It’s a cool, quiet Thursday afternoon at the Honpa Hongwanji in Nuuanu and a determined group of about 25 regulars are bending, thumping and flexing along to the spirited exhortations of exercise leader Sue Yajima.
“I love my spleen!” Yajima calls out.
“I love my spleen!” the students answer, each tapping their left abdomen with both fists.
“I love my liver!” Yajima shouts.
“I love my liver!” the class replies, now tapping the area to the right of their stomachs.
Yajima and her husband Wally stopped teaching several months ago but recorded a series of five video lessons so their classes could continue.
They’ve returned this day to find that most of the class is still intact and still enjoying the unique blend of healthful movement, mindful stretching and breathing, and binding camaraderie the couple had championed over the last 13 years.
“I love my buttocks!” Yajima calls from the video screen.
“I love my buttocks!”
The Yajimas first became interested in finding ways to remain healthy in old age when Sue’s parents came from Korea to live with them. Their investigations eventually led them to the Korean exercise sahm bo danh, which focuses on range of motion, muscle tone and the flow of chi.
Once they had grasped the fundamentals of the form, they began offering free lessons at Magic Island. That led to a more formal program at Manoa Valley District Park and eventually to additional classes in Lanakila, Kaneohe and Nuuanu.
By the time they decided to take a break, the Yajimas were teaching seven days a week to upward of 600 people — all at no charge.
“I just want to help people get healthier and feel better,” Sue said. “I pray for our students every morning.”
The exercise has also made a big impact on Sue and Wally themselves.
Wally, a former school teacher and a career soldier who served three tours in Vietnam, was a three-pack-a-day smoker who drank a case of beer every night. Now he neither smokes nor drinks.
“People who take our class come up to me and say, ‘My doctor wants to know what I’ve been doing because all my tests are better,’” Wally says. “That’s the best feedback we can get.”
Their students are quick to offer their own testimonies.
Norman Hirohata-Goto: “Sue can feel the energy in the room. She knows what you’re doing, even if you’re in the back of a packed room.”
Sharon Yokoyama, 67: “I started with them in 2007 in Manoa and followed them. They have such a positive energy.”
Junie Exzabe, 80: “You are going to grow old whether you want to or not, so you may as well do it gracefully. Sue and Wally help you do that.”
Stan Baptista, 63: “My wife and I wanted to be better with our health and diet and this is a big part of that. Wally and Sue are inspirations.”
The class is now overseen by Donald Inafuku, who credits the Yajimas with creating a program that can sustain itself.
“We have one goal,” Inafuku says, laughing. “We’re just trying to stay out of the nursing homes!”
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Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@staradvertiser.com.
