Kawi CrossFit: Empowering Strength In and Out of the Gym

From its beginning, Kawi CrossFit has relied on endurance and sacrifice. Shortly after opening in 2019, Kawi quickly found itself fighting to stay open when the COVID-19 pandemic hit Austin in early 2020. With just 14 members and one coach, Kawi built a community foundation by lending out equipment and hosting Zoom workouts.

“It was the best and the worst time to open up,” said Kawi owner Nader Issa. “We gave out all our equipment and trusted the 14 members we started with to stick around and have great workouts on Zoom.”

But through all the struggles, Kawi was able to capitalize on the pandemic and fill an immediate need for people when it ended: a sense of community.

“I think those Zoom workouts gave our members a spark of joy they struggled to find elsewhere, and when everything started opening back up, our people were super excited to meet and get to know each other face to face,” Nader said.

From there, Nader was able to steer Kawi CrossFit into a solid foundation of community that pushed to create a space for people to do more than just work out. In combination with daily workouts, Kawi offered (and still offers) members the opportunity to join in on various community events, such as playing pickleball, tennis, or swimming, or attending their annual party barge on Lake Travis.

Additionally, to emphasize creating a rock-solid community, Nader started Kawi with the goal of not hiring any additional coaches for the first year.

“The goal was to make sure no cliques formed and that no new members went unnoticed,” he said. “Still to this day, I make sure to introduce new people I meet to everyone around me at that time. I want to facilitate and enable our community.”

With a degree in journalism and a background working in commercial real estate, it might be a surprise that Nader runs a CrossFit gym. However, after growing up in Tennessee, Nader realized he needed a change in his life and ended up coming to Austin, where he developed a love for working out in various ways.

“I got into fitness while in college, and I would do whatever workout felt good that day. Sometimes it would be going for a run, doing P90X, or Insanity. I just went with whatever felt good,” he said.

After arriving in Austin, Nader coached at another CrossFit box for five years before starting his own gym. When choosing a name, he wanted to incorporate something personal from his background. Being Jordanian and Palestinian, he chose an Arabic word. Kawi, an Arabic word meaning “strength.” It’s at the center of everything the gym stands for. On the surface, it might seem too “on the nose” for a gym name. But if you press a little deeper, kawi embodies what it means to be a member of the gym.

“Seeing the name is a reminder every day to be strong for that hour, and hopefully it works the same for the members,” Nader said.

Kawi encourages its members to find strength not just physically, but in every aspect of their lives. The gym regularly hosts charity events that support local and national causes that are important to its members.

Kawi CrossFit offers three membership options: unlimited ($230 per month), three times a week ($200 per month), and two times a week ($170 per month). In addition to CrossFit workouts, Kawi offers Olympic weightlifting classes and HYROX classes.

Open Monday through Saturday, Kawi provides members with a wide variety of class times. Monday through Thursday, classes run at 5:00 a.m., 6:00 a.m., 7:15 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 5:00 p.m., and 6:15 p.m. On Fridays, the gym offers classes at 5:00 a.m., 6:00 a.m., 7:15 a.m., 11:30 a.m., and 5:30 p.m. Saturdays provide members with an opportunity to bring friends or partner up with other members for partner workouts at 9:00 a.m.

Every day, members at Kawi have the opportunity to build physical and mental strength while finding a community that thrives by creating a space where everyone has a voice.

“Kawi is more than just a place to get fit, it’s a place where people can live life together without diets, lifestyles, and expectations being thrown at them.” – Nader Issa.