Meet Initial Mile's Founder

Hi everyone. Thanks for visiting Initial Mile, a brand created for cosplayers and cosplaying athletes! My name is Kelvin (like the temperature). I'm a certified exercise physiologist, martial artist, endurance athlete, self-taught graphic designer, self-taught videographer and a nerd when it comes to Star Wars, Dragon Ball and Harry Potter.

Professional Background

Outside of the creative life, I'm an exercise physiologist and kickboxing coach. My fitness career started back in 2010 teaching kickboxing as a hobby in my garage and after receiving my B.S. in Kinesiology at San Jose State University, I entered the fitness industry officially as a kickboxing instructor then expanded my horizons as a triathlon coach and personal trainer, eventually making my way up the corporate ladder to a regional fitness manager.

Athletic Background

Athletics has been a part of my life since the age of five when I started Taekwondo at my local dojo under Master Dan Choi in San Jose, CA. After many years under Master Choi and receiving my Red/Black belt, I joined different martial art schools, including West Coast Martial Arts, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under instructor, Greg Lara and participated in a number of Krav Maga seminars. I made my last transition and entered the amateur fighting ranks training with the USH Fight Team under Cung Le and Coach Alan where I mastered my skills in kickboxing, Muay Thai and San Shou.

After about three years of amateur fighting and realizing I enjoyed the "art" in martial arts more than the "combat" aspect of it, I made a transition into the world of endurance sports which included long distance running, duathlons, triathlons and obstacle course racing. I raced in a number of events from 2008 to 2021 with highlight races being at Wildflower Long Distance Triathlon, Triathlon at Alcatraz, Half Ironman Oceanside, Nike Women's Marathon and a number of Spartan Stadium Sprints.

Fan & Cosplay Background

My first comic convention was back at the San Francisco Comic Con in 2016 and officially entered the cosplay world with Raven Claw Mandalorian (wife) and as Gryffindor Mandalorian (me) at Disney's D23 convention in 2017. However, the first time I ever heard about Cosplay was back in 2014 when my wife and I attended a Halloween party as Jubilee and Gambit and received the comment that we were "Closeted Cosplayers". I had no clue about the Cosplay world so I did the research and was quickly inspired.

As a self-proclaimed creative, it finally made so much sense to why I committed so much time to putting together that Gambit outfit I wore for Halloween and really enjoyed the process. After that Halloween, I knew I wanted to create something that was related to Star Wars. With a quick search, I came across the Mandalorian Mercs cosplay team which led me into the direction of constructing my first Mandalorian suit but not just a regular Mandalorian suit, a Mandalorian and Harry Potter mash-up suit. After debuting the Harry Potter-Mando suits at Disney's D23 convention, I switched it up to something a bit more simple and cosplayed as a Modern Day Spidey from 2018 to 2020 before the world shutdown due to Covid-19.

Although, I haven't put either of the suits back on, you'll now find me out at conventions behind the camera to now showcase all of your hard work as cosplayers!

Initial Mile's Mission

Combining my obsession with fitness, cosplay, and graphic design, Initial Mile is on a mission to empower the human spirit through cosplay creation and movement.