Born in 1986, I was part of the last generations who grew up without cell phones. I was fortunate to live in a suburban neighborhood with numerous kids in the same age range. We would spend time outside enjoying various activities. My favorite became basketball. I was also taking karate classes but stopped before entering high school.

I played on the high school basketball team my junior and senior years but didn’t get off the bench much. In college I played in some intramural leagues and also started lifting weights in the gym. The familiar activity I found myself in the most though was pickup basketball. The style is free and natural. Teams come together naturally and the best complements to each others’ game reveal themselves naturally. I also believe that basketball is an expression of someone’s personality and through time, the friendships built through basketball are strong. There are friends that I’ve made through basketball where we can not interact for years, meet and jump right back in to flowing naturally, smoothly and enjoyably.

After moving to O‘ahu in 2009, I found some nice basketball situations but was deep in a mindset of adventuring and exploring. Surfing, hiking, kiteboarding, outdoor rock climbing, archery, salsa dancing and Argentine tango were some of the new activities I tried. Ones that stuck around for a longer period of time were calisthenics at the park, Ashtanga yoga, the Koko Head stairs, Muay Thai kickboxing and stand-up paddle boarding. My goals at the time were very quantitative. A total amount of push-ups & pull-ups, the number of yoga and kickboxing practices attended per week, Koko head time, laps paddled etc.

In 2013 I hit a financial rock bottom and while I did maintain physical activity, I was in a funk and merely going through the motions. This lasted for a few years until 2016 when I turned 30 and started to experience low back pain for the first time in my life. Additionally, I remember feeling like the blood flowing through my body was moving like sticky sludge. Whether or not true physically, mentally it sparked a change. I arrived on rowing machines as an efficient and all-around exercise to get me back on track. Rowing machines then introduced me to heart rate training and around the same time I got my hands on kettlebells for the first time at a gym in Beijing.

I started my own kettlebell collection in 2017 and taught myself foundational movements by acquiring as much information as I could, recording my practice and then assessing myself. I believe a strong foundation is important and this practice is still ongoing presently. Within this time, I’ve also invested in a weighted jump rope to build and maintain my cardio-respiratory base as well as gymnastics rings for an added calisthenic challenge. Handstand has been a fun and enjoyable addition as well. Mindful breathing has been a constant throughout and recently I’ve taken up an interest in free diving and it’s breathing practices.

I prioritize going at my own pace and mainly prioritizing a quality of life long-term goal.

I do have short-term quantitative goals that I refer to as my side quests but my chief aim is qualitative, to maintain movement to feel better and enjoy life better. Staying active helps me feel more comfortable in my own skin and gives me calm and a peace of mind. Without a doubt, hitting short-term quantitative goals feels great but it is just a moment in time. Life is a collection of many moments and I feel if I can slow down and enjoy each moment, both the short- and long-term become more enjoyable.

The main challenges for me on this journey are consistency, durability and posture.

Consistency. Exercise has always been a fun and enjoyable activity for me. Being consistently active but never seriously training resulted in exercise becoming a hobby which I enjoyed. As I age with life becoming busier, I noticed that it was easy for me to push exercise to the side since exercise was framed as a hobby and not a habitual routine obligation that I owed to myself. A day off would become two, then three then a week.

Durability. Due to my sporadic nature of exercise, I didn’t have a strong and durable body nor mind. It was easy for me to get side tracked and distracted. Because I had no consistency, I would overdo exercise more often than not and put myself at a higher risk for injury. This catch-up approach led to a fragile mind. Being injured, not being to do things I used to be able to, and guilt from slacking off all contributed to breaking down my willpower and self-confidence. This in turn would translate from the physical area of my life into all other areas of my life.

Posture. The body is designed to follow the mind so a misaligned mind led to a misaligned spine. The weakest link in my body would be the first to break down. Aches and pains became routine. Being mindful and aware of my posture while exercising translates well for me into my daily posture and I believe it also has a strong influence on my mindset.

These are my main weaknesses but I address them not to beat myself up but rather to set a clearer course of action. To improve my consistency, I aim for at least 10-minutes of daily intentional physical activity. It’s been a simple yet powerful approach allowing me to reap the rewards of consistent accumulation. Included in this reward is the strengthening of my mental willpower. This improves my overall durability both physically and mentally. To improve my posture, it’s a chicken and egg scenario. Maybe I enjoy the exercise modalities I enjoy because of their attention to posture. Maybe I want to improve my posture so I enjoy these activities. Either way, I am happy I found movements and equipment I enjoy that help improve my posture.

I believe that this philosophy fits well with general fitness and can be translated to those in search for similar paths. How everything plays out and the tools used may vary but that process of self-discovery and self-understanding is a worthwhile one that starts with action.

I obtained my personal trainer certification from ACE as a result of COVID lockdown and while proud of the accomplishment, I value practicing what I preach more. With me, I don’t promise to take your gains to the next level, no ___-week program to grow your ___ nor to lose ___ amount of weight. While all possible, I don’t feel comfortable promising results I can’t control for the sake of attractive marketing.

I do feel comfortable offering a service of sharing information that has helped me with you. I do feel comfortable assessing movements and providing feedback and suggestions to assist you in moving at your own pace. I believe fitness is a tool of intuitive self-discovery and self-understanding and I am simply a signpost helping to guide you on your journey. I want you to outgrow me and explore additional interests of self-expression, meaning I don’t want to just give you the fish, I want to teach you how to fish so you can continuously nourish yourself.