By Grace Lawson
For Kioko Thomas, the vision for her fitness clubs stretches far beyond the bounds of what the name entails.
Thomas, a 25-year-old theatre arts major, has spent her final year at Long Beach State building Physique, a club that focuses on everything from health to meditation, mind, body and soul.
“I want people to know that doing something small and helpful for our bodies, we can add years to our lives, and it can help our mental health,” Thomas said.
To Thomas, Physique is not just for your body – it’s for everything. From mental to physical, she emphasizes an improvement that benefits one’s soul and spirit.
As someone who spent their younger years playing a multitude of sports, being active came easy to Thomas. From track to tennis and collegiate cheerleading at CSULB, she said her passion towards fitness has always been a part of her.
Her personal journey with fitness is one she describes as comforting, often opting to use her free time for working out.
Through going to the gym, Thomas realized her connection to fitness is something she wanted to share with others.
“I want my peers to have a space like this too, where we can also build community and uplift each other and empower each other,” she said.
Though just beginning this spring semester, Physique has gained over 100 followers on Instagram. At this semester’s Week of Welcome, the club gathered three full pages of signatures from students interested in joining.
This was one of the very first successes for the new club that Thomas pinpointed over the last few weeks.
The process for Thomas to get her club recognized was a feat in itself. While working on a deadline, she created the clubs committee within three days, filling all the positions as well as getting a faculty advisor.
Because Thomas only has one semester left before graduation, she wanted to establish and cultivate Physique with a specific vision of this fitness community space before she left.
“I need this space to be created ASAP, I want something positive for our community,” Thomas said. “Because the Black community here is very small, there’s not a lot of spaces for us.”
Though a new club, Thomas has already planned a future for Physique, focusing on the long term existence of the club.
This semester, she is set on doing what she can for the club to be a successful and stable entity on campus.
“It’s not a space where you have to have XYZ amount of experience, where you’ve got to look at people and think, dang, I don’t fit in here. Everybody fits in,” Thomas said.
From yoga classes before midterms, to meetings centered on discussions about fueling your body and improving mental health, Thomas has outlined her collaborative goals with other on and off campus entities.
This includes collaborating with instructors at the Student Recreation and Wellness Center, the Black Resource Center, and Sisterfriends, a Black women’s empowerment group.
As her club continues to grow, Thomas can already pinpoint leadership skills she has acquired through the building process – those of communication, uplifting and team building.
“I think it started as, like fitness based, it’s also something that is meant to empower and pour love into,” Thomas said. “I think that, right there, is going to grow into something so big.”
