ON HOME GROUND
National jiu-jitsu exponent Daryl Chia focuses on his target, grips his opponent tightly and executes a deft hop over his prone adversary. His rival can do little to resist. After all, Chia is manhandling his bolster.
In the absence of training partners, the 22-year-old purple belt has been forced to be inventive. He came up with the idea of grappling with his bolster while, well, grappling with his bolster.
Chia explained that he had seen some Instagram videos of jiu-jitsu exponents doing drills on chairs, but he was not keen on that since chairs are stiff and the moves that can be done on them are limited.
"So I was lying in bed, hugging my bolster, thinking what better way I could practise my moves when it dawned upon me that (the bolster) is quite similar to a human body," he said, with a chuckle.
He also posted a YouTube video demonstrating moves such as a long step pass, hop over and knee on belly windshield wiper.
In the video, he had some additional help in the form of his 16-year-old brother Dylan, a member of the national junior taekwondo team. In return, Chia, who practised taekwondo until 2016, helps Dylan with some of his own taekwondo drills.
Bonding with Dylan and other family members has been a silver lining for Chia, who is serving his full-time national service (NS) in the navy.
His NS arrangement sees him serve one week in camp and one week under stay-home restrictions in line with circuit breaker measures. At home, Chia also designs jiu-jitsu equipment for local brand Bow and Arrow Kimonos. "I get to spend more time with my family at home, which was quite rare before because my brother and I were training so often," he said.