Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
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Calvin 'Mitch' Mitchell has devoted most of his life to Tumatauenga in theatres of conflict around the world.
Trouble was, that warrior thinking also dominated life in civvy street, in his roles as father and partner.
Life balance proved elusive and until very recently he had no idea why.
Previously the highly trained soldier defaulted to what he knew best, the arts of war.
Now the personal trainer and passionate fitness advocate is being instructed in mau rakau by Eraia Kiel and those lessons have included an introduction to Rongo, the god of peace.
"I never knew anything about Rongo. That's one of the saddest things."
His life changed irrevocably when his daughter Anya was diagnosed with neuroblastoma which manifested itself as an adrenal gland tumour. She was three months old. She is now aged 11 and thriving with the help of her supportive parents.
Mitch published Safari Fitness : Wild New Zealand in 2018 and it's dedicated to Anya.
Through its bilingual pages, she and brother Austin, 9, go adventuring
It reads like a military training manual for children. His latest release is Ultimate guide to Your Body, Your Gym
In it he tells how to use your own bodyweight to build muscle and lose fat. The straight talker wants to cut through the hype and tell people looking to improve their health and fitness to say goodbye to gimmicks, the stress of locating a car park, over-packed gyms, other bad body odours and expensive gym memberships.
"Get in the best shape of your life in the convenience and comfort of your own home."
Planning is underway for a book about children on the different continents of the world, excluding Antarctica.
Mitch has a little chuckle when talking about writing.
"I can barely read and write myself."
He is also considering a book on fitness for kaumatua.
On the horizon are new ideas that Mitch creatively thought through using army acronyms to teach children about keeping safe in the community. Another Kaupapa his children have heavily inspired.
In 2006 Mitch was deployed to East Timor with the New Zealand peacekeepers.
His second overseas deployment was Afghanistan, where Mitch's unit was stationed in Bamyan province's mountainous north an area of breathtaking beauty and history. And where Mitch and his mates had Pakeha v Maori donkey races.
Mitch is a "Tainui Mitchell" adopted by the Te Arawa Mitchells.
He was born in Putaruru of Tainui and Raukawa descent but the family moved to Rotorua for more opportunities when he was at primary school and he also attended Rotorua Boys' High.
Still only 36, he went into the army from school and after six months intensive training became a lead scout "the battle catcher, the section's eyes and ears".
Part one of Mitch's army life ended after 10 years, before his second stint he studied personal training and business skills in Auckland.
"When I graduated there was none of those sorts of jobs in Rotorua, a mate asked me to do private security overseas."
His first assignment was a 52-day anti-piracy gig on a cable-laying ship.
Back in Rotorua he turned to what he knows best: fitness and personal training, working first out of his garage.
His Instinctive Fitness gym won the Community Excellence Award at the Exercise NZ awards in 2018. In trying to help Gold Card carrying whanau lose weight he set up programmes to help koeke manage their health better.
A contingent successfully competed at IronMaori and the Kaumatua Olympics.
Since the arrival of Covid 19 Mitch has sold his gym but still has boot camps and training camps around Rotorua.
He can hold training sessions outdoors but there are limits.
"The military gave me some great skills, I do military-style workouts, boot camps became battle camps – battling to get out of your comfort zone, punch force fit."
But it's his kids who keep him going, even though they get hoha with dad especially during jumping exercises.
Ko Tūmatauwenga tā Calvin 'Mitch'Mitchell e matapoporetia kua titia ki tōna ngākau he tupua kua kawea noatia ki ngā ātamira whakangahau tangata puta noa i te ao nei.
Ko te mate kē he kore mōhio nōna ki te whakamoea tērā taha toa ōna ka kawea tonuhia tōna wehi ki tona kāinga.
Rokohanga atu te mauri tautanga o Rongo me Tū kāre e kitea, e tū nenehawa ana i runga i te kore mōhio nā ta aha i pēnei ai.
Nā reira ia i hoki ai ki te ao e tino mōhiotia ko tōna ao hōia ara ko te umu pokapoka o Tūmatauwenga. I ēnei rangi kua mārama kehokeho ngā kanohi o tēnei toa – he whakapakari tinana e kaingakautia kua tahuri ia ki te ao hauora kai te āhua tika tana huarahi nā te awhinatanga o tētehi toa mau taiaha o Te Arawa i a Eraia Kiel.
Nā tēnei matakaikutu kua pūare tōna ngākau ki te wairua o Rongo.
"E kūware ana ahau ki a Rongo – kai kōnā te tangi o taku ngākau ināianei'.
Ka huri katoa tōna ao i te rongotanga kua taumaha te māuiui o tana tamāhine a Anya.
Kua taumaha i te mate neuroblastoma. E toru noa ōna tau ka puta mai tēnei ngārara ki a ia. He kotahi tekau mā tahi ōna tau ināianei, kai te kōmata o te rākau tōna oranga.
He mea whakaputaina a Safari Fitness e Mitch: Wild New Zealand i te tau e rua mano kotahi tekau mā waru – he kaupapa aroha nōna ki tana tamāhine a Anya. He pukapuka reo rua e whakahuahua ana i ngā hakoketanga rau a Anya rāua ko tana taina a Austin.
E iwa ōna tau. Anō nei he mea whakangungu ope tauā mā ngā tamariki te wairua o tana pukapuka. Ko tana pukapuka hou ko Ultimate guide to Your Body, Your Gym.
He mātauranga whakapakari tinana e whakahuri ai te ngako o te tinana hei uaua mārō e ngāhoro ai te taumahatanga o te tangata. Hei tā tēnei arero tika, kāti hā te hakoke, te kimikimi kaupapa kē atu i ngā rangi tūhāhā, he kapokapo kōrero kau, te waihanga kōrero teka e kore ai koe e tae atu ki te whare pakari. Hōhā noa!
'Hei aha noa atu ngā whare pakari he oranga kai te kāinga kai runga i tōu whenua'
Kai te rārangi whakaputa pukapuka tētehi he mea whakahonohono i te hunga pānui ki ngā tamariki nō ngā whenua katoa o te ao nei hāunga Te Kōpakatanga ki te Tonga. E tīhohe kau ana a Mitch ka whakapūtaina e ia te take o tēnei wairua tihohe,
'Ehara ahau i te tangata tino kaha nei ki te pānui me te tuhituhi hoki anei ahau e tuhituhi ana'.
Kai te whakaarohia he pukapuka hauora mā ngā koeke hoki. Ko ōna whakaaro katoa mō ngā pukapuka nei e hāngai ana ki te atawhaitanga o ngā tamariki i ngā hāpori kāore e kore nō te whare tu tauā tēnei wairua ōna. I te tau e rua mano mā ono ka tonoa a Mitch ki East Timor me te ope tauā Rongomau o Aotearoa
Ko tana haerenga tuaruatanga a ope tauā nei ka tae atu ia ki Afghanistan ka noho tana ope tauā i Bayman ki kōnei whakataetae a reihi kāihe nei ko ngā Pākehā me ngā Māori.
He whāngai a Mitch nō Tainui nā te whānau Mītere o Te Arawa ia i whāngai
I whānau mai ia i Pūtārūrū he Tainui he Raukawa ōna kāwai whakapapa engari ka hūnuku mai tana whānau ki Rotorua nōna e kura tuatahi ana nā wai rā ka kura i te kura tamatāne a Ruakura ko te mahi te take i tae mai ai rātou ki kōnei.
He ahakoa e toru tekau mā ono noa ōna tau, e mea ana ia ka oti i a ia te kura ka kōtahi ki te whare tū tauā, e ono marama e parawhakawai ana ka puta ia hai toro matua, 'te kurī unutoto, te ihi me te wehi'.
Ka kotahi tekau o ngā tau ka oti tana huarahi tū tauā ka huri ōna whakaaro ki te whare wānanga i Tamakimakaurau ki te ako i te kaupapa hauora me te pākihi.
'E weta ! ka whakawhiwhia ahau ki aku tohu taku putanga mai ki te ao mahi nei, kāre kau ana ēnei momo mahi i Rotorua, ka pātaia au e taku hoa ki te mahi whakahaumaru engari ki wāhi kē atu kāua i Aotearoa nei – ka whakaaengia tana tono mahi ka haere atu ahau'.
Ko tana ranga mārō tuatahi he kaupapa e rima tekau mā rua rā te roa, kia tū ia hei rākau karo hei rākau manaaki i tētehi Kaipuke tuku taura hiko ki te papa o te moana – mātua kia kāua rātou e raruraru i ngā pairata o te moana.
Engari ki Rotorua nei kua hokia ki tāna e mōhiohio ai ara ko te hauora me te whakapakari tinana ki tōna kāreti. I whakawhiwhia tana whare pakari Instinctive ki te Community Excellence Award i tū ki Exercise NZ awards i te tau e rua mano kotahi tekau mā waru.
Kai te kaha aro noa ahau ki te reanga kāri koura ara ngā kaumātua ki te tuku hinu i te tinana, kua whakarewangia e ia ētehi kaupapa koeke ki te whakakaha i o rātou tinana, tērā tētehi pahi i kuhu atu ki te whakataetae IronMāori me te whakataetae Taumāhekeheke o te Ao mā ngā kaumātua.
Nā te putanga mai o te mate urutā kua hokona e Mitch tana whare pakari tinana, engari kai te kawea tonuhia e ia ana kaupapa whakapakari ki ngā tōpito huhua o Rotorua. Ko te taiao kē te tino wāhi kāre e take ana ngā pātū o te whare.
'Kua momona ahau i ngā pūkenga nā te whare tū tauā o Aotearoa, koina te āhuatanga o aku mahi whakapakari, nā wai rā kua huri ngā kaupapa whakapakari ki te tutū pūehu – ko te tikanga kia puta noa te tangata i tōna ao ngāwari mā te tutū pūehu e puta mai ai tēnā wairua hou.'
Ko āna tamariki te take o tōna ao he ahakoa he kūware hōhā nō rātou ki tō rātou nā matua tāne e whakapakari kau ana e tarapekepeke kau ana e tūwaewae ana. Mā te aha i tēnā ! E mea ana te pepehā a ngā pakeke, marama nui a mahi kai riro i a noho.
Mark Hohua, known as Shark, was allegedly beaten to death by fellow gang members in 2022.