In the beginning....

My journey in the health profession started in 1992. It was then that I started assisting my martial arts instructor, first with the kids class and eventually teaching the adults as well. I found I enjoyed helping others learn as well as coming up with creative ways to teach lessons. After a few years, several students mentioned that they thought I would do well as a trainer. I had never thought of it before, but the idea of working with other to improve their health appealed to me. So, in 1996, I applied for my first job as a Personal Trainer at 24 Hour Fitness Kapiolani.

Because of my lack of experience as a trainer, the manager was hesistant to hire me. To convice her I really wanted the job, I called her everyday and told her how motivated I was to start and that I would not disappoint. After about a week of my  pestering, she gave in and offered me a position as a trainer. Determined to succeed, I learned everything I possibly could. I have certifications from multiple organizations such as ACE CPT, NASM CPT, NASM PES, APEX nutrition, and a few others from smaller organizations.

During my time working as a trainer at 24 Hour Fitness,  I would occasionally have cleints come in and complain about aches and pains and how it would hinder their workouts. As a child, my father would always make my sister and I massage him after a long day at work, so when my clients would mention their aches and pains I would spend a few minutes massaging them and they would usually feel at least well enough to finish their workouts. A few of them mentioned that I would probably do well as a massage therapist, which again was something that I never thought about before but the idea interested me. After doing some reseach, I found a massage school nearby 24 Hour Fitness and in 1997, I began school for massage therapy.

In the summer of 1998, I received my license to practice Massage Therapy in the State of Hawaii. I quit my job as a Personal Trainer at 24 Hour Fitness a few months later and opened my own studio, combining personal training and massage therapy. 15 years later, I still enjoy teaching and training Kempo and Jiujitsu, training clients, and doing massage therapy.

After many years of working as a Personal Trainer and Massage Therapist, there were still clients who just weren't getting the results I felt they should have been. In an effort to find them answers to their injuries and pain, I began to look into learning more about holistic health. This lead me to the CHEK Institute. Their Holistic Lifestyle Coaching programs is designed to help cleints get relief from pian by looking at how diet, rest, stress management and lifestyle choices can affect our health. 

Most recently I have been interested in learning more about facia and its effects on the body. With so much new information and research being done on fascia, many of the old theories and methods for dealing with pain and movement issues are changing to reflect these new findings. To keep on top of all of this new information, I learned Fascial Stretch Therapy at the Stretch to Win Institute in Tempe, AZ. FST is a new and exciting approach to treating pain and movement by looking at how the fascia affects movements and applying this science to stretching. The courses are taught by the founders of this therapy in Tempe, Arizona. I am the first FST practitioner from the State of Hawaii and currently the first and only FST Level 3 Medical practitioner in the State of Hawaii as well as one of only 94 FST Level 3 Medical practitioners in the world. I also assist with classes at the institute when my schedule permits. 

In January 2015 I was also fortunate to attend a fascial dissection class which is taught by Thomas Meyers, author of Anatomy Trains. This incredible course, which uses unemblamed human cadavers to show the remarkable complexities of the human body, was one of the most insightful experiences I have had in my career as a bodyworker and health practitioner. To be able to see and feel the structures that I work on everyday, as well as being able to see the effects of movement, or lack of movement, and its effects on the body, only helped to further my understanding of the body. I attend these classes annually now as part of my continued commitment to learn more about the human body.

October 2016 started a new chapter in my learning. I began my training with the Barral Institute, learning Visceral Manipulation. This modality looks at how the movement of the internal organs can affect the rest of the body. Restricitons in the fascia that surrounds the liver, for example, can affect the neck and shoulder through their fascial and nervous sysytem connections. I am currently half way through my courses with the Barral Institute and have been working at intergrating the Visceral techniques with Fascial Stretching and Trigger Point techniques.