72 more days to SYF outdoor and yet the band is still nowhere near its intended mark. Far from it, in fact. After such long months of training they still havent conditioned their mindset to what is required in the field. I remember when I used to be there. What my section believed is that UNITY brought us together and it is that UNITY that will not let us fall. Think of all the scoldings and punishments, rounds and rounds around the field, rounds and rounds of scoldings thrown at us by mr poh like a machine gun, all that negative treatment, only made us STRONGER and more UNITED. We fought back with full strength, always picking ourselves up and jumping to our feet whenever we fell. Never once the thought of GIVING UP crossed our minds. Why? It was the way we trained ourselves, the way we conditioned ourselves to a point beyond all understanding, even our own understanding. We forged a will of STEEL during our training, we knew when was the time to joke and laugh, but we also knew when it was time to get serious, that it's time to get to work. Everything we thought of was, what to do next, what's our next move, what's the section leader gonna do, what's mr poh up to? Nothing else. All intensely FOCUSED on what we had to do and what we were going to do, no thoughts of going home, no thoughts of being thirsty or hungry. Somehow our minds were only set on what was on the field and nothing else. This was that special ability of ours to concentrate completely on our marching and music. Why did we grow STRONGER after all the punishments and scoldings, while our juniors CRUMBLED and COWERED in fear and uncertainty? UNITY. We had that special trait that allowed us to achieve what we wanted.
I remember when mr poh and gim kai used to ask us what we wanted to get for the Central Judging competition two years ago.
"What are we gonna get?"
"GOLD!"
No hesitation, no stopping to think. Pentium 4.5. We knew what we wanted and that was what we were going to work for. It was that UNITY, DETERMINATION and FOCUS that pushed us way far beyond our physical and mental limitations, that gave us that adrenaline rush and intense concentration when we were doing our formations, our music, even our little sectionals where laughing and joking was commonplace. Somehow, we dunno how to explain it to you, but there was that special something that spurred us to go further, faster, stronger, quicker. Gave us gifts of precision, quick judgement, the ability to pick ourselves up after a mistake, after a fall. I've always told my drummers, especially the snares.
"Don't stop when you've made a mistake. The important thing is to keep your hands, body and mind moving. Thats why you have to look AHEAD of what you're doing. Pick yourself up and continue, cuz if you don't, then it's all over."
True enough, there is NO SECOND CHANCE when you're finally on the field, in the judges' and audiences' views. None at all. It's do or die. Other bands look at you, try to intimidate you before you go onto the field. They try to scare you into thinking that what you're aiming for is impossible; beyond your reach, while it's probably in the bag for them. How would the band react now? They would step back. Us in 2004? We FIGHT back. We show them what we're capable of, and after all that intimidation, who steps back in the end?
OUR BAND MEMBERS LACK CONFIDENCE. Confidence in what they have to do, confidence in what they want to achieve. Some may think,
"I want that gold. But some others don't. Can I still get the gold? Maybe I should stop working so hard and follow what the rest are doing : GIVING UP."
That's the destruction factor in our band members' mindsets. That's the thought that will destroy us all in a matter of time, and time is something we're running short of.
I've just got one thing left to say.
If you can just search within yourself for that special something that drives you beyond your physical and mental control, something that pushes you further, forces you to go faster, eliminates all thought of exhaustion, thirst, hunger. That special something that makes you look around at who's behind, beside, and in front of you, those who are working their bodies and minds to the max, then think of yourself as what you think you are : tired. That special something that fuses your mind, body and soul together into something that's more than human. Then, you are no longer human.
You have become
A TITAN.
I remember when mr poh and gim kai used to ask us what we wanted to get for the Central Judging competition two years ago.
"What are we gonna get?"
"GOLD!"
No hesitation, no stopping to think. Pentium 4.5. We knew what we wanted and that was what we were going to work for. It was that UNITY, DETERMINATION and FOCUS that pushed us way far beyond our physical and mental limitations, that gave us that adrenaline rush and intense concentration when we were doing our formations, our music, even our little sectionals where laughing and joking was commonplace. Somehow, we dunno how to explain it to you, but there was that special something that spurred us to go further, faster, stronger, quicker. Gave us gifts of precision, quick judgement, the ability to pick ourselves up after a mistake, after a fall. I've always told my drummers, especially the snares.
"Don't stop when you've made a mistake. The important thing is to keep your hands, body and mind moving. Thats why you have to look AHEAD of what you're doing. Pick yourself up and continue, cuz if you don't, then it's all over."
True enough, there is NO SECOND CHANCE when you're finally on the field, in the judges' and audiences' views. None at all. It's do or die. Other bands look at you, try to intimidate you before you go onto the field. They try to scare you into thinking that what you're aiming for is impossible; beyond your reach, while it's probably in the bag for them. How would the band react now? They would step back. Us in 2004? We FIGHT back. We show them what we're capable of, and after all that intimidation, who steps back in the end?
OUR BAND MEMBERS LACK CONFIDENCE. Confidence in what they have to do, confidence in what they want to achieve. Some may think,
"I want that gold. But some others don't. Can I still get the gold? Maybe I should stop working so hard and follow what the rest are doing : GIVING UP."
That's the destruction factor in our band members' mindsets. That's the thought that will destroy us all in a matter of time, and time is something we're running short of.
I've just got one thing left to say.
If you can just search within yourself for that special something that drives you beyond your physical and mental control, something that pushes you further, forces you to go faster, eliminates all thought of exhaustion, thirst, hunger. That special something that makes you look around at who's behind, beside, and in front of you, those who are working their bodies and minds to the max, then think of yourself as what you think you are : tired. That special something that fuses your mind, body and soul together into something that's more than human. Then, you are no longer human.
You have become
A TITAN.
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