Been working with Kettlebuilt and Stephen since summer 2025. I had shoulder surgery in 2024 and…read morewanted to find a trainer to progress safely with heavier kettlebells and learn to do single arm kettlebell snatches safely with good form and technique. Stephen is Strongfirst certified which was a must for me to find in a kettlebell trainer and I have not been disappointed. I have learned a lot of great techniques and ques to keep my shoulder stable and strengthen to prevent re-injury. Have also re-learned some general techniques and form corrections in other kettlebell exercises that I had learned in the past. Overall a great progression into snatches by starting with detailed fundamentals and a gradual increase into the more ballistic and risk prone movements to make it safe and fun. Highly recommend Kettlebuilt whether you are just starting with fitness journey or want to progress and take full advantage of the kettlebell workout style!

Hoku is the Go To Guy for kettlebell training on Oahu. I coached two sessions with him this last…read moreweek. He quickly built repore with clients & broke down coaching cues into easy, simple to follow instructions. His positive spirit & encouragement made clients smile& focus. Hoku is my number one choice for all things kettlebell on the Hawaiian islands. Go see him!!

Bought an Amazon deal for the defense classes for my sister and I. Sensei Kylan was very…read moreaccommodating with class days and times. He invited us to observe a regular class and while we were there, we felt very welcomed and comfortable. He would come over periodically to explain what they were doing. As luck would have it, for the actual lessons it was just my sister and I with three instructors. They catered the classes to what we wanted to learn and at our pace. I had Sensei Donald as my partner for the majority of the classes and he made the scenarios very realistic, which I appreciated. Throughout the classes the instructors Kylan, Donald and Joe were very professional, full of knowledge, and patient. One of the things I thought was particular great, was the way Sensei Kylan would apologize before demonstrating a move on one of the other instructors which usually resulted with the other instructor on the ground or tapping out. I'm planning on taking the regular classes once the 5 classes are up.

I am slightly partial here so thank you for reading this review. The thought of writing a review…read morefor this dojo is like asking me to write a review for my mother Christmas dinner. These people are my family and have made my life better. They welcome everyone just like they did me and are so patient and love to teach. No one should have any worries about coming into dojo as a white belt. You will be better than you where everyday you train. Thank you to all my teacher and that is every single person who is in the dojo. Koshu

I have watched "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" exactly eighteen billion times. I have longed to…read morewear a pure leather jumpsuit and run around Paris in stiletto heels, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, raining woe upon all my enemies. I have always wanted to be a badass, but instead I took jazz dance and learned to play the flute, neither of which felt badass. SO. When I am in this gym, and my gf is totally beating me up because she is a master and I am not, I am loving it. And just to clarify, she is beating me up very nicely. Going all slow, trying to not actually hit me even though I keep putting my face on her fist and my ribs on her shin bone. But that is beside the point. This gym is not a large and doesn't need to be. There is more than enough space to punch and kick people, jog in circles and fail at doing those jumpy push-up things. I mean, you probably won't fail, you will probably be just fine like the strapping young men next to me. I'm working on my upper body strength, everyone just shush. And the owner. Coach Haru Shimanishi is the shiz. He is a master. He is a sensei right out of a movie where there's some young buck who is not that good at fighting, but has all kinds of heart and some sad-ass story, and changes his life by waking up at dawn and running on the beach carrying the 50 lbs. jasmine rice from Costco and slapping palm trees, and finally wins a championship fight and also the girl of his dreams and a mansion. Haru is the sensei from those movies. He is a super tall Japanese man with a million stories who has trained countless world, national and local champions in MMA, boxing, muay thai and more. Sometimes I look at the beginning students and think "you have no idea that you are training under a legend." He builds champions. I do not plan to be a champion. I mean, not a martial arts champion. I plan to be a life champion. However, I do like being able to defend myself. I enjoy being in the stairwell walking down to TJ Maxx and feeling like if someone decided to do something sketchy they would encounter... resistance. So much resistance. Even if my glasses fall off, because I don't train with glasses. Obviously. The End.

Awesome instruction from a seasoned black belt. The team at purebred pushes everyone to challenge…read morethemselves, constantly reaching for the next level. No gym politics here! The team is truly about learning and perfecting the art not just selling memberships.

Great atmosphere with great people. Location so convenient on my way home from work. Staff is…read morevery friendly, helpful and encouraging. Willing to help you reach short and long term goals. Must stop by give the 1st week free trial. It's worth it!

As an avid weight lifter and golfer, I often found struggle between the two…read more I'm no bodybuilder, but I do enjoy weight lifting. However unfortunately my training regiment as far as I knew was an hindrance towards my golf game, but at the same time I enjoyed golfing and was not planning on to give that up either. I was slowly coming to the realization that I would unfortunately have to give up weight lifting if I wanted to pursue my passion of developing my golf game. A friend who was widely aware of my conundrum referred me to Earl, a trainer with a weight lifting background who just happened to specialize in golf fitness. I called him up and knew right away Earl would help me attain my goals. This was because he could relate to my mindset considering he was once a competitive lifter. Earl took the time to analyze what I was currently doing during my weight lifting sessions. From there, instead of changing my usual workout regiment, he found ways of incorporating more flexibility and explosion motions that would help toward my golf game. It was his ability to listen, relate, and attune to my issues that helped me realized that I didn't have to give up my joy of weight lifting for golf, and in fact, that there was a lot of correlation between the two. I am so blessed to have found him as a trainer and even more blessed to call him a friend. I would recommend anyone interested in general fitness or more specifically golf fitness to him in a heart beat.

Fantastic personal trainer who will transform your body and strength! He will tailor each workout…read moresession to challenge you but to also take into account your energy level for the session and ability. I have gone into a session feeling tired or unmotivated, and come out of it energized and focused! Don't know how he does it, but it keeps me coming back for more, even on the days when I feel I can't do it. His knowledge of the body is amazing. Because he has worked with physical therapy, he can suggest different movements and stretches to alleviate any muscle twinges or pains I may be feeling before a training. He also does an assisted stretch to help lengthen muscles and increase range of motion for tight muscles and tendons. I can't recommend Earl enough. He is a cool guy, very intuitive, and if you want fun sessions with body and strength results, go see him!

Celebrating 40 years of volunteerism with the Rising Phoenix Jaycees…read more.. I'm in awe of our chapter... I never imagined that our chapter could achieve so much over the past 40 years! We were involved in the building of this gym and the concept of The Volleyball Institute, where students get a chance to improve their skills and show their capabilities to scouts! I took an informal tour of the gym, which had a weight room, a shower room, and an upstairs loft for photographers and scouts to view the athletes. This gym is an appropriate place for our 40th Anniversary Celebration! I'm happy to be a part of the set-up, planning, and clean-up committees. I'm looking forward to seeing our VIP guests such as the UH Men's Volleyball Team, BJ Penn, and Gold Medalist Kamalani Dung... as well as the Past Presidents, the current president, Board Members, and current members! It's going to be a proud moment on 6-23-24 when we present someone with a college scholarship! Wow... We're dreaming in large ways and making dreams realities!

From the outset, I made it quite clear what my consistency (or lack thereof) and training…read more"schedule" would be able to be - it was still the pandemic recovery period / I was in the middle of secretly working on my master's degree / full time job / part time job - and Coach John did not at all judge me for it. Zero. Complete support and encouragement even if I skipped reps that week or only put in 5 literal minutes of training. Since 2019, I followed others on Instagram and noticed a trend of folks posting really cool handstands and that several of them tagged John. Intrigued, in 2021, I finally asked Sean (now Coach Sean) who this mysterious person was. Oh, what I didn't realize was the rabbit hole that handstands are. I've been [very sporadically] attempting to nail my handstand since 2015 and let's just say I had a complete mental block on it, as well as some physical limitations. Other fitness instructors I've had has taken more of a conventional/traditional approach to trying to teach me, but alas, this was not something I could keep up on. I had plateaued and desperately needed someone who could meet me on my level and address very specific issues. Now, is learning to handstand a NEED? I guess not and some people have curiously inquired as to why I'm doing this as a full-fledged adult who presumably will never need this skill in my life (since I'm not a circus artist). Let me tell you my bucket list goal - HANDSTANDS AROUND THE WORLD WHEN I TRAVEL! Yes, I mean it. Who is going to help me get there? JOHN WILL!!! John has extensive knowledge and a depth of understanding of body mechanics and movement intelligence. He's also 500% patient with every single person that joins his trusty crew of awesome movers! I absolutely cannot recommend anyone else other than John to see you through your movement and handstand journey. Other reviews have mentioned how he creates highly personalized and individual programs for each person - this is right. I must confess I work better with only one or two intentions per month so while I blithely throw his program to the wind, I really do still try to "do the homework" and focus on my small steps to progress. Words cannot express how grateful I am to have met John. If you've been waiting for a sign to learn handstands, THIS IS IT so please contact John right away!

John has been an instrumental part of my health journey, helping me maintain my joint health and…read moremobility while keeping me motivated. He's helped me train handstands, jumping, explosiveness and other skills on rings. This is a cool place to train and hang!