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GetActive! Singapore Launch With CheerForce SG At CarFreeSunday

Author : CheerForce Singapore

Date:01-08-2018

A group of cheerleaders were standing by to bring excitement and cheers to hundreds of Singaporeans as they gathered at The Padang early in the morning at 8am for the launch of GetActive! Singapore.

CheerForce SG was honored to be a partner of ActiveSG and Sport Singapore at their launch of GetActive! Singapore at the CarFreeSunday on the 29th July 2018 as we celebrate National Day through sports together as one Team Singapore.

As the sound of the air horns flags off the GetActive! GetGreat! Nila Run, CheerForce cheerleaders cheered the crowd on with zest, boosting them with positive vibes on a Sunday morning. The crowd stopped in their tracks when we showcased some of our gravity-defying and free-flying stunts and tosses. Many participants had the opportunity to have their photos taken with our cheerleaders to keep as a memory.

Apart from cheering up the crowd at the launch, CheerForce SG had another task on hand, and that is to educate the public about cheerleading so as to promote awareness of the sport in Singapore. Crowds gathered at our booth to have their first-hand experience of cheerleading as they "flew" in the air in CheerForce style for their very first time!

We went to the event hoping to promote and educate about cheerleading, and we got more than that. Made plenty of friends, got to know about other sports, but what’s more fulfiling to us is bringing smiles and laughter to everyone through cheerleading.

Thank you to all that came and supported us at the launch and at our booth. We look forward to bringing better cheerleading experience to more people in the future!

Visit our official website to find out more about us and the cheerleading performances that we have. Contact us now and let us bring the hype to your event!

Cheers!

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History Of CheerForce SG

Author : CheerForce Singapore

Date:09-07-2018

CheerForce SG was started back in 2014 by Coach TJ and Coach Gwen with the purpose to provide an avenue for cheerleaders to train at regardless of their skills and experience. They recruited members from all walks of life, from students to working adults, from taleted individuals to members with zero experience in the sport. Everyone came together under one roof, one team, one family.

CheerForce started off in a small rented warehouse in Oxley Bizhub which they only had 5 metre by 5 metre space for us to conduct training. Resources were limited but their passion for the sport was not. They trained hard with the aim to take part in their first cheerleading competition in 2016. Representing CheerForce at the Asia Cheerleading Invitational Championship 2016 was 3 group stunts and they managed to clinch 2nd Runners-Up.

With their participation in the competition, words spread about this new young team in Singapore and more people joined the team. As the team continues to grow, they reached out to overseas cheerleading community and connected with Vanquish Cheerleading team in Thailand and had their first overseas exchange in late 2016. Since then, relationships between both teams only got closer.

In 2017, CheerForce made the decision to take part in the team category at the Asia Cheerleading Invitational Championships 2017 despite vast majority of the team having no experience in team competition at the Asia level. That was the first time CheerForce sent a full team of 24 men to compete against 5 other teams from Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and China.

Despite the strong competition and them being a relatively young team, CheerForce conquered the uphill battle and emerged 1st Runners-Up in the competition that year. The team was filled with tears of joy when the announcement was made and no words could describe that moment for the team as they know all their efforts have paid off being crowned 2nd in Asia.

Determined to come back better and stronger, CheerForce recruited more members and worked on overcoming their weaknesses from the previous competition. Many overcomed their fears to become better for the team. Although it was a tough journey with many obstacles in their way, they pushed through together as a team and all their efforts were worth it when CheerForce was announced Champion for the Asia Cheerleading Invitational Championship 2018 Team Cheer Coed Elite Division.

They are the champion team in Asia. For them, it was a dream come true.

Visit our official website to find out more about us and the cheerleading performances that we have. Contact us now and let us bring the hype to your event!

Cheers!