Muay Thai, fighting and training abroad
I trained Muay Thai, took a fight in Rio and won it by TKO. These are the pieces about fighting, training abroad and what the discipline of it changed — including the parts that were uncomfortable.
Taking a fight as an ordinary adult
You do not need a childhood in the sport to end up in the ring, but you do need to be honest about the gap between training hard and being hit by someone who wants to stop you. My account of the fight in Rio covers the build-up, the nerves and how it actually went.
Why training abroad changes you faster
Training somewhere every day, with no work, no phone and nothing else to structure the day around, compresses months of progress into weeks. It also strips out excuses very quickly, which is the real reason people come back different.
What it has in common with selection
Both reward showing up when nothing about it is enjoyable, and both punish ego early. The mindset pieces on this site came out of both.
The questions people ask
Get my 21 SAS reserve selection prep guide
What the stages are, what I was training to before I applied, and how I'd build the twelve weeks before a selection weekend. Written from my own application, free, no pitch.
Everything I've written on this
Fighting Muay Thai And Winning via TKO in Rio, Brazil
Getting My First Tattoo Drunk In A Bar.....In Thailand
Getting 40% Of My Body Covered In Tattoos
Having A Lion's Mentality And Grit And Growth Mindset
Building Out 1More Rep - The Fitness Bootcamp Business