Sunday, March 27, 2011

Quo Vadis WDC & WDC Amateur League?

I think this is good news for dancesport and finally WDC and WDC Amateur league has accepted the fact that if you run a sporting event, you have to ensure that there must be a level playing field. Now with this commitment it only shows that what IDSF did many years ago is the right way and I suppose those detractors who scoff at IDSF must now realised that they have made a mistake after all. When you become a member of WADA it is not just being a member for name sake, you must also show that you are committed to enforce and follow the WADA guidelines. 
Many of you would realise that WADA maintain the highest standard in making sure that such rules are being applied. If you are a member of the International Olympic Committee (OIC), it goes without saying that the WADA members must be invited to conduct random testing for not only the winners but any of the athletes that participated in the Olympic Family Games. It can be a pain but it lends integrity to the sports. 
Now I suppose WDC members are popping champagne bottles celebrating its membership to WADA thinking that the gate to the Olympic family Games are now open to its members. In the event that is the impression, then I think they have got it all wrong. Membership of WADA are divided into many categories. In the case of IDSF their membership to WADA is under the Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federation (ARISF). For IDSF it is not a choice, it is a mandatory requirement. 
There are also other bodies that are non Olympic Sports WADA members and finally the last category are the OTHERS. By others I am referring to the International Cheer Union, International Federation of Cheerleaders and of course WDC. To be or not to be in WADA is not even an issue, but if there is a feel good factor why not.
Just Google WADA and go to its web page, it is all there. So to those who have not popped their champagne you should do and and do not be discouraged for Confucius says "A Journey of a Thousand Li begins with the First Step". To WDC, I am glad that you finally are looking at Dancesport as a Sport. Perhaps the other areas that you care to look into is the accreditation of your adjudicators                   

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Tokyo Grand Slam 2011- Cancelled Earthquake & Tsunami

The Malaysia Dancesport Federation (MYDF) would sincerely like to extend their heart felt condolences to the people of Japan. We were informed by our counterpart in Japan that never in the last 100 years Japan has faced such a strong earthquake measuring 8.9 on the Richter Scale.
The Earthquake coupled with the following Tsunami was indeed a terrible double tragedy.  
The Tokyo Grand Slam that was to be held today 13th March 2011 (Sunday) at the Tokyo Metropolitant Gymnasium is now cancelled. Below is a report extracted from the WDF website on the status of the situation of the Grand Slam participants in Tokyo.     

Japan Earthquake 11/03/2011

IDSF Communications was finally able to get a hold of the organisers of the Tokyo Grand Slam that is scheduled for Sunday, 13 March. Chieko Abe - on behalf of the Japan DanceSport Federation (JDSF) - communicated with Heidi Goetz by e-mail.
Please be advised that the Grand Slam leg here in Tokyo has been cancelled due to earthquake. The Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium considers it unsafe to run the competition on Sunday and decided to cancel it.  We, JDSF, have to accept the decision. Sorry for what has happened, and kindly understand the situation.
Chieko Abe
After countless tries, we have also been able to speak by phone with Lukas Hinder, the IDSF First Vice-President, who was at the Tokyo Hyatt Regency during the quake. Lukas reports all athletes and officials to be safe and sound, but still digesting the magnitude of what has happened over the past ten hours.
Vice-President Hinder confirms that the entire Grand Slam (GS) contingent at the Tokyo Hyatt was temporarily evacuated from the rooms and brought to open space. Hinder is also aware of a number of GS participants who are currently at different airports around Japan. Most of them wil fly back to their countries from there.
The IDSF Adjudicators' Congress, which is scheduled for tomorrow, will be held at a location still to be determined, after the Metropolitan Gymnasium needs to be surveyed for safety before it can be reopened.
"They say it was the strongest earthquake in 100 years. I saw the high-rises sway from the street and cracks in some of the walls as I was allowed back into the hotel. However, as we speak, construction workers are fixing them already."
Lukas Hinder
Our thoughts are with the people in Japan and the other parts of the world, where the tsunami could still cause more devastation.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

MYDF National Champion in China

On the 26th of February 2011, Chua Zjen Fong and Evon Chong our reigning MYDF National Championship left for Guangzhou to study and train in the Angel Dance School in a town outside Guangzhou City. They will be there for one year and we hope after their stint in Guangzhou, they  will return and impart their dancing skills in Malaysia. It is dedicated people like Chua Zjen Fong and Evon Chong that will change the Dance image in Malaysia, They will introduce new ideas and new method of teaching and generally keeping us updated. This is Chua Zjen Fong's narration. If there are any alteration it will be very minimal. Incidentally he did ask me what is the status of the Challenge Trophy, I told him nothing so far. This is so sad!

Life in a Dance School in China - date line : 3rd March 2011
we train from monday to friday, saturday half day.
every morning we wake up at around 6.45am and start stamina training by jogging a few km from 7am onwards and then continue with stretching. then we go for breakfast. classes start from 8,30am until 12.30pm then we have our lunch. its the best time ever through out the whole day because we got a 1 and a half hour lunch break. classes resume at 2 pm then continue dancing till dinner at 6pm. then group training at night starts from 7.30pm till 9.30pm.
we do latin and ballroom here. every thing has to start from basic. from posture into technique. it is really good. we have ballet and jazz classes too. basically everybody here can do 10 dances. they can really do it very well. they then choose to specialize in one field when they turn older.
we have supper after that. rules are very strict here.
the boys and the girls all stay in different hostels.
electricity is very limited. if we want to use electricity for charging hp and laptop, there are specific hours to do so.
hot water is based on prepaid basis and we have to purchase a hot water card,every time we want to use the hot water for shower we have to bring the card and insert into the machine just like using a pubic telephone.
lights will go off at 11pm. everybody have to sleep by then. its really healthy, but young malaysians typically has already got used to staying late at night on facebook and other stuff really need some time to get use to this environment. i think this is great because now we finally had the chance of sleeping early and wake up early practice.
weather is really cold here. about 10 degrees. morning and night is typically cold.
we have a school competition this coming sunday. where everyone studying in this school has to take part. it seems its like a monthly or semester activity. to get use to competitions and gain experience. even those without partners also have to dance solo. i think it is great. this competition is only open to the school's students only. really excited about it. everyone here is soooooo good. we really need a lot of work to catch up with them.
we also had a group lecture with klaus kongsdal a champion from Denmark, he visits this school for lessons very often. he is very good.
michael stylianous, and jugan is also coming to this school for lessons this month. michael stylianos, next week. i heard they are really great. every month there is at least one or two foreign coaches coming to teach.
this is all uncle john. basically weekends there's nothing much we can do, our school is very far from town. we have to take bus down town to do some major shopping. grocery shopping can be done opposite the school where there is a small convenience store.
going out is not as simple as going out just like that, we have to get 3 different teacher's approval to go out. but normally shouldn't be a problem.
everyday lunch and dinner definitely will be rice. breakfast and supper would be porridge or noodle.
healthy but really sick of the food now. but no choice. just makan only. when we get tired and hungry, every thing taste good.
that's all, we have to hit the bed and wait for head counts already.
chua


Pictures Shows Chua and Evon with their respective room mates