Growing up in a Ghanaian (West African Country of Ghana)household, music was very much a part of our lives. Our culture celebrates with dancing from births to deaths. Yes, you read it right, the life of the deceased loved one is celebrated through dance as well. I’m the middle of seven children and our house was a spiritual as well as festive house.
Our mother (may she rest in peace) gave us and taught us the love of dance. We were awakened every morning with a song and would congregate after tending to our personal hygiene and have family devotion prior to starting our day. Whenever we would have celebrations, my mother would be on the dance floor. She enjoyed life and passed down that love of dancing to all of us. In fact, it had become part of our Thanksgiving tradition in our lives in the United States.
That love of dance as well as the desire for self employment and the passion to change lives is what led the second in line of the children, my older sister Kukuwa, to create her own brand of African Dance workout (fitness). For over 30 years, she has perfected her workout so that you can achieve a total body workout from a 35 minute duration. I can personally attest to it’s effectiveness because I have applied this to my regimen in order to regain my body after the birth of each of my three children.
In addition to the workout, Kukuwa has published two books, been featured in articles and on television, been invited to teach master classes in Asia and joins forces with her daughter Coach Cass to take groups on fitness/historical trips to countries like Seychelles, Ghana, Tanzania and South Africa. Kukuwa is passionate about teaching others to make healthy choices and live a healthy life.
Her workout allows the participants to burn 800 – 1000 calories. Studies have proven that dance workouts afford these high calories. The proof has also been seen when participants have a smart watch that logs the number of calories burned and shows these high numbers. I have a course that I teach called “31 Days to a Healthy Lifestyle” and I recommend my sister’s exercise as one of the cardio workouts. Would I do Kukuwa Dance if I wasn’t related to her. The answer is emphatically yes!
Studies have shown that we lose 10-20% of muscle mass each decade after 50. It is, therefore, more important to tone our muscles as we age. I love the saying” work for your body and it will work for you.” I have chosen to feature my sister in this article and the embedded video because I believe in this workout and want to share it with the world as well. I am proud of my sister and what she has accomplished.
If you would like to try this workout, it is available on her website as downloadable files, and you are also able to sign up for live streaming https://www.kukuwafitness.com/ Play the embedded video to see a sample of one of my favorite routines and be sure to watch it all the way to the end for the bonus. I would love to hear from you, so please leave any comments below. Also, if you are interested in my course, the first 3 days are free click here to find out. It would help us get this message to more people if you would please share this article and help more people live their best life.
As mentioned earlier, Kukuwa has joined with her daughter Cassandra (Coach Cass) in taking fitness trips to several countries on the continent of Africa. Cass, is a powerhouse on her own as well commanding over 32,000 followers on Instagram and being featured on TV segments as well as in articles. The most recent was an article in Essence online about 10 Dope Black Female Trainers To Follow For Daily Fitness Inspiration Below is a video I recently did on Cass’s fitness style and journey.
