Why I fell in love with Climbing

I've mentioned years before that I love wall climbing after trying it for the first time in 2010. But I'm having trouble finding friends who share the same interest, I don't have my own transport at the time, surely not enough money to buy/rent the equipment etc. You know, students.

Few years later when I started working, I have money and time, but I still short of friends who wanted to try climbing. 

My very first climbing experience in 2010.

So last year, after relentless begging and persuading, some of them agreed to follow me. So every other week I will ask different group of friends to try the sport (even my brother agree to follow at one point).

We went to Shah Alam Extreme Park an he said it was great but never followed me again since. Probably busy with all his running and hiking and cycling.

  

uni friends

My matriculation friends(with their kids)

ex-colleague

They went with me more than once though

Current colleague - Victor

After few months I've started to run out of friends who hasn't tried it, and not a lot of them wanted to repeat. My brain started processing if there were any other friends that i haven't asked. Then suddenly out of nowhere I remembered Zaim, an old friend from MMU. I've known that he's a sport guy for a long time but funny how it never crossed my mind that he's a climber, an avid one at that too.
I contacted him, and he's been my so called 'coach' ever since.

By the 3rd or 4th week, I started to get frustrated when I didn't show any improvement. I still stuck at the same route without any sign of progress.

I used to say  'I love sports, but I'm not good at any of it.'
At the time maybe I thought it's true, maybe I wasn't meant to be good at any sports. I'm on the verge of just quitting and forgetting this whole climbing thing.

But then i have this epiphany, that just maybe, I'm the reason of my own downfall. Its just been few weeks and I didn't even train properly. This thing makes me happy so why do I even think of quitting just because I couldn't reach few holes or get over some cruxes.

So I vow to be good at this thing. Try anything I can to get better.

Since I still don't quite like to run, I do some yoga for core exercise, stamina and strengthen my grip, anything that will enhance my climbing.

So after few months, I can feel the improvement.

The only picture we got together was when we manage to bring other people along.

If it was just us, nobody's holding a camera. 

This time, his colleague tag along and snap a picture.

The thing I love about sports is the encouragement, the support, the satisfaction whenever you finish what you started despite how gruesome it is to finish.
Zaim is an experienced climber, and a good teacher at that (I've pointed out that he should do this for a living, but he probably have other life goals)  eventhough his skills and experience are leagues ahead of me, he still try to help me achieve what I can't, in my own pace. I know it can be boring for people like him, but he persist.

And the joy of finishing a route that I've been struggling, and that impressed look on your coach face, beats anything else.

Being an adult can be harsh sometimes, so getting these little compliments from your friends means a tonne to you. The ecstasy of it all.

This is why I love sports, nobody ever said words of discouragement. All positivity.

Maybe after this I'll try to lead climb, and go for rocks, If everything goes well. 

As for now, its definitely my form of addiction, antidote after a week of routines, source of endorphin. Allez~