BigWu Fitness gets a BigWin

Published 7:30 am Saturday, November 1, 2025

BigWu Fitness is a company located at 404 West Meeker Street in Kent. The business first began in 2017, offering classes to only adults, such as kickboxing and individual training. By 2019, the business decided to focus solely on training athletes.

Willi Wu Sifa is the owner of BigWu Fitness. He said he made the shift due to the influence of young people. “We just see the results that we’re getting compared to our kickboxing classes,” said Sifa. “I asked myself, why don’t we just focus on our athletes and just make it better?”

Since opening its doors, the fitness center has collaborated with a variety of schools in the Kent area, including Kentwood, Rainier Beach and Garfield. Sifa trains at least 8 to 12 people in a group for each session. “We work with basketball players, volleyball players … we’ve got some soccer players that come in and even some track athletes that come in,” said Sifa.

Ben Berg is a senior at White River High School. He has been training with Sifa in basketball for 7 months. “I saw his Instagram and my friend referred me to him,” said Berg. “ I went over there and did an assessment where he assessed my athleticism, speed and agility… the way he taught the drills, I just really started to see a difference.”

Once an athlete signs up for the training program, Sifa gives the student an assessment which consists of various tests such as hip, lower, and upper body strength, and their hamstrings.

“It’s almost like a doctor,” said Sifa. “When you tell the doctor you’re sick, he will usually do tests on you to make sure what kind of sickness you have… so when an athlete walks in our door, we always do some tests on them to see where they are and based on the results, we can formulate a plan that can help them.”

Nohea Alo is another trainee who has been working with the center for a year. Alo is a senior at Tahoma High School and is a part of the volleyball team. The senior found the company through her mother, who wanted her to pursue weightlifting. The two also discovered the trainer through Instagram.

“When I started training there, I was already kind of coming from an environment that didn’t really support me in the ways that I needed to be,” said Alo. “So right off the bat, he just felt like a friend… just felt like a very supportive person that was always in your corner.”

Along with training athletes in the community, Sifa hosts a Bible study for trainees and children every Friday night at 6:30 p.m. Mentorship for children struggling with depression and suicide is also offered.

“We offer a free workout for kids who can’t afford training here,” said Sifa. “So, if they come here and join in Bible study, we give them a free workout, and then we also provide meals for people who come to Bible study.” In the trainer’s early years, he was a past resident of Kirkland. After getting married in 2017, he and his wife dedicated his training to not only serving God but also helping young athletes.

“Our goal was just to open a gym that glorifies God and help people and help athletes,” said Sifa. “So, that’s why we felt like Kent was a good location and it is a very diverse area … opening a gym will touch a vast amount of people.”

Being a part of the Christian community can make some athletes feel a sense of comfort. “He just tells me to stay focused and keep putting God first,” said Berg. “That’s the biggest thing and all over in his gym, and that’s a huge motivation for me as a Christian athlete.”

As a volleyball player, Alo had been looking for ways to develop her strength in her sport, and the trainer’s Christianity played a role in her and her mother’s decision as well. “She is religious, so we kind of just wanted to find somewhere that would put two and two together, kind of hand in hand,” said Alo.

For the second year in a row, BigWu has won Best Fitness Center for the Best of Kent, claiming the prize in 2024 and 2019, totaling three.

BigWu Fitness is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, it is open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays and is closed on Sundays. For more information, call 206-501-0418 or visit bigwufitness.com.