BLUE EAGLE Jordan Cruz is definitely a one-of-a-kind athlete. In an era of athletes focusing on a single sport, he throws us back to the days of multi-sport athletes who would compete in various sports for the Blue and White. As he pursues an undergraduate degree in psychology, he juggles an incredible number of three sports on his plate.
“It’s all about time management” is how he describes his way of balancing training for arnis, shooting, boxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and the Israeli self-defense art of Krav Maga, while attending classes and writing his final thesis paper. He spends most of his time during the weekends studying due to the numerous training sessions he attends.
He also allots a certain time to sleep for his body to recuperate and feel prepared for all the training sessions. “I always try to get seven to eight hours of sleep every night because my body won’t be able to function properly otherwise,” he says. It also forces him to use his breaks wisely as he cannot simply pull off an all-nighter when a deadline pops up.
These time constraints mean that he also needs group mates in the academe that understands his busy schedule. “I always tell them immediately of my situation,” recalls Cruz. “I tell them that I will always make my part for the group but it might not be as immediate because I need to slot it in between trainings and other responsibilities.”
However, he doesn’t get every weekend off, as a lot of competitions are scheduled on these dates. For those occasions, Cruz says that “even during competitions, while waiting for my match, I study,” especially when events are held on consecutive weeks. “I’ve had consecutive weekends with tournaments. It’s happened to me where I have [three or four] consecutive weekends where I have a tournament, usually because they’re different sports,” he says.
Competing in his own way
Cruz is currently the team captain for both the Ateneo Arnis Varsity Team for Men and the Ateneo Rifle-Pistol Shooting Team, starting last year and this year respectively. In addition to his current commitments, he has also been joining competitive leagues for Brazilian jiu-jitsu, as of this year.
In contrast to the sports that are included in the UAAP General Championship, Cruz advocates playing in non-UAAP sports. While most would think that the sports are less prestigious, Cruz has a different perspective on what he loves doing. For him, it is not the prestige or popularity of the sport that counts, it is the self-fulfillment felt in excelling or beating personal bests in one event.
However, this does not mean that he would not like to see the sports in the UAAP eventually. “Of course it would be nice to have it in the league so we can contribute to the general rankings,” he says. Some of them, such as shooting, are known across the world and are currently being featured in major athletic meets such as the Olympics.
In fact, Cruz represented the country in the recently concluded Association of Southeast Asian Nation University Games held in Singapore, where he competed in the 10m air rifle competition, finishing 10th in a field composed of Southeast Asia’s brightest young stars.
He also competed recently in the 14th World Eskrima Kali Arnis Federation World Championships held in Cebu, a biennial event that brings together the best arnisadors all over the world. Cruz was the only collegiate athlete to be part of the national team, with his teammates and coaches coming from various adult arnis squads. He ended up with a trio of 5th place finishes as the Philippines ended up topping the overall rankings.
He may not be one of the popular Atenean athletes, but in his own way, Jordan Cruz brings recognition not just to the hill of Katipunan, but to the entire Philippine archipelago.
