CrossFit Fanatic: Maya Taguchi

When Maya Taguchi walks through the CFWS door, she always appears serene. Strangely, she doesn’t have the look of terror most of us exhibit as we try to calm the pre-workout anxiety that has our last snack rising rebelliously in our gut. Maybe that’s because on the days she’s not at CrossFit, Maya’s workouts consist of being beaten by a big wooden stick.

Yes, that’s right – mild mannered Maya has been practicing Kendo, a contemporary Japanese martial art that evolved from the traditions of the samurai, since she was three. Her dedication to Kendo has seen Maya representing Team Canada at four World Championships and going toe-to-toe with the best at local, national, and international tournaments. Maya is definitely someone you want to have your back while you’re doing the 200m back alley laps in the dark. Unfortunately for us, she’s usually miles ahead…

Maya is also the Head Instructor at Renfrew Kendo Dojo. Her natural aptitude for coaching is one of the factors that had Jenika snapping her up as the newest addition to CFWS’s coaching staff. The other reason is Maya’s incredible enthusiasm for CrossFit, which has continued to build since she first started training with Jenika more than a year ago. Maya credits Jenika’s own passion for CrossFit for getting her so excited about it and says that once Jenika started teaching her the basics, she “was instantly hooked!" She was also enthralled by the CrossFit training philosophy because of the improvements she saw in her competitive edge in Kendo. CrossFit, and in particular the Olympic lifts, helped her develop a stronger core and improve her explosiveness.

In those early days, Maya wanted to learn everything she could about CrossFit and became obsessed with www.crossfit.com. She says she would sit for hours scouring over the videos and demos that were posted. But the website couldn’t sustain Maya’s ever increasing appetite, so once she’d sucked it dry for information, she moved on to the affiliate blogs.

Watching the videos and learning about what other female CrossFitters have been able to achieve has helped Maya to set her own goals. While Maya is looking to break a 300lb deadlift, she’s also signed on to compete with the CFWS Team in CrossFit Vancouver’s November Mad Lab Hopper. The Hopper is an opportunity for CrossFitters from Northwest regional affiliates to come together to test out their fitness. With barely a month left to train, Maya explains she needs to step it up a notch. She’s already training three or four days a week at CFWS, but she says that may not be enough. Maya hopes that her dedication to the CrossFit lifestyle, which includes eating clean, getting plenty of rest, and training hard will help her to reach peak condition for the upcoming challenge.

Maya is excited to share her enthusiasm for CrossFit with the CFWS clientele and says that becoming a Coach at CFWS is "a natural progression." She hopes her genuine passion for CrossFit will shine through and help to motivate CFWS’s clients to reach their fitness goals and to set new ones, such as participating in next year’s CrossFit Games.

posted: 5 Oct 09   ·   Category: NewslettersNo Comments

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