TUFF STORY
The Athlete Behind the Innovation
The Tuff product idea was born in 2024 after years of swimming. Swimming was a big part of my life. Since the first time I went into the pool in my kindergarten, I fell in love. I started swimming competitively when I was 7 in Japan. I still love the experience of training, swimming and improving.
Designed by a Swimmer, For Swimmers
Improving, however, is easier said than done. Having trained in multiple clubs in countries all across the globe: China, Japan, The United States, Malaysia and Thailand.
I saw something that was missing in all of them, this is where Tuff comes into play.
Our Mission: CORRECT-REPEAT-PERFECT
In the sport of swimming, technique is everything. Once a bad habit is formed, it becomes sort of like a barrier. It becomes harder to fix your technique and slower to progress. One of the greatest challenges Boxiu identified was the lack of visual perception between the coach and the swimmer. Once the coach sees an error or an area of improvement, the swimmer doesn’t necessarily see what the coach wants them to fix. The swimmer is forced to feel their way to what feels right. For example, a coach provides feedback and after the swimmer tries to fix their stroke, they feel like they’ve adjusted, but in reality, without visual feedback, they often continue to repeat the same error. They are essentially shortcoming over and over again without knowing that their technique was the same as before the “correction”
Boxiu founded TUFF in an attempt to patch things up. His goal was to develop a way to provide young athletes and swimming clubs with a simple, convenient, and affordable way to see the truth of their movement. By removing the guesswork from technical training, TUFF empowers the swimmers to stop repeating mistakes and start building the foundation for new habits which leads to elite and consistent performance.
