picturesque: of glimpses and words: Silent Drill at PMA and PMMA

Had the opportunity to be at Philippine Military Academy this weekend and luckily there was a roving aer on his motorcycle who approached us and invited us to see the silent drill that the cadets were performing in their stadium. Watching them brings back the same memory when I was in Philippine Merchant Marine Academy watching the silent drill back in September. As I take my seat, I can't help but make a comparison of the two. Both are really a sight to behold, if you're looking for a way to de-stress away from those cheering competitions that universities have, the academies actually have silent drills where they make excellent formation and exhibition with their rifle or in PMMA's case - the sword. I can't express how much they would hand their rifles to the next person in such a fast and entirely coordinated way. Also, the choreography is just so amazing that you can't help but wonder. But in both circumstances, I mean watching both PMA and PMMA do the rifle thing, I was so scarred every time they point their gun up and shot a bullet. It made my heart beat even faster whenever that happens. Relatively that is according to my opinion, I found the formation of the PMA class more appealing than what I've seen in PMMA. But no offense, I do find the marching of PMMA more precise and coordinated. Why? Maybe because of this fact. PMA has for its performers that time their 2013 class, meaning they were new plebes or first years in common parlance while PMMA had their upper or first class performing the silent drill. But clearly, the differences are really slim, I remember PMMA starting out their drill forming a HI word while PMA had for their style the same word. While in ending, PMMA has said BYE but PMA had CU! It seems that PMA is attuned to texting...but not a jejemon (hahaha). Also, I noticed that PMMA introduced another arm in their list...the sword. There were two cadets doing the spinning thing for the sword the longest possible time they can hold. But the greatest part of those drills was the second to the last act that will really get your jaw dropping and you laughing! It's when they dance to the tune of the music. Imagine how hard their bodies are when dancing. But mind you, some but not all are great dancers. PMA started doing Micheal Jackson moves with the music and ended up with a Justin Bieber song "...Baby, baby, baby, oh...". The funny thing is that PMMA last September had the same thing in their dance list... Bieber's "Baby" song. It seems that both academies are Bieber fanatics...lol!