What is a Myachi? Well, #1 it is a skinny rectangular sack filled with a sand-like material; #2 it is a game of using full body coordination and sports skills from lacrosse, soccer, basketball, baseball and old school hacky sack combined into one. Catching the Myachi on the back of your hand is like catching and egg, you have to absorb the impact. You can use any body part you want to manipulate the Myachi EXCEPT: NO PALMS ALLOWED! There are an endless number of tricks that are easy enough for elementary school kids to learn and create. Ages 6 and up can learn to manipulate the Myachi with practice.
I saw the Myachi Boys at the NYC Toy Fair and was intrigued by it. I looked into the school program and saw positive messages about it so I presented the Myachi Challenge Physical Education Program to my child’s school PTA. The program was approved under our Health and Wellness Program, which allows the school to provide alternative methods of education to get the students in our school eating health and getting more active.
The Myachi School Program is a fun, innovative activity that sparks the interest of students and teachers who are watching the presentation of awesome hand-eye coordination skills, balance and concentration. The students could not wait to get a chance to practice and learn these new skills which had cool names too. The Myachi boys provided each student with a hand sack to practice with during their Physical Education class, but all were returned at the end of each period. Students were separated into smaller groups and were taught skills by a Machi Master. Every student was engaged, enthusiastic and eager to try.
The program lasted 3 days in our school and all classes in grades 3-6 had the opportunity to participate, and they LOVED it; they couldn’t get enough of it. The students were ooing and aahing while the “Myachi Boys” were demonstrating their tricks while sharing their personal stories about how this phenomenon started. The 3 Myachi Boys were explaining the rules, giving their success stories, but were emphasizing that having a passion about “something” and working hard to make “that something” a success takes patience and practice. The game of Myachi helped one Myachi Master open up socially and allowed him to meet people and entertain them; another Myachi Master found his niche in the working world by starting this company out of an RV, struggling, but then finally finding success while having fun. The message here was “find out what you want to do in life, have a love for something and put all your passion into making it a success.
Then a school fundraising opportunity to sell the Myachi hand sacks at school was approved because parents were going crazy trying to find stores that sell Myachi hand sacks. Myachi will, on consignment, provide a certain number of Myachi for the school to sell. With a selection of 12 designs, a cost per unit is $5 and profit on each hand sack sold for the school is $1.50. This was a huge success at our school because the students loved all the designs to choose from and the parents didn’t mind the price or the fact that the school was profiting from the sale. Just under $1000 was raised for our PTA through the sale of the Myachi hand sacks!
I highly recommend the Myachi School Program to any elementary, middle or high school because the students come away with a great overall experience; one where everybody is moving. The kids love it and are introduced to something new. The best part is that anyone can do it, so the students who aren’t necessarily keen on playing team sports can play Myachi alone or with friends. It is also a great way to promote hard work, persistence, confidence and having fun.
The Myachi Headquarters is located right here on Long Island:
1 Shore Road
Glenwood Landing, NY
516-801-4949
The website is really cool and provides information about birthday parties, competitions and camps as well as where to buy cool Myachi designs and videos of tricks.
www.myachi.com
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