Crossfit Fire City (Singapore)

I swear, I didn’t plan this, but I booked a hostel and emailed a box to go visit- and didn’t realize that they were, literally, right on top of each other. (Bonus! It was meant to be!)

The next day I wake up in a nervous sweat. Not because it was really hot (it was), but because I hadn’t worked out in over 3 months (minus carrying sacks of rice). I had lost some muscle mass and I didn’t have shoes. (The bus on the way down from Penang made me throw them away because “those things smell worse than durian, Ma’am.” (yes. they did).)

So I go in and talk to Sam, the owner. I stumble in on a birthday girl (wearing the coolest batman socks!) trying to do a difficult gymnastics move- telling me that this isn’t just a gym, but a place where you can come and try things. Challenge yourself and have fun doing it. EVEN ON YOUR BIRTHDAY!

I tell Sam my concerns with my shoes (he says “come work barefooted! We’re only lifting today!”) and then I tell him my concern of lifting/doing anything crazy before going and sitting on a plane for 30+ hours* (he tells me to “just go light!”).

*See. I was going to surprise my mother for Xmas. She didn’t know I was making the 42-hour trek (for 82$) from Singapore-Tokyo-Chicago-Dayton. All that traveling almost meant that my legs would be cramping up and I wouldn’t be able to walk the next few days. Oh well. I was probably going to be jetlagged anyway- so I sucked it up and came to the 6pm class at Fire City.

I also tried to get Sam to tell me what made Fire City different than the other boxes on the small island of Singapore. He didn’t really have any comment because he, like everyone who has ever been in multiple boxes knows, every box is different. What makes them different is the coaches and community that it brings. Fire City is no different in this regard. The only thing that is mentionable was the Sin City throwdown, where 7 countries came down to compete in an international throwdown in the parking lot near the box. I can’t imagine the cheering and sweat that came out of that event and I hope there’s another so I can attend!

The WODs are taught by either Mel or Sam and have a skill element (that day we were to find out one-rep-max front squat) before doing a 20-min amrap power-lift rotation of Thrusters(5), Hang Power Cleans (7) and SDHP(10).

I was pumped! The people of the gym were exactly the “no egos” type: Everyone was awesome and doing their best and were kicking ass in everything they were doing. Everyone at that gym was there, it felt, to cheer ME on- even though we were doing it all for each other. And, the most obvious, everyone was smiling- regardless of knowing the fact that we were all going to get our asses handed to us in a matter of minutes.

(and we did). It was one of the hardest WODs I’ve done in this hemisphere.

There are a lot of boxes that I go to and I say to myself “that place was cool. I’m glad I went” but this box left me thinking “wow. I want to go back!”. I realized that I missed that community… a lot. The kind where the coaches put your mind at ease and give you this confidence that you can do anything– like move mountains. And the other athletes that make you feel like a superhero and only want you to succeed even more. The high-fives that are covered in sweat and chalk (sometimes both) and the smiles that seem to go on, even through the pain. Yes. More than hot showers and stable wifi and pumpkin pie. This community reminded me of home in a way that I wasn’t expecting– which means a lot for this traveler. 🙂

Thanks Fire City! I’ll be back soon.