BalanceCore studio helps keiki improve fitness and agility

Rick Tashima has been a personal trainer for more than 35 years, working primarily with adults to get them into tip-top shape. Now the 55-year-old Hawaii Kai resident wants to help kids become more active, too.

Last month Tashima introduced a kids fitness program at his 900-square-foot BalanceCore studio in Kaimuki.

"I’ve been doing adults for so long, so I kind of wanted to do kids because I think there’s a need for it," Tashima said.

While his childhood in Honolulu was spent playing outside with friends "until our parents would call us to come inside," Tashima sees many of today’s youngsters glued to iPads and other electronic devices.

"I don’t want to take that away — it can still be a learning experience — but I want to give them more guidance, get them more active, teach them teamwork," he said.

Tashima’s classes are aimed at building and toning muscles and improving hand-eye coordination, balance, movement, cardiovascular endurance, flexibility and agility.

"My kids’ classes are for kids that may not do sports or be athletic but may want to learn something different … maybe join a sport that they wanted to try but never had the confidence to do so," Tashima said. "Some kids have raw talent, never played a sport or was athletic, then one day learned the skills for a particular sport and excel."

The one-hour classes are offered in two divisions, ages 7-12 and 13-17. Sessions, held on Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, are $136 (7-12) and $152 (13-17) for an eight-week program that starts the week of Jan. 14. For those who join later, the cost is prorated at $17 or $19 per session, depending on age group.

For younger participants, exercises will focus on balance and agility. Older students will work on strength — for example, lifting weighted balls — in addition to coordination and agility.

Common workouts include running cones and agility ladders, balancing on an exercise ball and performing weight-bearing exercises.

In addition, children with special needs are welcome to participate with or without assistance, Tashima said, "as long as they have the will to learn."

Contact Rick Tashima at 781-1815 or email balancecorekids@gmail.com. — Stefanie Nakasone, Star-Advertiser

Night of storytelling stars Japan and isles

Tales from the Japanese and Hawaiian cultures will come alive through some of the state’s best storytellers in "An Evening of Mythology & Storytelling" Dec. 8 at Hawaii Theatre.

The night will be filled with dance, music, puppetry and drama, and is the perfect opportunity to let your kids use their imagination instead of staring at a television, smartphone or tablet, said storyteller Cathy Foy-Mahi, a participant in the event.

"I sincerely hope parents will bring their children because it’s not just a history lesson — there’s a lot of drama and emotion," she said. Because there are no props, just the storytellers and three musicians onstage, the show "allows their imagination to lead them through each story."
Foy-Mahi will present the legend of Ohia and Lehua, the tale of two lovers who incur the wrath of Pele. Introducing the act will be a chant and hula kahiko by kumu hula Sonny Ching’s Halau Na Mamo o Pu’uanahulu.

Leading off the show, the Japanese immigrant story will be told through the ever-entertaining Jeff Gere’s shadow puppetry and Yasu Ishida’s storytelling. The act explores the history of the Japanese in Hawaii, including stories about Hawaii Hochi founder Fred Kinzaburo Makino, who fought for the rights of plantation workers, and the heroism of the 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team during World War II.

The second half celebrates Japanese culture, with classic Japanese dance and Foy-Mahi telling the creation myth of the islands of Japan.

Presented by the Kataributai Hawaii Executive Committee, the show "is like a theatrical piece, but it becomes alive," Foy-Mahi said.

"It’s bringing together the mythology of Hawaii and Japan, and the Pacific, to show how connected we are."  — Stefanie Nakasone, Star-Advertiser

Top robot illustrations will earn tickets to live comic-book show

Students on Oahu have the opportunity to win tickets to a live-action graphic novel performance at theUniversity of Hawaii at Manoa if they submit the winning drawing for a "Robots in Hawaii" contest.
"The Intergalactic Nemesis, Book 2: Robot Planet Rising" is scheduled for Jan. 19 at the UH’s Kennedy Theatre.

For the production, creators took the artwork from a comic book, removed the word balloons and projected it panel by panel on a two-story-high video screen. Three voice actors representing the characters on stage are accompanied by a sound-effects performer and keyboardist.
Students are invited to draw their impression of robots in Hawaii on an 8 1/2-by-11-inch sheet of paper, with the entrant’s name and grade level printed on the back. Entry forms, which can be downloaded from outreach.hawaii.edu/community, must be stapled to the drawing.

One winner will be chosen from each category: grades 2 to 3; 4 to 5; 6 to 8; 9 to 12; and college.

Submit entries by Dec. 6 to participating public libraries or UH’s Sinclair Library, Room 301.
Artwork must be original (no cutting or pasting) and will be judged on creativity, originality and use of theme.

This year’s performance is the sequel to last season’s "The Intergalactic Nemesis, Book One:Target Earth," which is in the midst of a multiyear world tour.

Winners, to be notified by Dec. 23, will each receive two tickets. For ticket info call 956-8246 or visit outreach.hawaii.edu/community. — Nina Wu, Star-Advertiser