Our Trainers

William Lewis

William’s education has come from immersing himself completely into many different environments, soaking up the culture, theory and practice of increasing the human potential.

Exploring the beneficial effects and possibilities of extreme physical exertion, peak emotional experience and the deepest meditative states, William has formed a synthesis of practice which informs his training of XGym’s instructors.

William has certifications in many forms of bodywork including: Esalen Massage, Trigger Point Therapy, Acupressure, Structural Anatomy and Sports Massage, Thai Massage, Emotional Anatomy; and informal study in several more.

William’s ability to bring together many highly effective and efficient systems into a cohesive program is the cornerstone of XGym and is reflected in the trainers he has chosen for the XGym team.

Stephen Barlow

Stephen has been studying various movement arts for over 20 years. He began studying martial arts while in his teens and has trained in Goju-Ryu Karate, Koei Kan, Judo, and most extensively in Aikido. After being told by one of his early instructors that, “if you’re going to learn now to break someone, you ought to know how to fix them first,” he became a licensed massage therapist, focusing on Shiatsu, Sports Massage, Swedish and Kiatsu.

Inspired by his first Aikido and Judo Sensei, who was a world-class ballroom dancer, Stephen began studying dance at age 20. He has spent the last 15 years performing and teaching dance, and he joined the San Francisco based dance company Loose Change shortly after its inception in 1999, exploring and fusing different styles of movement ranging from hip-hop and modern, to lindy hop, tap, African and martial arts.

Stephen’s most recent passion is Rock Climbing. While he relishes the physical and psychological challenge of the sport, what he loves most about it is the meditative nature of total focus. He believes that coordination of mind, body and spirit is essential for living a happy, healthful life, and he strives to bring this philosophy of unity into all his pursuits.

Having worked for Whole Foods Market for 13 years, Stephen also has a deep appreciation for the importance of nutrition on one’s entire well being. “What you choose to put into your body will affect not only your physical health, but your psychological, spiritual and emotional as well. Eat well, and your life will reflect it.”

Oliveyah Salvage

Having a father as a martial arts instructor, Oliveyah grew up in his Los Angeles studio and has been practicing Kung Fu San Soo for as long as she can remember. “At age four I was able to start participating in classes as I learned this fighting art, which is a self-defense martial art consisting of a balanced combination of punches, kicks, leverages, throws, forms, takedowns and weapons. I started doing demonstrations and exhibitions when I was four. I received my black belt from the International Kung Fu San Soo Association in 2005.”

In addition to her martial arts background, Oliveyah also grew up playing and coaching competitive volleyball, along with basketball and track and field. In college, volleyball remained her sport of choice. “In college I continued to play doubles beach volleyball competitively, and while I still enjoy playing to this day, I no longer play competitively due to a shoulder injury that resulted in surgery and physical therapy in 2001 and 2002.” Physical therapy led to her to start practicing yoga in 2001. She fell in love with it, and studied to become a certified yoga instructor.

After leaving Santa Cruz, she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and began teaching women’s assault prevention classes. In January of 2006, she joined the XGym team. Oliveyah also teaches outdoor group fitness classes and teaches in home Asana Meditation yoga classes to individuals and small groups in San Francisco and Marin County. “A fit body begins with a fit mind, in order to maintain well-being, health and fitness can be integrated completely into our lives, so that exercise isn’t just an activity, it’s a lifestyle.”

Dawud Anderson-Zafir

Dawud is the newest trainer at XGym and has a substantial personal training background. He has been an active martial artist and yogi for the last 13 years, and an instructor of martial arts on a strictly one-on-one basis for the past 10 years. This experience has brought Dawud to a place in life where he views physical fitness as essential to living. Though he is admittedly esoteric in thought, he believes that in order to be effective in our daily lives, we must practically apply ourselves in our actions. Dawud expresses his idea by stating, “In exercise, as well as in our lives, we can be as philosophical as we like, but when we act, either we do so with as little internal irregularity as possible or we are ineffectual.”

Dawud’s main practice is Northern Shaolin Kung-fu, which he studies regularly and holds an advanced degree in. He has also studied Shorinji-ryu (Shaolin Kenpo Karate), Wing Chun Kung-fu, Juijitsu, and Kendo to name a few styles. He has also trained in Sung Tai-Chi, Tai-Chi Chuan, Hatha Yoga and Kundalini Yoga, and is an initiate of the Ananda Marga school of tantra yoga and a practitioner of Falun Gong. Because of this array of practices Dawud views all exercise and physical training from a “tri-view” stand point. His view, he asserts, allows him to continuously engage the mind and spirit as well as the body in every exercise he teaches.

Working at XGym is something of a dream job for Dawud who says he always imagined himself working at a gym but has always been one to train one person at a time. He says, “Maybe one day I’ll start teaching large kung-fu classes, but right now I enjoy looking into one person’s eyes and knowing what they need to get better.” For him, XGym and the Super Slow method of training represents a type of training that can easily help someone transition out of the hustle and bustle of the daily grind and into a state where they are communicating with their self on many different levels. He believes that in this state a person can find “replenishment of the self through quick and absolute exertion.”

“I have seen it in happen to people,” he smiles, “and I have experienced firsthand.”