Life lessons from wakeboarding

MANILA, Philippines - You have to be able to center yourself, to let all of your emotions go. Don’t ever forget that you play with your soul as well as your body.    — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Sport is where an entire life can be compressed into a few hours… Sport is singularly able to give us peak experiences where we feel completely one with the world and transcend all conflicts as we finally become our own potential. — George A. Sheehan

First of all, in our basketball-crazy society where America’s National Basketball Association’s (NBA) exciting finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics are big, this writer urges the public and our leaders led by billiards aficionado President-elect Noynoy Aquino to also give attention to the ongoing World Cup of football in South Africa.

From June 11 to July 12, the world’s second biggest sports event, next to the Olympics, is playing out to a global audience of billions, cheering 32 national teams. Why should we learn to like, if not love, soccer? Aside from the fact that it’s fun, soccer is one sport we Asians can excel in and become world champions, unlike basketball where we lack the height to outclass the Western, Middle Eastern, and African athletes, and the Yao Mings of China. Soccer also has the prestige of being the world’s most popular spectator sport.

By the way, the pundits favor Spain, Brazil and Argentina, but I am rooting for England, Germany and the long shot of an Asian team to win the World Cup 2010.

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During Camarines Sur Governor L-Ray Villafuerte’s recent invitation to be guest at his provincial government’s three-day Lago del Rey Summer Aquafest, which saw celebrities compete as teams in Survivor-like water games, I strayed into the nearby wakeboarding facilities to try this extreme sport for the first time.

The hosts cautioned that I might hurt myself, while the wakeboarding facility supervisors at Camsur Watersports Complex (CWC) made sure I signed the standard waiver form just in case anything untoward happened to me.

Thanks to Governor Villafuerte for his bold vision of turning his once poor province into the No. 1 destination for sports and adventure tourism. Apart from the excellent wakeboarding facilities, which attract tourists as well as celebrity wakeboarders like Aga Muhlach and Jeremy Marquez, Camsur also now hosts international marathons, triathlons and reality TV shows like Survivor from various European, Asian and other nations.

What are some life lessons I learned from my unforgettable five times of doing wakeboarding on May 29, with my incredible beginner’s luck while many other younger folks and some college students kept falling off the wakeboard into the waters? By the way, I rewarded myself with a delicious laing pizza after the fun yet tiring wakeboarding.

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Here are some lessons from wakeboarding:

• Positive attitude is key. At the very start, if one has even an ounce of doubt or fear, this emotion will affect your performance. In wakeboarding and other endeavors, half the battle is already lost if one is psychologically or emotionally uncertain. Believe in yourself, never for a second doubt that you can float on water. This reminds me of the Biblical story of Jesus Christ walking on water and He called for his disciples to get off the boat to join him, and a disciple sank the moment he lost faith. This is the same principle. Believe!

• Choose the ideal gear. I believe each of us has his or her ideal size and weight of wakeboard. For me, because I’m taller, I prefer the bigger and heavier wakeboard. Whatever our endeavor, the right equipment, paraphernalia or gadgets should be well chosen.  

• Be physically fit and agile. Preparation is key to almost all things in life. The basis for my self-confidence is my daily regimen of doing the treadmill in the gym at least 30 minutes or three kilometers daily. Also, a couple of months ago, I got the services of personal trainer Yano Grifalda to assist me in strength training and stretching exercises. The regular exercises helped condition my body for any rigors, including the need for basic strength, endurance and flexibility. I had no difficulty crouching, bending my knees continuously, holding firmly on the handle against the force of the waves.  

• Listen to and follow instructions. Camsur wakeboarding instructor Gerard Cervantes told me he left his province of Laguna as an 11-year-old kid in order to work. He taught me the basics rules and rudiments of wakeboarding, the do’s and the don’ts. If life, we benefit more by listening, too.

• Learn the art of balance. One shouldn’t stand straight or this will immediately cause your tumbling into the waters, and one shouldn’t also crouch or bend too low, which can make one sink. Balance carefully and deftly, quickly adjusting your footing and body weight, all that will spell the difference between a smooth ride and a rough crash into the waters.

• Practice is the best policy. The world’s best academy for wakeboarding is UE — the University of Experience. I believe that the more we practice and the more experience we get, the better we become at wakeboarding or any endeavor. In my five times of wakeboarding, every time I did, I gained more confidence, I learned more about the sport, the movements of the waters and about my body. The more I practiced, the luckier I became.

• Concentrate. In whatever endeavor in life, focus is so crucial to reaching our goal. Let your body feel like one with the wakeboard. Concentrate son the task and fun at hand, surf in perfect balance through the waves at a very fast speed. These are crucial to success.

• Enjoy! For me, enjoying is the most important requirement for any would-be wakeboarder. Whatever your age, you should have a zest for life, a sense of adventure, and passion! Recently, at our Diliman Book Club in UP Diliman, the energetic former Misamis Oriental Governor and two-time UP Collegian editor in chief Homobono Adaza was a visitor. As the youngest member of the book club — made up mostly of scholars, professorsa doctor, a few businessmen and lots of PhDs — I asked Adaza how old he was. Refusing to reveal his age, he smiled and amazingly recited verbatim this poem:

YOUTH POEM

By Samuel Ullman

Youth is not a time of life — it is a state of mind,

it is a temper of the will,

a quality of the imagination,

a vigor of the emotions,

a predominance of courage over timidity,

of the appetite for adventure over love of ease.

Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years.

People grow old only by deserting their ideals.

Years wrinkle the skin,

but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.

Worry, doubt, self-distrust,

fear and despair - these are the long,

long years that bow the head and

turn the growing spirit back to dust.

Whether they are sixteen or seventy,

there is in every being’s heart

the love of wonder,

the sweet amazement at the stars

and starlike things and thoughts,

the undaunted challenge of events,

the unfailing childlike appetite

for what is to come next,

and the joy and the game of life.

You are as young as your faith,

as old as your doubt;

as young as your self-confidence,

as old as your fear,

as young as your hope,

as old as your despair.

When the wires are all down

and all the innermost core of your heart

is covered with the snows of pessimism

and the ice of cynicism,

then you are grown old indeed.

But so long as your heart receives messages

of beauty, cheer, courage, grandeur

and power from the earth,

from man and from the Infinite,

so long you are young.

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