Hi, I’m Jackie!

I’ve gone through all of the steps at one point or another in my life, including a debilitating (and permanent) injury. I used to compete in high-level martial arts, dabbled in several other sports including tennis, gymnastics, other martial arts, soccer, track and field, running (short and long distances), yoga, and stupid human tricks. I still do many of these. I like to Play.

In fact, I once got hurt during Play so badly that I broke my back in 2 places and now I have the lumbar spine that resembles a stegosaurus (affectionately named “Stega”).

My Stega has not deterred me from Play one bit. In fact, it lit a fire inside of me to find ways to Play, despite all the medical evidence piled against me being able to do things like run, jump, twist, kick, climb, hike, and all that jazz.

A couple years later, I started my own gym called Live to Play in Taipei, Taiwan, with a Play/kettlebell/calisthenics-based environment for people to get stronger, play harder, and injury-proof themselves while having fun.

I consistently stay on top of the learning curve, and also teach other practitioners useful tools and methods like Neurokinetic Therapy, ScoliMethod, TheraPLAY (a neuro-based PLAY therapy), and more.

You can see what I do now for physical activity, despite having a hectic work and travel schedule by joining the Facebook group Live to Play as it changes with my schedule, environment, and energy levels.

All this has led me to my current passion of learning the best methods of helping the human body heal and function, and also sharing the knowledge via teaching around the world.

If I’m not teaching or learning somewhere around the world, I’m either at my home base in Northwestern Washington, or out Playing and exploring with my kiddo.