A Word from Coach Mark

As you may know, many people have been working hard behind the scenes to prepare for our club’s relocation to 1375 Dillingham Boulevard. We are in the final stages of preparation, and we are so excited for what is to come. 

With this new location and the ability to offer more to our wrestlers, we are truly looking at this as an evolution for the Honolulu Wrestling Club (HWC). Recognizing how pivotal this growth phase can be, we have decided to rename our club to better reflect our mission and our goals. 

Though we will retain HWC for business purposes, we will begin operating as FLOW Academy.

FLOW is an acronym for For Love Of Wrestling—a nod to our club’s approach, mission, and vision. We truly believe that the best experiences in wrestling all start with a genuine love for the sport, and we work hard to foster the same passion that we feel in every wrestler who walks through our doors.  

Regarding the general timeline of our move, we are slated to have access to the space at the beginning of the year. We will look to hold our grand opening at the beginning of March but will have a “soft launch” or transition period where we will run sessions at the new space for existing club members once we can get the mats down.

Between now and March 1, we will be working on the buildout in the new space. Though we should have a better sense of what work is needed very soon, we can safely assume that—at the very least—we will need to paint and install mats and wall padding before opening. 

We are also working on plans to best utilize the space as it will be FLOW Academy’s home for the next five years. As you can imagine, we want it to be the absolute best for our kids. 

Please keep an eye out for emails and sign-ups to help with these tasks. If you are able to volunteer or have resources that may fit our needs, please let me know. 

Our club’s journey from conception to current day has spanned more than ten years, featured multiple names in multiple locations, and has included countless athletes and their families, as well as coaches, supporters, and other stakeholders.

Established in 2013 as Honolulu Raiders Wrestling Club—a nod to our then-home at ‘Iolani School—our club offered wrestling classes for both boys and girls from youth through middle school.  

In 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic forced Honolulu Raiders to change locations, and we were fortunate to be hosted by Hawaii Tenri Judo at the Tenri Cultural Center on Nu‘uanu Avenue. We adopted Honolulu Wrestling Club as our new moniker and expanded our classes to include high school-aged athletes for the first time. 

It was during this time that HWC established itself as a nonprofit organization with the express goal of creating a sustainable organization that would be able to maintain its own facility to consistently and capably provide Hawai‘i wrestlers with opportunities to develop and explore their passion for the sport. We maintain this nonprofit status to this day, and our club’s operations are overseen by a group of volunteers who love the sport and our athletes.

Over the past several years, HWC leadership has kept their eyes open for potential locations for a full-time training facility and even considered a handful of possibilities, but ultimately remained in Nu‘uanu, having decided that a full-time facility deserved full-time, year-round attention. 

In the summer of 2023, a chance conversation between coaches brought together a group of like-minded people whose shared vision and tireless efforts have made FLOW Academy a reality.

Our History

Our Values

Unity

We believe that we will always be more capable, more efficient, and more creative when a level of unity exists that engenders collaboration. We value this in our wrestling room, across our organization, and throughout the wrestling community as it allows us to come together and crowdsource progress and growth for our wrestlers and coaches. 

Passion

Wrestling is a uniquely challenging sport that has the capacity to challenge wrestlers physically, mentally, and emotionally. We believe that the only way for a wrestler to fully realize their potential in a sport like ours is through a positive and healthy relationship with the developmental process. We believe that passion for the sport is what makes this possible and do everything we can to ignite this in our wrestlers. 

The Pursuit of Excellence

We believe that the constant pursuit of excellence is a determining factor in any wrestler’s success, growth, and enjoyment. We also believe that excellence does not mean perfection, but that the constant pursuit of excellence allows a wrestler to be the best version of themself on a day-to-day basis.

Our Approach

We focus our attention on these nuances and guide our wrestlers as they develop their personal repertoires and learn to deploy them against their opponents.

  • Like passion, we strive to foster a genuine love for the sport in each of our wrestlers. We aim to position wrestling, training, and a lifelong pursuit of mastery as positive and fulfilling experiences in our wrestlers’ lives.

  • We choose to prioritize measured, sustainable growth over long periods of time rather than seeking immediate success. Structuring a wrestler’s developmental path over the course of multiple years rather than months or seasons removes the pressure often created by the desire for immediate competitive success. It allows for the variance in a wrestler’s day-to-day capabilities and provides the time and space to develop the fundamental skills necessary to excel in the sport.

  • We work to instill in our wrestlers a mindset that eschews mindless work. We believe that focused and intentional training results in efficient learning and significantly less wear and tear on the bodies of our wrestlers. We consider the quality of our wrestler’s work rather than the quantity.

  • There are no secret moves in this sport. The most successful wrestlers are those who best understand, manipulate, and exploit the nuances of wrestling technique efficiently and at the appropriate time.

What We Offer

Developmental Pathways for Every Wrestler

Whether five years old and brand new to the sport or college-aged and chasing success at the university level, we have a developmental pathway to help wrestlers realize their potential and pursue their goals.

Competition Prep & Travel

Each January, we will set our competition schedule for the year. This schedule will include competitions that are appropriate for our younger wrestlers as well as opportunities for our older wrestlers to compete at the most challenging events around the country. 

For these competitions, we will offer six to eight-week training cycles to properly prepare our wrestlers to compete. (Traveling wrestlers will be asked to commit to at least three sessions per week during these prep cycles.)

We will also provide adequate coaching to support and guide our athletes as they compete at these events.

Note: Competition—especially for younger wrestlers—is simply another opportunity to express skills and test capabilities. Our coaching for these events will reflect this mindset.

Individualized Coaching

We value the individuality of our wrestlers and believe this is a significant factor that plays a role in their development. We also believe that—as individuals—they deserve and benefit from individual treatment and are treated as such.

To learn more, please feel free to contact us at any time.