Kahuna Claire
USAW, Crossfit Level 1

Claire Brevidoro grew up in the San Fernando Valley just north of Los Angeles, CA. Watching ice skating super stars like Nancy Kerrigan, Claire fell in love with ice skating and competed until she was a senior in high school. Shortly after graduation, Claire began working as a personal trainer at an LA Fitness and quickly became the General Manager of the Fitness department. 

After hearing about CrossFit in 2006, Claire was extremely intrigued. She joined the 27th CrossFit gym, Valley CrossFit in Van Nuys, CA, and became immersed in the culture. The training, the atmosphere, and the philosophy all deepened her love of CrossFit. Her love of fitness and training blossomed at this gym and her passion grew as she trained daily with CrossFit Games athletes, such as Kris Clever, Katie Hogan and Rebecca Voight.

In 2009, she left her life behind to follow her dream of moving to Hawaiian paradise on the island of O'ahu, Hawai'i. Claire got her CrossFit Level 1 Certification locally at CrossFit Oahu, which was the first CrossFit gym in the islands. She has coached at several different CrossFit gyms over the years and that led her to attending one of Mike's Weightlifting classes at a local CrossFit gym. Quickly she fell in love with Weightlifting and began coaching alongside Mike. Together they opened Taken Not Given gym which is Oahu's only gym that is dedicated to strictly Olympic style Weightlifting. She has obtained her USAW L1 Cert, and with their National team on the rise, is working towards the National Coach accreditation. 

She enjoys helping people progress with their fitness goals and live a better, happier, and healthier lifestyle.

Kahuna Mike
MS, CSCS, USAW

Mike Vaccaro, MS, CSCS, USAW has been working with NCAA Division 1 athletes and personal training clientele since his undergrad at Hofstra University in Long Island, New York. While at Hofstra, Mike played five years on the varsity lacrosse team competing at the highest level and furthering his passion for health and fitness. 

To immerse himself in the inner workings of the body, Mike decided to amplify his passion and earned his Masters of Science in Exercise Physiology from the University of Idaho. Throughout the time Mike was working on his masters, he interned at Washington State University allowing him to continue to train and condition athletes at a high level. His specialty is strength training, (olympic) weightlifting, and nutrition.

Mike competed at a national level (-69kg)  for several years and then cut down to the -62kg class to be more competitive. He has been fortunate to train under and learn from some amazing coaches over the years, including Jim Napier, John Thrush, Ursula Garza, and Vernon Patao. Ultimately this led him to become part of the California Strength Team under the Godfather himself, Dave Spitz. Unfortunately, injuries have halted his training for the time being, but he has turned his focus to coaching Team TNG and helping others reach their Weightlifting goals. His passion for Weightlifting drives him to inspire others and help them reach their highest potential.

What is TNG?

Mike and Claire first crossed paths in 2013 at a local CrossFit gym where Mike was the Olympic weightlifting coach. Claire attended Mike's weightlifting classes and was quickly bit by the weightlifting bug. They soon realized they had very similar training philosophies and that they shared the same passion and drive in their own training and in training others. Shortly thereafter, they branched off and started the FIRST and ONLY Olympic-style Weightlifting gym on the island of O'ahu, Taken Not Given.

The name and brand Taken Not Given means exactly as it says. Nothing in life is ever given to you, it is achieved by hard work and dedication. The gym TNG is exactly that, we work hard and we take control of the goals we set for ourselves. We are constantly trying to educate ourselves and those around us, push boundaries, pursue our passions and most importantly, enjoy life. You must take what you want in life because no one is going to give it to you!

The TNG gym outgrew their first location within the first few months, moved to a bigger and better location, and outgrew that within a year. Now 3 years later (2018) they are moving to yet a bigger location, and plans for a second location are in the works. Out of this partnership, Claire and Mike combined their love for Hawaii, with their passion for lifting and fitness and created LifTNG Aloha to provide athletic clothing and fitness retreats to spread the ALOHA everywhere they can!. Check it out at www.TakenNotGiven.com.