The Story  (short version kind-of)

Growing Up

I was born in Southern California a few years back.  From the time I took my first breathe of fresh air, things were a little different.  My birth mom gave me up for adoption.  I was adopted when I was just 3 days old (to this day I have never met my real family and have no idea why they didn't want me).  When my adopted parents died I found a piece of paper that described who the people were that gave me up.  My dad was Filipino and was 5'6" tall and weighed 170 lbs.  My mom was German/Irish with blond hair, green eyes and was 5'3" tall and weighed 125 lbs.  I had three sisters all with blond hair.  There are times I wish I knew who were my real parents.  My adoptive parents are gone now and as I get older I sometimes think about where I came from.  It really is odd when you are by yourself and you think about this.  You wonder why were you given away?  Why didn't they want me?  What it would have been like knowing who they were and what my sisters were like. 

I grew up in Hawthorne and Manhattan Beach, CA and went to Hawthorne High (home of The Beach Boys).  As a child I guess I grew up pretty normal.  My mom was a bank executive and my dad built turbine engines.  We had a house and a mountain vacation home in Running Springs (near Lake Arrowhead, CA) and even 10 acres in some place called Sonoma County.  We weren't rich but lived very comfortable and had everything we needed.  I guess better off than most.  But, I learned it didn't matter much since as a family we weren't as close as most others.  I looked different than my family and my parents made sure people knew I was adopted and not their real child.  Didn't really notice back then but realize it now.  My brother was treated with "kid gloves" and could do no wrong.  That term "favorite son" definitely described my brother.

Me and my mom were never very close.  Hearing the words “I love you” was very rare and I honestly can't remember once ever being told that by my either of them.   I’m sure they did though but I can't remember.  (this is why I tell my daughters and grandchildren "I Love You" as much as possible). I do remember whenever I was introduced to someone by my parents they would introduce my brother Les and then introduce me as "and this is our adopted child Keith".  Probably didn't mean anything, but it is something I remember.  For some reason they always said "adopted". 

I had a brother growing up who was Mr. Perfect.  He did everything great.  He was a perfect student and definitely my parents’ favorite.  He was an Eagle Scout, college grad, and everything else perfect.  He would do something wrong and I would tell him I am telling mom and dad.  He would then say "he will tell them I did it, who do you think they will believe". He could do no wrong but I was proud he was my brother.  I really like to brag about him and he was huge at 6'6" 330 pounds in college.  He always was the biggest guy wherever we went.  We had some fun times as kids growing up but once he left the house and became a Highway Patrolman he didn't want anything to do with me.  And when my parents were both gone it was like we were never related (which I guess in reality we weren't)

The biggest surprise was when he asked me to be in his wedding in 1996 or 97'.  I know he didn't want me there and his wife made him ask me, but I am still surprised he gave in.  He is a very well known California Highway Patrolman now.  My biggest hurt he ever did to me was when I was in the hospital after my spider bite and I called him and asked him to come see me.  I was possibly going to lose my leg and I wanted to see him.  I cried when I asked him cause I was so afraid.  He said he would try and come see me.  He never came and I have not talked to him since (1998).  He never really treated me as a brother or part of the family so I guess I should have expected it.

My dad and me got along the best.  He liked sports and he loved watching me play baseball.  He was a good dad.  When he died I cried so much.  My mom was different.  Everything was so serious with her.  She never came to a game I played in whether it was baseball or football.  She went to all my brothers games.  But, back then I didn’t even notice.  When she died it didn't seem to hurt me as much as when my dad died.  I was very sad for my dad when she died more than anything.  She spent a year in the hospital which really took a toll on my dad and the money he had.  The bills were outrageous even after what the insurance paid.  The one thing I do know is both of them were very responsible, had no bills and did provide for us growing up.  We never had to watch our money and we had everything we needed or wanted.  Just the family thing could have been better.  We did have some great vacations though and Christmas was always really fun.

When both my parents were gone I did try to find out who were my real parents.  I came close when I found the attorney who handled the adoption.  But, he said all the records he had were destroyed in a flood that happened in Beverly Hills way back so he couldn't help me.  After that I gave up. 

I Just Loved Sports

I have always been very athletic.  I just seemed to enjoy playing sports.  I liked winning and I was never on a losing team.  I played Little League and Middle League Baseball from age 8 to 15.  I was on the All-Star team 2 years in Little League and 2 years in Middle League where we won the World Series and I hit 10 home runs in 11 games.  I took ballet from 3^rd grade till about 5^th grade.  I was very much into gymnastics and won a contest when I was in Junior High.  I was the only kid who could do an Iron Cross or Giant.  I also loved tennis and snow skiing, which I did as much as possible.  Water skiing was something I did with friends regularly when we would go down to Carlsbad, CA.  So I basically did allot of things everyone else did........ just I was pretty good at them all.  But, I had very athletic friends and even as good as I was, I was not better than some of them in certain sports.  Like basketball, I could kick ass playing "horse" but dribbling was not a very good skill I had.  I loved golf too.

From the time I was 8 years old, I played catcher.  I was very good.  You can ask anyone who saw me play.  I had a great arm and hit the ball a mile.  But, my head wasn’t screwed on right.  I didn’t seem to take it as seriously as I should of (if I only knew what I knew now).  I grew up in the 70's and we didn't have the mentoring the kids of today have.  I was one of those who had all the natural talent to do anything physical or athletic but didn’t think about the other stuff that is needed to make it to the pros.  I had the heart and skill but just not the dedication and serious passion.  I did everything so natural without thinking.  Once I had to think about something I would screw up.  I never thought about having to work hard for it.  Basically I was a screw-up as kid.

My biggest disappointment in my life is that I didn't get to play major league baseball.  I knew as did many others, I had the talent and skill.  I just didn't seem to take it seriously enough.  To this day when I watch movies like The Natural, Field of Dreams, The Rookie or other baseball movies, I cry.  I envy every person who has played major league baseball.  I screwed up what I had in natural talent and skill and I regret it to this day.  I would give anything to have that chance again.

After Leaving Home

During the summer right out of high school I played in a Summer League with the Minnesota Twins.  That next winter, I went down to St. Petersburg, FL with one of my best friends Greg Staffon (one of the best pitchers in the country) who had just signed with the Montreal Expos and was going to play Winter Ball there.  He was timed throwing 96 mph when he was a junior in high school (and this was back in the 70's).  I tried to convince the coaches and everyone there I should be given the chance to tryout.  I was better than any of those guys there, but back then it just didn't happen that way.  After, about 6 weeks or so of hanging around and playing for nothing, I went home.  After that, I went to Harbor Junior College to keep playing baseball to try and get a pro contract.  The coach there knew who I was and was excited to have me there.  We were ranked the #1 Junior College Baseball team in the country.

During the time I went to Harbor, I ended up getting kicked out of my parents condo (they sold the house because when my brother went off to college they thought it was to big for just the 3 of us) because I had taken my mom’s new Datsun 280Z out for a ride while they were up at our cabin.  When I got back home my mom was standing there.  Well, you know what “hit the fan.”  I had nowhere to go.  I ended up living in the guest parking lot under the condos in one of those storage units over the cars.  I had my clothes in a box and a rug.  I would sneak in at night and climb in and lock the door from the inside.  Then in the morning I would watch all the tenants drive by going to work.  I would sometimes sneak into the pool and swim around and take a shower in the club shower area.  My parents had no idea I was there.  I was kind of like a homeless person but instead of a cardboard box, I lived in a 8' x 4' wooden box.

I played almost an entire season while living in that storage space or in my car.  None of the coaches, players or my friends at school knew I was living like that.  I still did very well and set a record when I hit 4 home runs in one game when down in San Diego playing in a tournament.  Well the draft came again and nothing, so I left school

I played one more summer with the Oakland A’s summer team and got hurt and finally figured I will never play pro ball.  But, at this time I started weight training heavier and it ended up where the additional 20 lbs of muscle made it difficult to hit a ball thrown at me at 90+ mph.  My normal playing weight was 220 and I weighed a little over 240 at this time. 

Well I still didn’t get a contract and ended up painting houses for a while.    I made a good living at painting houses.  I spent my weekends in Palm Springs and Las Vegas.  In fact I lived in my car when I first started painting but on the weekends lived great in hotels in Vegas and Palm Springs.  My friends would always say when girls asked me where I lived that I lived in the “Nova Inn”.  I sold my 63' Barracuda for a 69' Nova.  Well one day a beautiful girl wanted to come home with me.  I always said no to girls coming over cause I didn’t have a place to live and always ended up in a hotel or their place.  Well this girl was so pretty and nice I ended up finally getting my own apartment.  It took me one day to find one and get it.  I always had plenty of money but found living in my car was easier and I didn't mind cause I would either do that or sleep at a friends house or a girls house I would meet.  But, it was nice finally having my own apartment.  I went out and bought all kinds of neat stuff.  Having my own place was really great.

I remember my first Thanksgiving in my own apartment was very interesting.  I invited a very pretty girl over.  The thing though was I had no silverware.  Just enough for me.  So, I asked a neighbor to borrow some silverware and plates.  I also was learning how to cook and didn't know how to cook turkey or the other stuff.  So I went to the grocery store and bought a dozen frozen turkey TV dinners.  I took everything out of the packages and put them in a couple pots and a pan in the oven and heated it up for dinner.  When the girl came over she immediately said how great it smelled and I must be a great cook.  Well I passed as a gourmet cook using frozen dinners for Thanksgiving so I knew I was going to have a great dessert.

A New Sport and Career

Now with a great paying job and my own business and an apartment, things were looking up.  My close friends (Dan & Rosie Keller) hooked me up with a former bodybuilder (Ron Depolito) and got me a membership at the “Original” World Gym in Santa Monica.  I was in heaven!  This place had everyone I saw in magazines training.  And back then there were no personal trainers and if you wanted to know something you just asked.  I started there around 1980 and was lucky enough to meet and train with guys like Arnold, Bertil Fox, Franco Columbo, Dennis Tinnerino, Lou Ferrigno, Roy Callendar, Tony Pearson, Kenny Waller, Chris Dickerson, Boyer Coe, Tom Platz, and many more.

I learned a lot from these guys and Ron.  It was very educational to train and watch the pros workout.  I got up to 247 lbs. at 6’ 1”.  I was very strong.  I ended up benching 500 at this weight and this was 100% drug free.  I will never forget how much Joe Gold liked me and always talked to me.  He would notice when I wasn’t there and ask me where I was.  He always told me I should compete in bodybuilding and powerlifting at the same time.  He said I could be champion in both and that has never been done in the same year.  But, I didn’t think like he did.  I never had the ambition to compete in either.  I really liked lifting weights.  I enjoyed the strength I got and the looks I received from people.  It was pretty neat knowing that just about anywhere I went whether it was watching a movie or going to dinner, I knew I was the strongest guy in the place.  Being big and muscular definitely draws attention.

I was strongest in 1986 when I bench pressed 585 (in a t-shirt), barbell curled 315 for 4 to 6 reps, dumbbell hammer curls with 130 lbs., sets of behind the neck presses of 315 for 8 to 10 reps.  My neck, upper arm and calves all measured 21".  At 300 lbs. I had a 37" waist and 58" chest and was about 64" around my shoulders.  I never had a six-pack, but I did get it up to a four-pack.  I like food too much.  Even as big as I was I was still very limber.  I could still do full splits and sit in a theater and put one leg behind my head.  To this date I am still pretty limber.

In 1983 I began to compete in Arm Wrestling.  An old girlfriend convinced me to enter a contest as we were walking through a mall and there was the California State Armwrestling championships taking place.  I did very good considering I never done it before,  I beat several champions.  I thought I should have won but got ripped off in the last match and lost and said I wasn't doing that anymore.  While walking to my car Ric Zumwalt co-star of Over the Top (I was originally casted) came running up to me.  He said I was the strongest person he had ever seen and that with some training I could be champion.  He convinced me and invited me to compete again.  So, I trained a little more and entered a couple small events and won them.  Later that year I won the Nationals in San Diego, CA and 2^nd in the American Cup at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.  I won the Over The Top World Qualifier in Denver, CO in the winter of 1985 and went on to take 5th place (out of 119 competitors from 19 countries) in the IAC Over the Top World Championships in Las Vegas.  I competed until 1986 and retired after I won the WPAA World’s.  I won quite few tournaments, thanks a lot to my trainer and workout partner IFBB Bodybuilder Ray Mentzer and old friend Jim Rowland.   Over the years I have traveled quite a bit and have trained in at least 200+ gyms around the U.S., Asia and Mexico.  It seemed whenever I traveled and went to a gym I never had to pay except in China.

In 1985, I began a new career in acting and became a SAG member (Screen Actors Guild).  I did this until 1995.  I have worked on more than 40 commercials, TV and films  including McDonalds, Old El Paso Salsa, Gillette, PRI, Dynasty, Knotts Landing, Apple Computer and many more. I have been featured in many publications around the country including many newspapers, Time Magazine (Nov. 1987) and Planet Muscle (May 2003).  There are links on the right hand side to links of more articles.

A real neat honor is being recognized as a successful Filipino in the U.S. in the book 'Struggling to be Heard".  I have no idea how they found out I was Filipino but it is pretty cool.  Look on page 175.

I have been lucky to be invited and participate in numerous celebrity events including golf and tennis events from Hawaii to Florida.  Through the years I have been able to meet, work and become friends with many celebrities and sports heroes.  Some of them include, Muhammad Ali, Chuck Norris, Sly Stallone, Leslie Nielson, Steve Carlton, Dr. J, Rick Barry, Rod Laver, John Havlechik, Bjorn Borg, Whitney Houston, Akebono, Catherine Bach, Jake LaMotta, Richard Roundtree, Patrick Swayze, Mike Tyson, Jean Claude VanDamme, Richard Kiel, Susan Anton, Arnold Schwarzenegger and many more.

I became friends with Dean Miller while working on the movie "Over the Top" with Sylvester Stallone. Dean a former heavyweight kickboxing champion and winner of a Regional Toughman competition, he and I fast became GREAT friends. We traveled around to many places promoting armwrestling tournaments. I also found out he worked out with Ray Mentzer, too.  We had MUCH in common and he taught me a lot about marketing and promotions.  Over the years we moved to different places and haven't seen each other in years, he back to Richmond, VA where he began bodybuilding and eventually WINNING the AAU Masters Mr. America and MuscleMania and SuperBody Masters Natural World Championships. Dean began bodybuilding at age 40. His too is an AMAZING story.  His website is www.fatbusters.net  The times traveling with Dean were some of my most memorable times I ever had.

Time for a Change

In 1989, while appearing at the International Special Olympic Winter Games in Reno, NV I met the President of the Hawaii Special Olympics.  She told me they would love to have me come to Hawaii and appear and help at their Summer Games.  After spending one the best weeks away from home I quickly fell in love with Hawaii and its people.  So on August 3, 1989 (yes I remember the date), I moved to the most beautiful place on earth.... Hawaii.   Since then I have been involved with many charities including the American Lung Association, American Cancer Society, MDA, Special Olympics, The Kidney Foundation, No Hope in Dope and others.  I loved speaking at more than 30 schools and institutions in Hawaii on anti-drug issues and other positive topics.  I personally have never done any drugs or even smoked a cigarette and maybe been drunk 3 times in my whole life.  I just don't like the taste of alcohol.  I love Hawaii and speaking to the kids and being a role model to them.  I participated in quite a few "fund raising" functions to raise money for friends with Leukemia.  If I didn't volunteer for something I gave money.  I just love to help.  I can't believe how many times people have come up to me to tell me they met me years before when I spoke to them and that I inspired and motivated them to change their lives.   I love helping kids, the elderly and people who need the help cause they can't do it themselves.  It is something I really love to do.

Nearly every weekend when I lived in Hawaii I went to an outer island or back to the mainland to see my daughters Jaime and Cassie who I love more than anything on earth. I was so happy and everything was AWESOME in my life.

In 1990 I was the Marketing and Promotions Director for the new Gold’s Gym in Honolulu.  It was the largest Gold’s Gym at the time and we had about 13,000 members.  I worked as a bouncer too at night to keep busy.  While at Gold's an old friend and I started the Hawaiian Hardbodies which was a  modeling agency and promotions company.  We had the best looking and sexiest girls in Hawaii modeling for us.

In 1991 I started a company called Purely Hawaiian.  We manufactured suntan lotion and clothing.  We were the fasting selling suntan lotion in Hawaii at the time.  Even on the mainland we sold out at 14 Target stores in just 3 weeks.  It took off very well but under some bad management, it ended up closing down in 1993.  This was truly something that was headed to become a very successful company.  But, I guess it wasn't in the cards for me.

In late 1993 I started developing one of the largest gyms (Champions Fitness Center) in the world at that time at 160,000 sq. ft. in the middle of Honolulu.  It was huge.  The main gym floor was the size of a football field with a 40’ ceiling.  After the developer (Destan Seferai, a crook) literally stole all the money and ripped of everyone, I lost everything I had.  I went from living in a 34^th floor luxury condo overlooking all of Honolulu to living back in my car.  It only lasted a couple days though till I found a room to rent in a 10,000 sq, ft, mansion.  I tried a lot of things and played a lot.  I take alot of chances and "go for it".  I have been very successful and I have been broke.  I have to say having money is way better than being broke (which sucks) but I still wouldn't change a thing I have done.  My life definitely hasn't been boring.  I truly believe that if you don't try something you will never "know" if it could have been great or not.  Some people don't like this but I feel you should do everything with the highest intent in mind. 

My friends say I trust everyone to easily.  I always try to see the best in people and it has cost me a lot of time, effort and money in my life.  But, I usually do what I want to do.  I don't mind taking chances.  It makes life exciting no matter how it turns out.  I have lost over the past 20+ years potentially tens of millions of dollars and probably alot more because I trusted the wrong people and I let them take control of my ideas and business's.   I know it's my fault trusting people and what they say.  I am working hard now to not do that again.  Plus as I get older I know I need to start thinking about ME.

What Am I Going to do NOW

So now I am running out of options to what to with my life.  The only thing I did where I was in 100% total control was when I used my body and strength to make money.

I started training in the Discus and Shotput around 1997 for the 2000 Olympics.  I took very easily to the Discus but found the Shotput too hard and decided to drop that and concentrate on what I was good at.  I got up to 196’ on my throws with the Discus.    I was training twice a day at the gym.  I lived 7 miles away and rode my bike there at 8am and then again at 4pm.  I did this 4 days a week.  That is 28 miles a day on the bike.  In between I would swim in my pool and then go to the local high school (Kalani High) and practice.  On weekends I would tie a rope around my waist and tied it to a truck tire filled with cement.  I would place my backpack on the tire that had fruit and cold water in it.  I would then walk around Diamond Head Crater.  The tire weighed around 120 lbs. and it was about 4 miles around the crater.  A track coach saw me throwing while visiting Hawaii and invited me back to LA to train with him.

I was in the best physical condition of my life and weighed about 298 lbs.  I wanted to get down to 275.  My cardio was exceptional and my strength was still very good.  Everything was looking great for me........... till I moved away from Hawaii where I was not sick one day the entire time I was there.

ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN...EVEN WHILE YOU'RE SLEEPING

In 1998 I moved back to Los Angeles to train for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia (at this time too my daughter Jaime was on her way to making the Olympic team in Soccer).  I was on my way to possibly breaking the world record in the Discus.  With more than 2 years to train I was throwing the Discus 196 feet.  Less than 40 feet from the current world record of 234'.  I felt I could have done very well in Sydney and even had a great chance to break the record and bring it back to the United States. 

On March 1, 1998 my life changed forever. 

I woke up and my lower leg was killing me.  I went to the hospital with 103 fever and barely able to walk.  I was bit by what the doctors told me was a brown recluse spider.  To make a very very long story short, I spent the next 28 days in the hospital and the following 6 months barely able to walk and actually crawling on my hands and knees and spending hours in the bath tub cause I couldn’t get out.  I moved to Las Vegas.  My leg less than 24 hours after getting bit.

I opted to keep my leg against the doctors recommendation of amputation.  There are times I regret that decision, but overall I am happy I did.  I have had many complications and other medical things happen to me as a result of this bite.  The most damaging and discouraging is the weight gain due to the inactivity and depression that had set-in because I just couldn’t workout or do things I am accustomed to doing.  I went from riding my bike 28 miles a day 3 to 4 days a week and pulling a 120 lb. truck tire around Diamond Head Crater, still benching 500, to being stuck in a bathtub for hours because of the pain I had in my leg and lower back.  I would literally at times be crawling through my condo in Las Vegas on my hands and knees and collapse in the middle of the floor for an hour or more.  This intense pain lasted for the next 4 years.  There were times I couldn't get out of my car in the parking lot of my condo and would sleep in my car.

Monthly reactions to my lower leg resulted in 103 degree fever, severe reddening of the lower leg, peeling of the skin, tremendous swelling, calf would swell to 31"+, fluid leakage from the lower leg and extreme pain.   As recent as Christmas of 2006 I spent two weeks in the hospital in Waimea, HI because my leg swelled so bad.  I am not blaming the spider bite for the weight gain.  I can't blame anyone but myself.  All the years I was training I didn't diet like a bodybuilder.  I generally ate what I wanted cause I knew I would just work it off.  I was very active.  The spider bite just made it hard or almost impossible to do any kind of training.  The pain was that bad and I have a very high pain tolerance.  I just never thought about the repercussions from lying around the house and eating.  I didn't do anything different or more than I ever did before the bite.  But, the big difference was I wasn't in the gym or training like before either.  I spent the first 40 years of my life being so active and physical, it all just came to a sudden stop.  But, I truly think that it was those 40 years of being extra healthy got me through the past 10 years.

"I don't get sad thinking about dying, I get sad thinking about what I will miss"