Saturday Adult Practice and A New Competitive Team

With the beginning of Winter Break, this means that there will no longer be any regular practice until the break is over. For those who still want to hone their skills, there is still adult practices at the same site from 9 to 10:30AM. Please attend if you feel your skills are still insufficient or just want to participate in more practices. These practices are also great places for people to learn how to steer the boat.
Due to the great frustration from the presidents, we are planning to revamp and create a new competitive team line-up. Not anyone can join this new branch, we need competitive and dedicated people who are serious about attending practices and becoming a better paddler. If you feel that you fit into this category, please contact your respective president for more information. We hope everyone has a great Winter Break and see you all when regular practice restarts again. Keep it strong, Fishtix.

Boot Camp and Small Update.

With the decline of the weather, we will be continuing Boot Camp every Sunday instead of paddling. A huge thanks to the Cardinal Point Retirement Center for allowing us to use their facilities. We will also be hopefully continuing to paddle during the Winter Break. Any changes will be immediately posted and everyone will be notified.
Lastly, we want to urge everyone to try and attend all the Wednesday practices. There has been a steady and drastic decline which is inexcusable. Further poor practice attendances will result in alternative actions to help increase attendance again.

Change for the Fishtix.

So today, our head coach, David showed us the exercises and stretches needed for a successful and effective paddler in Dragonboat. These exercises include the burpies, frog jumps, 100 oblique sit-ups within one minute, 50 push-ups within one minute, and the dreaded planks. So in order to help us ALL become better paddlers, he suggested for everyone to practice doing as many of these exercises as possible so that we are ready to push our limits as paddlers and as a team. Also, from now on, for rainy and especially cold days, we will all head into Point Cardinal Retirement Home to do these exercises in David's self titled "Boot Camp."
Lastly, there will be a new schedule for the competitive team. With the abysmal attendance rates, we are taking action and mandating that all competitive team members attend at least 4 Wednesday practices a month, anyone who dislikes this or who fails to meet this quota without any explanation will be immediately booted to the recreational team. All Sunday practices are mandatory and are only excusable with proper explanation. This is to ensure consistency and to prevent any back-peddling.

Off Season and the Extended Break

We are currently in the Dragonboat off season and there will not be any races for us to compete in until spring time. This is due to the cold weather and the decreasing amounts of sunlight available for us to practice in. Despite these conditions, it is still important for everyone to attend each and every practice. If we were to drop everything during the off season and come back a month before a race, all of us would be dusty and it would be like starting back at square one. Also, it is an important time for us to experiment and perfect any novel variations to the paddling technique.
Now that Thanksgiving is around the corner, there will be no practice this coming Wednesday and Sunday, but again, this means that you all should not continue doing the supplemental exercises that David told us all to do. Keep doing them and enjoy your Thanksgiving week off.
And on the final note, for everyone and anyone who is late to practices, punishment will consist of a culmination of all the warm-up exercises. Seeing that this is a team, if anyone is late to practice, the whole team will have to join you in these extra practices. This new method will be used in next next week's Wednesday. So don't be late.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving.

Some Changes To Fishtix Practice

We are implementing some new rules and regulations for practices to help and promote a sense of dedication and hardwork in the Fishtix community. First off, we are going to mandate a dress code. It includes the banning of jeans at practice, this is because to play the part of an intense Dragonboat team, we must dress the part. Secondly, we will start having punishments for people coming late to practices. This is because people coming late has been a huge problem and it is preventing us from heading out unto the boats and water on time. Punishments will include an extra lap around the Marina, double the amount of push-ups and jumping jacks. Other punishments have been yet to be decided. Lastly, we are making the warm-up laps now mandatory this means, no matter what, you have to run. No running means no dragonboating. Laps are important to build up our stamina and work on our cardio.
Practices are getting even more intense now, as people saw with David this practice. As practices become rougher and as David works us harder, it is key to know that you must never give up. It is important for everyone to continue practicing and continue cultivating their skills as a dragonboater.

Old Man Winter and the Changes He Brings to FISHTIX

Every Sunday, we are starting practices 15 minutes early so that everyone, Rec and Competitive team, can have endurance runs. These are vital for us because we then will be able to last longer during finish it now's and be able to have a higher stroke rate for race pieces.

Another change to the practice times is that we are shortening the end time from 5:30PM to 5PM. This is because of the lack of light due to the come of winter. Visibility will be severely decreased if we were to stay out any longer and it would cause problems with the steersperson's. On the final note, we are thinking of switching practices from Wednesday to Friday because of the lack of availability of people on Wednesdays. Please give us feedback on this change by talking to your respective presidents. Keep it strong, Fishtix.

Notes Of Importance

First off our competitive team in a way disbanded. Since Dragon Boating is an Athletic team that requires all or most of the members to be present, we cannot have such a team. I always thought the the competitive team was for those who wished to have more of an intense workout, and wished to be competitive amongst our rivals. The attendance in each weeks has dwindled, which leaves us to mix competitive and rec together. Though I am fine with that, I am just worried about how this happens weekly now. There is a competitive boat for competitive practice, meaning a boat that is one, a team that works hard to improve, not a team that slacks off and goes to races and is done with it. David has set a goal for us, to do the body drop the whole time, but we're not practicing for it, people just come and go whenever they please and it doesn't feel like a team anymore.

Also on Wednesdays, the attendance is quite poor. I don't know what to say about that. Most of what we call "rec" doesn't show up and most of competitive doesn't show up. There's always the usual dedicated members of our team that shows up on Wednesday, but that's about it. Usually there's less than 15 people and it ends up being some strange workout. The competitive members aren't doing much to be "competitive" and we're just stuck. We're just mixed in with other new members and I don't even know what it is.

We need to have good attendance for a good team. Like David was saying, we wanted to do the body drop the whole time, but that takes quite a lot of effort and work to achieve. And we should say that we do realize that people have a lot of homework, but balancing that is key. Attendance is crucial, as this is a team, and a team needs its members to show up and be consistent. Without the members, we can't have a practice that improves us, physically, and mentally.

Keep It Strong, Fishtix

Fishtix is in a little of a crisis right now. We need new strokers for our team! We need two dedicated paddlers who are ready to take on the challenge and become a stroker for the team. Please contact David Jiang or any of your respective presidents for more information. On another note, the team shirts will be arriving for people who did not receive them at the Treasure Island race. Sorry for the inconvenience and the delay, but they are worth the wait. Lake Merced is six months away and intense practices will not start until February, so for now we will continue working on our endurance, technique, and of course timing.

Who Are We? Fishtix!

Now that we are in the off season of dragonboating, we have a lot of opportunities to experiment. So, we are offering any Recreational team members a chance to join the Competitive team and to race with us when April comes at the Lake Merced High School races. For anyone interested, please contact your respective president. Also, since it is the off season, we do not need to have an extra practice day. This means no more Friday practices for the competitive team, but it also does not mean we should slack off. For the competitive team, we are going to work on our endurance, which needs some major work. So in an effort to supplement what we are working on at practice, David recommends us to jog, bike, whatever to increase our aerobic activity. Finally, dragonboat requires dedication and for those who have been skipping practice, you are hurting the team. So everyone here is asking you to be more consistent in practice attendance so we can all, as a team grow.

Super Update on Practices and the TI Race.

The coaches and drummers would like to congratulate both Recreational and Competitive teams for their stellar performances at the Treasure Island race.

We had a 48 member turn out and everyone was hyped up and excited to get out on the water. Both the competitive team and recreational team shaved almost 40 seconds off their best practice time in their first race. In the semi-final heat, the competitive team won and beat out the rest of the competition with an impressive time of 2 minutes and 17 seconds. Both teams had huge improvements in their 500 meter race pieces. Although we did great, we still need polishing up. So the presidents of each branch and the coaches are having meetings to discuss potential changes to make us into a better team. We still showed huge potential at the race and that we could have beaten a lot of the other teams if we kept our timing and endurance.

On a final note, Coach David would like to know which of you on the RECREATIONAL team would like to join the Competitive Team. If you would, please contact your respective presidents. He would also like to know which of you who would like to/are already on the Competitive Team would be able to continue practicing on Fridays from 4:00 pm-5:30 pm. We are also reverting back the the bi-weekly practice schedule so that David can fit it into his schedule. Keep it strong, Fishtix.

Treasure Island Race Information and Other Information

The big Treasure Island Race is in a week and we still need transportation so please ask your parents if they are able to drive team members to Treasure Island. Please email me if they are available next Sunday, September 27th. The racing begins at 8AM so we need to get there by 7 to prepare and it ends at 5PM. Also, we need your tee-shirt sizes so we can order them before the race. It is mandatory to wear them at the race. It is a $10 fee to get these shirts, but we need your shirt sizes so we can order them! We are having a meeting this Wednesday at lunch in front of the ASTI mural, it will take only 10 to 15 minute again and we will go over all this stuff and reveal the identities of our new Dragonboat officers. I would like to thank all the interviewees, your interviews were terrific. Sorry for the informalities. But anyway, we will see you all this Wednesday.

New Member Info

Please make sure you register online at cdba.org.
How to register (for people who have not done it before):
1. Go to www.cdba.org
2. Go to Membership
3. Go to Login (even if you do not have an account. There is a sign up for membership thing at the bottom of the site.)
4. Our Team Login is aLaFistix (yes, a typo). Our team code is t6JlfbP.
5. Electronically sign (type your name) into the box after you finish all your other registry stuff.
6. After completing the registration, sign on.
***Make sure you put youth team...team=Fishtix

If you have registered online before, sign back in at www.cdba.org using the email and password you set up before. Once you have signed in, update your profile and agree to the terms of the new waiver. Remember we are a youth team and the team name is Fishtix.

Also, the big Treasure Island Race is in 2 weeks. So please try to make every single practice, whether you're in the competitive or recreational team. It is important to be thoroughly prepared for the race.

Attendance 9/09 + 9/11

Competitive team ~
Attendance from ASTI is weak!

9/09 - JJ, Jonathan, and Carrie

9/09 - JJ, Jonathan, and Carrie

:(

We Need a Leader!

We need a stretch leader who will plan on attending every practice and will be responsible in leading the team in stretching before heading off in the water. If you're interested, please contact any of the branch presidents and be committed. Also, practice attendances have been pretty low the past few practices and everyone at Fishtix would like to remind all members that commitment to this team and to practices is very important to excel in the Treasure Island race. So please try to make it to every practice if possible. The coaches emphasize alternating sides when paddling. This will strengthen both sides of your body and make you more versatile. Plus it would reduce the hassle in deciding which side you can and cannot paddle on. One last thing is to make sure you have your own sort of eye protection for the race. It can be as simple as a pair of sunglasses, but visibility is a must and you need to protect your eyes from getting blurred by oncoming splashes.

Four Weeks Left Until The International Race

To maximize our chances in winning the Treasure Island race, David gave all of us on the competitive team some homework to do for the remaining 4 weeks. This includes working on our endurance because the races are usually 500 meters and we need all the energy we can get to power through the exhausting race pieces. Also, for the bigger guys sitting near the middle of the boat, reducing your weight by 1 pound a week is a must. All your extra weight reduces our speed and uses up the energy of the rest of the team. And one last major homework assignment is to work on timing. This means in your free time, visualize yourself in the boat and stroking. Imagine keeping in time with the person in front of you and how would you do that. Would that include shortening your strokes, paying more attention inside the boat, or anything else you need work on? It is your individual job to do this so that the team can better itself over the course of the next 4 weeks.

Creation of the Elite Teams

Today was an exciting day for the Alameda Fishtix. We have taken the next step in making us more of a competition at races. We split the team into two groups, a competitive one and a novice one. We are hoping that the competitive one will allow us to step up and beat the SF teams. To do so, we are implementing an extra practice day on Fridays at 4 and making the practices more intense to build up our strength, endurance, and overall form. For the competitive team, working on form is essential for the Fishtix to excel. We need to work on rotation, keeping in time, and stopping body drops until the end of the race piece. In addition to this, the coaches strongly advise the competitive team to work on endurance on days without practice and to work with weights to enhance our overall aerobic ability and strength.

Back To Business

With the summer ending soon, the Fishtix are no longer going to take it easy with only practicing Sundays. We are bringing back the infamous Wednesday practices starting next week. It is going to be the same time as always so be prepared. Also, the Treasure Island Race is in 5 weeks which leaves us 10 whole practices left and we have to make use of every single one of them. So these last 10 are vital and the officers urge everyone to try and make every practice. So far we really need work on our form and timing. So do not ditch any of the practices. To participate in the next race everyone needs to complete the online registration at the CDBA website and fill out the waiver that was passed out at practice. We also need everyone's contact information so we can talk to you whenever and make sure you all know about the practices.

Special Message From Dory, Current President

Thank you everyone for putting so much hardwork and effort during the last school year. I really want to thank everyone for helping me and supporting me when we were facing the Alameda High debacle. I will remember this dragon boat team long after this year. We had our good times and our bad times. Thank you everyone for putting up with my long lectures before each race and practices. I hope you all take something away from dragon boat this year and that you treat your new president with the same respect you treated me with. Good luck with future races and practices

Much love,
Dory Hashimoto, 2008-2009 Alameda Fishtix President

Why Am I Talking About The History of Dragonboat?

Duan Wu Jie, the annual Dragon boat Festival, takes place in May 29th. The Dragon boat Festival was celebrated all over the world, bringing importance back to the great Qu Yuan's sacrifice and remembering as a great hero. With famous snacks presenting themselves during this event like the delectible zongzi, celebration of Qu Yuan's death has never been such a joyous event. Everyone, from the Bay Area to Hong Kong can experience the electric atmosphere of dragon boat racing and feel the joy in the hearts of everyone.

::Credits::
Mike Clarke, Getty Images, for the picture above

The Origins of Dragon Boat pt. 2

The boats were shaped into Dragons to avoid misfortune and disaster and encourage rainfall which is needed for the fertility of the crops. This created prosperity for the Chinese and their way of life. Celestial dragons were the controllers of the rain, the Monsoon winds and the clouds. As the dragon boat speeds down the rivers and lakes, it spreads with it the magic of the dragon. The magic allows for prosperity, rainfall, and fertility. Also, it is to be a tribute for the late Chinese hero, Qu Yuan. This belief and tradition made the dragon boat races and annual event. The Emperor was "The Dragon" or the "Son of Heaven", and Chinese people refer to themselves as "dragons" because of its spirit of strength and vitality. This heavy influence and reverence for Dragons in the Chinese culture made dragon boat and the Duan Wu Jie, the dragon boat festival held every year, a popular celebration.

The Origins of Dragon Boat pt. 1

Qu Yuan was a Chinese folk hero who drowned himself to protest the erroneous decisions of the Han dynasty. Qu Yuan was a political official for the Han dynasty and tried to prevent poor decisions from his government but ultimately failed and used suicide to protest it as a last minute act of desperation. Boats came in vain to his rescue as they were too late. They were man-powered and raced to save the drowning patriot. When the men reached Qu Yuan's lifeless body, they used loud noises to preserve his body from the fish in the river. His drowning was seen as a way to save China, to help provide prosperity to the farmers and peasants. Rice seedlings are annually 'drowned' underwater in the rice paddies, and this is annually symbolized by Qu Yuan's watery fate during the Duan Wu Jie, dragonboat festival. Qu Yuan's selfless actions have been revered and respected throughout the years with the yearly Dragon Boat Festivals held all around the world.

More Stroking Tips

With our paddling technique being our downfall in the Lake Merced Race, we will be improving it during practices. And here is a friendly reminder for all who have slacked on their techniques.

ROTATION AND EXTENSION AND FORWARD LEAN:
- Rotation starts from the (1) hips, (2) lower back, (3) upper back, (4) shoulders, (5) extend arms
- To maximize reach and extension, concentrate on bringing your outside arm parallel to the water before the catch and extend the bottom arm straight (see photos)
- Lean forwards at all times, it really helps with to get more length on the stroke - also if the person sitting in front of you is not leaning, it will shorten the stroke of the person behind. It is important that everyone leans and keeps leaning throughout the race/practice. Very tiring to those not used to it, but it gets better over the course of a month or two with regular practice
- Think about leaning and reaching and extending out slightly more than what feels comfortable

CATCH:
- Plant your paddle into the water before you start to pull
- The catch should be silent without any splashing (otherwise that means you are starting to pull before a full catch)
- Keep the stroke up-front, and do not pull back too far

PULL:
- Keep your core tight as most of the work during the pull is coming from your back and legs (not from the arms)
- Lock your bottom arm while pulling
- Think of the pull as if you are pulling yourself and the boat up to the paddle, rather than pushing the paddle into the water

EXIT AND RECOVERY:
- Exit when the blade reaches your mid thigh as pulling back too far will create drag
- As you exit the water, you can do a slight inwards twist with your wrists to break the pressure of the water against the blade of the paddle to aid the exit motion

Lake Merced Success

The Lake Merced race results were less than desirable. Fishtix finished almost last in every heat and this is not acceptable. In the coming practices, we will be implementing newer and harder training regiments so that we can improve our times. We well also be training with the San Leandro Pirates so we can have someone to compete against during practice pieces. For more information on the results on the race visit CDBA.

Practice Practice Practice

The Lake Merced Race is in less than TWO weeks. Remember to attend every practice because it is imperative to get as much practice time in those two weeks as possible. As we all know, competition is going to be tough so we need to polish up on our form, our timing, and our endurance so we can beat the other competitors. To help with this, please do the exercises stated in the earlier blog entry whenever you can so we can be as prepared as possible for the race.

More Schedule Updates

From now on, practices will be held from 5:oo PM to 6:00 PM to accommodate ASTI branch members who have volunteered at Ruby Bridge's Elementary School. Hopefully, this will not affect much practice attendance. Also, if you still have not completed the online registration on the CDBA website, please do as soon as possible and print out a hard copy to give to Brennan Lee. If you are able to drive people to the Lake Merced race on April 18, please notify either Brennan Lee or Dory Hashimoto because we are still short on rides.

Special Interview with V.P. Jonathan J

Q: Why did you want to join Dragonboat?
A: I joined Dragonboat because Dory, the current ASTI branch captain, asked me to. Also, I felt like Dragonboat was a perfect chance to broaden my horizon on the different types of sports in the world.

Q: What are some of your interests/hobbies?
A: I really enjoy drawing and learning about the different nuances of Chinese culture. I also really enjoy learning various things to tell my friends about.

Q: What do you do besides Dragonboat?
A: Besides Dragonboat, I hang out with my friends, text people, do homework, and draw.

Q: What are some of your pet peeves?
A: Some of my pet peeves include: the constant lack of time that I have and people who lack manners.

Q: Why did you choose to come to ASTI?
A: My mom actually decided for me to come to ASTI. Other than that, ASTI seemed like another high school to me, but it is an amazing high school to attend.

Schedule Reminder

Everyone, please remember to continue to attend practices. They are continued to be held near Pasta Pelican at the Old Chevy's every Wednesday and Sunday from 4:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. Also there have been talks of adding extra days to the schedule to help with our techniques and timing. Stay tuned for more updates on schedule changes.

We Need Your Help

Currently, we are undergoing a team crisis. We are looking for new recruits who want to go to the race with us. There are only 36 people who are going and we need 40 people to have two boats. If we cannot find 4 people soon, 16 people won't be able to go. We don't have anyone of you listed as going to the race. If you can go, let Brennan or Dory know. Please help us recruit more people. It is imperative that we able to get as many people as possible to go to the race on April 18th.

Update On Races

A year has come and gone, all Dragonboat members have to fill out another waiver and register again as an official Dragonboat rower. April 18th, 2009 the annual Youth CDBA Race at Lake Merced, San Francisco will include all Northern California high schools and will last the entire day. We need all the rides we can get due to the sheer number of new members this year and any help will be really appreciated. Please contact Dory or Brennan if you are able to give out rides to and from Lake Merced for the race.

Let's Hear From Juan!

Q: Why did you join Dragonboat?
A: Dragonboat sounded fun and I was really curious about it. I asked people had already joined and they said it was really fun, so I decided to join.

Q: What are some of your interests/hobbies?
A: My interests are: swimming, soccer, and the internet

Q: What do you do besides Dragonboat?
A: I like to play soccer and football.

Q: What are some of your pet peeves?
A: It would be when people being really loud when I'm trying to concentrate.

Q: Why did you choose to come to ASTI?
A: I chose ASTI because I believe that here, I can achieve higher academic goals.

All New Practice Regiments!

With the ever increasingly ill weather we've been having in the Bay Area, Dragonboat is now starting new work out regiments for the days we cannot go out in the boats. To help increase our overall stamina, we'll be jogging for 15 minutes. For stronger and more efficient abdominal and core muscles, 2 sets of 15 sits-ups and crunches. For our arms and chest, 3 sets of 12 push-ups. Although we will be doing these exercises when the boats are unavailable due to weather restrictions or any other complication, it is highly recommended that you do these during your freetime as well.

Get To Know Lizzie!

This week we are interviewing Lizzie Dietz, another freshmen this time coming to ASTI from Lincoln Middle School in Alameda. Lizzie talks about what she does in her free time and her interests.

Q: Why did you join Dragonboat?
A: Well I actually joined because some of my friends joined and I figured that it would be pretty fun. I would not only get exercise but see school mates that go to AHS.

Q: What are some of your interests/hobbies?
A: I guess I like doing a lot of out door type stuff like biking , running, etc

Q: What do you do besides Dragonboat?
A: Actually Dragonboat is like my sport/ activity I guess. Like I said in the answer before this, I do that type of stuff in my spare time.

Q: What are some of your pet peeves?
A: I don't really have any.

Q: Why did you choose to come to ASTI?
A: Well I first found out about ASTI through a presentation at my Lincoln Middle School, and after the presentation, I decided that I had to come. I pretty much wanted to come first of all because I would see new faces, and it sounded like a community and it is. I also came here for the college credits.

Special Interview with Will Zeng!

This is the first of several interviews with all ASTI members of Fishtix. William Zeng, freshman from Chipman Junior High, will be our first interviewed member. Will discusses his reasons behind joining Dragonboat and attending ASTI.

Q: Why did you join Dragonboat?
A: I joined the Dragonboat because several members told me to join, "its fun".

Q: What are some of your interests/hobbies?
A: Some of my interests and hobbies is sleeping, eating, biking, basketball, running, helping out people, and watching the news, hog the computer/TV.

Q: What do you do besides Dragonboat?
A: Look above

Q: What are some of your pet peeves?
A: Some pet peeves are people who constantly use an inappropriate and not very good "Asian" accent and people who ask already answered questions.

Q: Why did you choose to come to ASTI?
A: I came to ASTI hoping to escape my pet peeves due to the high moral and academic ground here and because I think this a cool school.

Practice Update!

There will be no practice until February due to several obstacles and challenges the Alameda branch has to overcome. Also, previous issues dealing with leadership have been solved and it should be smooth sailing (or paddling) from here forth. Dory Hashimoto will continue being President of the ASTI branch and the election named Brennan Lee the President of the Alameda High branch.

Memory Jogger!

For all of us who forgot how to paddle and stroke, here is a video by DragonMax in Berkeley that will hopefully jog our memory of what its like to paddle.

Welcome Back

Winter break is just about to end and regular practice is starting to begin once again. The schedule is the same as usual, Wednesdays and Sundays from 4 P.M. to 5 P.M. I hope everyone remembers how to stroke properly and are in tip top shape. Also, we are looking for more recruits due to the low attendance rates recently.

Welcome To Fishtix News

Happy New Year! Welcome to the ASTI Fishtix Dragonboat news. This blog is to inform members of the ASTI branch Fishtix keep up with current events. Entries will consist of practice updates to member profiles with weekly posts.
The ASTI branch of Fishtix will have meetings every first and third Tuesdays during lunchtime and are held in the science room. Official practices are every Wednesday and Sunday from 4:00 P.M. to around 5:00 P.M. Practices are held behind Posey Tube and near Pasta Pelican and the old Chevy's. Please check the Facebook group for any updates about practice dates, times, or cancellations. For any questions concerning membership, please contact Dory Hashimoto or any of the vice-presidents.
photo copyright Ernest M. Wong