“As I walked up the 25 steps of the ladder for the first time, I could feel my legs begin to shake. Fear took over. I approached the top of the platform and pulled myself up. I grabbed hold of the bar. In the background, I could hear the words, “ready, 3, 2, 1” and something within me forced me to jump off. For the first time in my life, I actually felt like I was flying through the air, weightless and free. This was the day I fell in love with the sport of Trapezing.” (Izzy Moon)
For the past 11 weeks, a group of girls from British School Manila’s Year 5 and 6 have been taking part in an After School Activity in Bonifacio. Flying Trapeze Philippines (FTP) is the first and only full-size Flying Trapeze rig in the Philippines and one of only a few in all of Asia. Located in the heart of Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, FTP is an excellent alternative form of exercise which tones your upper body and core muscles within a fun and challenging environment. FTP has given these girls, in particular, the opportunity to try out
a relatively new sport which, whilst being lots of fun, is also very physically demanding.
‘With help from our fantastic local Filipino coaches, we have all been able to develop so many different skills whilst being 30 feet in the air – scary,’ said one of our performers. Trapeze relies heavily on understanding the timings of your swing so that you are able to be caught in mid-air at the right opportunity. After only a few training sessions, they were being caught by another Trapeze artist whilst flying through the air.
Last Friday, the BSM team got together with children from International School Manila (ISM) for the first Philippines Inter-School Trapeze Show. It was an incredible opportunity to show off all of their new skills to an audience – who of course were wowed! Although they admitted to feeling under pressure, the students were outstanding and performed with great enthusiasm. Our children’s performance was followed by an awe-inspiring demonstration from the FTP instructors showing everybody the unbelievable skills they could develop with practice and dedication. FTP’s mantra which is used when encouraging the children, at this early age, is one which truly helps to inspire: “Those who don’t jump will never fly.” Very close to one of our mantras, “if it doesn’t challenge you it doesn’t change you”. At BSM we hope to motivate each child to aim higher and floating through the air on a flying trapeze certainly made this happen.