Hawaii Baptist Academy

Editors Note: Last February, while in Honolulu working like a dog, I decided to take a break from the beach. I drove over to Hawaii Baptist Academy and walked into Coach Curtis Tsuruda’s classroom. I told him I was there to check up on Kalani Kaleleiki who was to be named on our Ist team BFS All-American Football Team. Coach Tsuruda had nominated Kalani but did not expect me to come in person.

I figured somebody had to do it. Anyway, it was a real treat for me to visit with Kalani who had a very special spirit about him. | was also very impressed with Coach Tsuruda who also is the school’s strength coach. I asked him to write an article about his weight lifting team. Here itis: ALOHA! S60 “They can change their minds, but they can’t change me, I've got a dream.” — Jim Croce This is a story of a group of young men who wanted something so bad that they did whatever it took to become The Championship Team: Front Row; (I-r) Brian Ishikawa, winners. Hawaii Baptist Academy is a small, private school Dean Takamori, Keith Ito.

Back Row; Coach Tsuruda, Eric with grades K-12 and a student body of 600. Some of the Kamimura, Andrew Fong and Kalani Kaleleiki. high school boys wanted to enter a weightlifting meet because they just wanted to see how they compared to the rest of the schools. | personally feel that the powerlifting events are good for overall strength, but actually the Olympic lifts are more pertinent to any sport. You see, powerlifting, or it should be called strengthlifting, can be defined as force x distance. It is moving a force (object) over a given distance with no time involved. Olympic weightlifting is the same thing, but there is a time element involved.

The formula for Power is force x distance divided by time, or Fx D. So somewhere along the lines, these terms have confused the general public and coaches also. My belief is that someone in any sport should always train for power and not strength.

Why? Because just like in Olympic weightlifting, the lift must be done in 1 second or else the lifter will not be able to do the lift. Now, doesn’t that remind Kalani Cleaned and Jerked 275 pounds and was named the meet’s Co-Outstanding Lifter! don’t do it in a certain time period, you'll be the team’s scorekeeper. But why coaches have put such a demand on powerlifting, I don’t know. Anyway, with the weightlifters at our school, I decided to put them into a Clean & Jerk Competition. The interesting thing is that no student had any previous knowledge or experience in that specific lift so they all started from rock bottom and worked their way up.

Our first goal was to be committed to the lift and support the other lifters since no one was considered a veteran. So itstarted out in 1984, and there were just two young men.

They laid the foundation of greater things to come. Other students laughed and were confused because they couldn’t understand why someone would want to do the Clean and Jerk lift. It is a lift where technique and flexibility are of utmost importance. Most students and athletes are not flexible and patient when they get into weightlifting or weight training. But these two young men stuck it out and they worked very hard, and both took Ist place in their respective weight classes in the Hawaii State High School Clean and Jerk Competition. Now that the students know that it could be done, interest grew and other students soon picked it up.

Our 1985 team now comprised 6 members: one freshman, three juniors, and two seniors. It just so happened that one of the seniors was a winner the previous year, so he was the inspiration to the rest of the team. On top of that, he was Keith Ito in the 110 pound class. Keith Cleaned and Jerked 155 pounds and was named Co-Outstanding Lifter. selected to the First Team BFS High School 84-85 Footbal! All-American Team. I decided to use the BFS core program with a few minor adjustments in preparation for our competition. It was quite some time before I found out when the meet was to be held, giving us only three weeks to prepare for it.

So we worked our butts off and boy, was I surprised and pleased. We took Ist place in five weight classes and also took the team trophy because we had the most lifters. We even had one lifter who won after participating in a basketball game prior to the competition! But then the big test was ahead of us. We would have nine weeks to prepare for the state 18. meet in April. However, the number of possible lifters went from six to one due to the school’s Jr./Sr. Banquet that would be held on the same date. Three juniors wanted to Keith and Kalani with their trophies. Proof that the hard go because their class was sponsoring it and the two seniors work did pay off.

were in a pickle because it was their last year in school to go to this fuction but they also wanted to enter the state Well, | guess it paid off because they both took first place meet too. After a couple days of deep thought, they all but just missed the state records in their respective weight made their decisions. Two juniors would attend the banclasses. To top it off, both were named Co-Outstanding quet and the rest would enter the state meet. The reason Lifters of the meet and received a trophy along with a the seniors wanted to enter was their intent to break the $100.00 gift certificate from a local weightlifting shop! Since state record in their respective weight classes.

The stage we had the most lifters from one school, our school also had been set to go to the meet and for each lifter to do his won a weightlifting belt of our choice. very best. You see, in this sport, it is not you against the In closing, | would like to say that in life, don’t worry next lifter, but you against the weight. So our goal was for about the next guy, just try to achieve your own PR in each lifter to attain his Personal Record (PR) at the competwhatever you do. And for some of you, weightlifting might ition. We used the 3 Day Workout Week. Our Program was: be just the thing for you since you didn’t make the school team or are just too small for anything.

The key is to use what God has given to you and use it to its fullest potential.

MONDAY: full squat (back), hang clean, high pulls, calf raises TUESDAY: jump rope, plyometrics, run, technique WEDNESDAY: clean and jerk, front squats (full), shrugs THURSDAY: jump rope, plyometrics, run, technique And to the members of the 1985 weightlifting team of Hawaii Baptist Academy, they remind me of a verse from Phillipians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Find your dream and conquer it, but you'll never know until you try.

FRIDAY: dead lift, lunges, upright rows, jerks 300 crunches and 60 hyperextensions daily PNF stretching before and after workouts On the night of the competition, we knew we were in When: for a battle, but to establish your PR was the most important goal. The results were, we ended up having everyone do his PR and have three state champions in three different Where:

To Bermuda! weight classes. I think we would have had four, but two lifters were in the same class. Remember the two seniors who gave up their chance to go to their last Jr./Sr. Banquet?

Bill Curry: Georgia Tech. Toll Free Call: 1-800-423-8834

From BFS Magazine — January/February 1986. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).