A sport of strength, strategy and perserverance, bouldering challenges both body and mind. Four-time National Boulder Champion Gavin Chiam, young climber Mikhail, and Huda’s family share how the sport fuels dreams, growth, and connection.
00:00I've been climbing for 16 years since I was in secondary school and I'm currently a climbing
00:27coach he's one of my students a friend of mine showed me a video of him like the first thing that stood out to me was on top of his amazing climb sense would be at such a young age he was able to decipher what was safe and what was unsafe he was able to like hold himself back from doing certain moves I remember thinking to myself that like there's something here right at first at home I was like climbing furniture there's only one time where a bookshelf fell on me and I broke
00:57my left or right collarbone I don't remember so my parents thought it was like too dangerous so they brought me to a proper climbing gym usually if my mom's like scared of falling I just say just fall there's a mat because I just believe that if there's a mat then it's safe
01:13I got introduced to climbing through my CCA in secondary school when I first started climbing actually looked a lot different from the sport it is today I would say like climbing was a lot simpler and just a lot less complex it was much easier to climb up the ranks before and since then climbing has evolved
01:32so much so much right so the first competition I felt very nervous cause it's my first time like competing against other climbers but from that competition started to feel like competing is very fun so that's why I just decided to sign up for more competitions
01:48I can't remember all of them but I know I don't know maybe like more than 10 competitions
01:54so I think community is one big aspect of it and the platform for people to interact which is the climbing gym is another back then I felt like climbing was not as inclusive and was not as social
02:13people don't really tend to help as much as they do now people kind of cluster around the level like the climbers of their same level now there's a lot more incentive for you to socialize to make friends through climbing I've had the privilege of meeting many people for many walks of life of many different ages and of many different professions
02:35actually when I first started in secondary school I wasn't particularly like great I was never like the star player of the team I just knew that I wanted to climb like the reason I compete has evolved with time when I was much younger the reasons were a lot more superficial and it was more proving grounds for me to like show that the training has paid off right and I'm the best
03:04and I'm the best but I think with time the value of competition has become more of just exposure and journey of like self-discovery
03:13regardless of whether I'm competing or not I'm always trying to aim for perfection I think seeing that on the big stage that's very fulfilling for me I am there to test myself in some way but it's no longer for like glory or like anything of that matter
03:33of that matter yeah I was selected for the C Games but if in any case that I didn't make the cut I don't think I would be very much bothered by it
03:42competitions have taken a back seat for me because I would like to pass on these values to the people that I coach
03:48who in bouldering
03:53I want to maybe like climb a V70
03:57yeah that's like a grade for bouldering
04:00it's the hardest grade in the world
04:01it's the hardest grade in the world
04:02it's the hardest grade in the world
04:03I watched it on YouTube then that's why
04:05yeah that's where I got inspiration from then
04:07it became my dream to do it
04:09I also want to climb in the Olympics
04:11and maybe even win the Olympics
04:14all my other dreams also is to
04:16beat my Coach Gavin at climbing
04:24the climbing community has given a lot to me
04:27has kept me out of trouble
04:29I've spent so much time in this space that
04:31I feel like I have a lot of value to provide to anyone
04:34who wants to
04:36not just the competitive climbers
04:38but also the recreational climbers who just wants to
04:40spend productive time in the gym
04:42or like constantly improve on their craft
04:52I needed an activity whereby I can spend time with my family
04:55where we can sit down
04:56and know how to solve issues and problems that we're going to face
05:00I mean it's time when you can sit down and then talk to one another
05:02and spend time with one another
05:04climbing is one of the ways that you can do it
05:06you know you can just go and climb
05:08then at the same time so you can look at the bouldering problems
05:11the experience so far is pretty fun for me
05:14I've always liked to solve puzzles also
05:17doing both puzzles and sports together
05:20is something that's quite different
05:22from what I usually do when I was younger
05:24my girl she's interested in climbing
05:26my hubby as well
05:28so but the thing is she was too young
05:31so she couldn't believe him
05:33so I had no choice but to join
05:36so that was how like I kind of supported our family
05:40I started at 11 years old with Climb Central's classes
05:45then I found out about bouldering through one of their classes
05:48and after that I found it like more fun than top rope
05:52because I feel pretty free
05:54he was telling me
05:55Daddy why you never tell me about bouldering
05:57then I was like what is bouldering
05:58how am I supposed to know what is bouldering
06:00bouldering is fun
06:01there's no harness
06:02there's no rope or whatever
06:03it's free
06:04that's how she just started to go into that area
06:06then this time I'm focusing on getting her back
06:09so that she can start to join the competitions and start to compete
06:12I climb about three times a week
06:16except for when I injured my legs
06:18so I took a break
06:19I got my injury through one of the competitions I joined
06:23one of the mats was like misplaced
06:27so there was like a whole disguise on the mat
06:29I taught my ACL and my MCL
06:33hopefully just a few more months
06:35then I can get my leg to fully strengthen again
06:38yeah
06:39having to put a stop to climbing
06:42which I love a lot
06:44just because of that is quite like devastating for me
06:50it was at a time when she was supposed to enter Polytechnic
06:53first year to join the climbing club of the school
06:57so we thought that she should actually be clocking more mileage
06:59to climb with more friends of the same
07:02then to be coached by the school's coach
07:06but with this injury right
07:09I mean she wasn't able to join the club
07:11she wasn't able to start her first year
07:13learning new moves or having more climbing friends
07:16so that is kind of like sad
07:19the plan was that for last year
07:20she was supposed to train for a whole year
07:23and then just join all the competition to see where she's stand
07:27with the injury that she has really sustained right
07:29it really puts a stop to whatever it was
07:31a stop to whatever that we have planned for her for this year
07:34at the end of the day I think it's a good thing or so
07:36because right now
07:37she will know how to deal with it in the future
07:39because in climbing
07:40definitely 100% you will get injured
07:42at least if she gets injured or so
07:44she will know in the future
07:45what to do or so
07:46and how to deal with it or so
07:48for the past six years
07:51for the past six years
07:52the people that I've been climbing with the most
07:54is my parents
07:55I do have climbing friends
07:57but mostly I climb with my parents
08:01I got to share our experience
08:03we get to work on problems together also
08:05and I get some insights from my father and my mother at the same time
08:09while I also help give advice for them too
08:13because of my injury I couldn't go bouldering
08:16however
08:17sometimes I'll hang out with my father at the bouldering section
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