Today we’d like to introduce you to Rose Whiteley.
Hi Rose, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I was born in the provinces of the Philippines and raised by my grandparents. I worked the family rice fields and farming with my grandfather, to help support ourselves and other family members. My grandfather was a very strong role model and fierce protector of his little granddaughter. His strength came from living through the Japanese occupation of the Philippines – spending nights in caves and high in trees watching over and protecting his family throughout the war. He was still climbing banana trees and plowing rice fields barefoot behind a Carabao when he was 100 years old and lived 111 years. That strength, fierce family values and determination was the lasting gift he gave me that has carried me throughout my life into the place I now am.
It came time for me to branch out with my life from the family farm and I took the opportunity to try to come to the U.S. while being sponsored by a relative. I got on a plane to California with not much more than a backpack, these old black leather boots and a tiny bit of saved-up spending money. I got a job immediately and ended up working 1-3 different jobs at a time to start building a life for myself here.
Over time, I ended up becoming a US Citizen and moving to Austin, TX. While working at a Wendy’s restaurant as the salad bar prep girl, I met my future husband when he accidently spilled a massive drink into my salad bar during the lunch rush. The spill forced me to rebuild the entire bar during the busiest part of the day – I was so furious with that clumsy guy. However, after returning to the restaurant each weekday lunch period for weeks on end to apologize over and over again with a tight grip on his large drink – I agreed on a date.
We were married a couple of years later and started a family.
I broke the mold somewhat. Women in the Philippines are not expected to be athletic, and certainly never go into fitness and martial arts fields – either as a hobby or as a career. But the eternal drive to work hard and achieve led me to a love for fitness and martial arts. But it wasn’t the typical vision of slamming weights or MMA cage fighting – but rather what drew me to it was a form of enrichment that was missing in many peoples lives. I saw it as a way for women and children specifically to realize their potential with an increased level of confidence to help themselves achieve what they desired in life. I found that women in particular lack opportunities for fitness and self-defense in facilities that are safe and supporting. And this concern grows exponentially as they get older. The training field is predominantly run by male-oriented gyms and centers, and are frequently intimidating to women. And ever-more intimidating to women that have been a victim of some sort of violence, or found themselves in a bad situation. They need support, training and confidence – but find few avenues to obtain it.
That became my personal vision and mission secretly secured in the back of my mind for years.
I trained with my family and achieved my 2’nd degree black belt in Karate while learning a blend of other styles of martial arts that included Karate, Jeet Kune Do, Aiko Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, Western Boxing, and a wide variety of self-defense curriculum.
As I grew older, I discovered a natural progression to the fitness world through my martial arts journey and realized that health and wellness are the key elements that benefit a long and enjoyable life. So, at age 50, I challenged myself spent a long a grueling 4 day weekend in Houston, TX in a training certification class founded and hosted by Martin Rooney for his international Training for Warriors (TFW) fitness and education system that is now taught in almost 300 locations throughout 30 countries of the world. When I arrived for the class, the room was filled with huge muscled guys, professional football players and athletes – generally fitness beasts. They all towered over this little 4’ 11” Asian girl that was supposed to hold her own in the class. I was scared – but ultimately earned the respect of a number of those guys by the end of the week end. I was too sore to do anything after each day’s classes and ordered food into the hotel room each night – but I wasn’t going to show those guys any weakness during the day, that’s for sure!
Martin Rooney is an amazing role model and even more incredible instructor. He was an Olympian, a professional football strength coach, training professional MMA fighters, and is an internationally recognized trainer, speaker, author, and fitness pioneer. I had read a couple of his books, and when I saw that he was going to be holding that training certification for his TFW curriculum within a couple hours driving distance from me – nothing could keep me away. I stuck it out and earned a Level 2 Coaching certification in that system.
I was on a roll now, and also achieved advanced training in Strong First Kettle Bell systems, and a certification in the Primal 7 system that is designed to assist those with various physical limitations to “Conquer their Can’t”.
I had taught both adult and kids classes in the Karate Dojo over the years earning an Instructor of the Year awards in both 2014 and 2016 in different facilities, followed by working to achieve these intense fitness certifications, had all unexpectedly prepared me to realize that long term dream I had since a young girl. A dream to help other people achieve their own personal dreams – I needed to open my own school.
I convinced my husband that now was the time, and we invested in a business location for our new training center with my new vision: to create a universal family training center with a variety of fitness and self-defense programs.
The anchor program was to be the international Training for Warriors fitness program that, together with kickboxing, self-defense and karate was to give women and their entire families a comfortable place to train and improve themselves with the support and confidence of their classmates.
Now, 8 years after opening the Astig Fitness and Martial Arts Training Center, and the only woman-run TFW program in this part of the country (and one of very few in the world), my dream as a little girl has become a reality. I have a school of women, men, their families training in fitness, classes of children learning confidence and self-defense. I believe that I am daily building and enhancing their lives through the life-long long experiences and talents of a small girl from Asia that had a personal dream of giving back to the world in the form of training each and every one of my students to be a Warrior in Life.
By the way, “Astig” in the Philippines is street slang that roughly translates to “badass”.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There have been many struggles throughout my journey. The single greatest obstacle has been those that either don’t respect, or don’t believe that women have a place in the professional fitness, or more specifically the martial arts fields. They are both predominantly men in the field, and women have a larger and longer climb to prove themselves.
Also, trying to run a woman-owned small business has many challenges in itself. People come in the front door looking for the stereotypical male owner, and are often surprised when I introduce myself. But I think I quickly earn their respect after a couple of classes.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am very proud of the certifications and experience I have earned through the years – and in particular very proud of earning the UMAHOF (Universal Martial Arts Hall of Fame) awards for Outstanding Woman of the Year in both 2021 and 2022. The title belts are displayed prominently in my school’s office, alongside the hand-drawn pictures of my children students.
I am known to be encouraging, a mentor, a confidant and counselor to my students, all while pushing them towards better achievements.
What matters most to you? Why?
The things that matter the most to me are my family, honesty, hard work and being a good role model. There really isn’t much else that matters more. Honor these things and everything else falls into place.
Pricing:
- Pricing is relative. You get what you pay for it you are dealing with good people.
Contact Info:
- Email: AstigFitMA@gmail.com
- Instagram: tfwaustin
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ASTIGFitMA
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@tfwaustin-astigfitnessandm7150
Image Credits
Mike Whiteley – MagisWorks Media
