I was determined to do some exercise. Not only because I wanted to stay healthy, but because I want to keep my happy cells surfacing.

So, I asked some people around if they are interested to join me, or if I could join them, but unfortunately they were either pure lazy, not interested, some pretending to be having wrist injuries or simply having a life (the latest excuse of which, I accepted).

I went online, as you do when you want to get to the bottom of something, and found a site that is dedicated to players and fans all around the world. So much so, that you can even search for players at any location you are in the world. So, I thought to myself, this is perfect, the Gods must be with me. And without hesitation I joined the site and posted a comment on the bulletin board saying that I am searching for hitting partners in the city I am in.

Within a day I got a reply from a person from Singapore who invited me to play with his group in Suzhou, where he was about to travel to on business. I have informed him that I only intend to do this for fun, I am not a professional by any means. He said that it doesn’t matter as long as I enjoy the game, and I should go one of the evenings to play in his group (about twenty players). I was a bit apprehensive at start, because you never know the person whom you meet over the net is a serial killer, a rapist or a bona- fide. Nevertheless, I agreed to meet him in a very well lit public place and then we took a bus to the Badminton venue. Now, I wouldn’t be posting this blog entry if he was a serial killer. But he sure killed me on the court…LOL! He was indeed a very sweet man. Only problem was that he actually thought I'm a man too prior to meeting, as my name-which I think it's quite feminine- qualifies as a man's name in some other countries.

I have got some very helpful hints on technique, and he even let me try his super expensive racket for a little while, just to feel the difference. I was so afraid I’ll do some damage to it.

But man, does it pay to have expensive stuff! The racket itself needed very little assistance while playing, it was almost on “automatic mode”, no kidding. One day I will be getting a proper one, but for now I’ve got to stick with my cheap equipment, as I have other (boring) priorities.

The people in the group call themselves intermediate players. I think they were way too modest. Most of them were from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, countries that harvest the best players in the world.

After less than an hour I was practically dead, so I had to sit down by the side of the court catching my breath while observing their incredible technique. I have only seen stuff like this on the television previously. It wasn’t really possible to see how they got from position A to B, it was all a blur. The precision was incredible, with the speed of light, the lightness of air and all you could see every now and then was an explosion of feathers created by the super strong collision of the racket with the shuttle cock.

Some of them were playing for over fourty years. And even if you are not a pro, if you play continuously for fourty years you can get pretty damn good at it. They made it look so easy.

So, there.

I think I will join them again in ten years time, but even so, by that time they would have been playing for fifty. And I’ll be fifty too, trying to fight osteoporosis. So I really don’t have a chance of catching up, do I?

But I do enjoy it for now and it does indeed help my happy cells to surface. And that is all that counts.

I have found in the meantime a different group, more suited to my skillsJ

It is slow motion compared to the previous one, but it’s still fun.

AND… gets me out of the office every now and then (also a very important factor!!).

Before you ask: No, we were not playing naked without properly gripping shoes. I just don’t like drawing clothes, that’s all.

And if you are looking for Badminton partners in your area, Clickety Click here:)