Martial Artist First, Boxer Second
The story behind the way I train
If you’ve seen my recent hand-conditioning video, you might be wondering what it has to do with boxing.
The answer starts long before I ever stepped into a ring.
Boxing has shaped a huge part of my life. I competed professionally, tested myself and learned lessons that still influence how I move and teach. But I came into boxing as a martial artist. That fascination was there first, and it has stayed with me ever since.
Where it started
As a child, I was obsessed with martial arts. I loved the fighting, but I was just as fascinated by the movements: the blocks, the strikes, the balance and the timing. The snap of a technique when everything comes together.
In Taekwondo, the patterns are called poomsae. I loved practising them. Knife-hand strikes, palm strikes, blocks and turns—movements that contained much more than you would see in competition.
I wanted to understand them. What would those techniques feel like if you could make them work? What would it feel like to have hands and forearms prepared to deliver them?
In my childhood imagination, someone could swing a stick and you could break it with your forearm. That was the sort of thing going through my head. It made me want to train.
My Korean master used to break rocks with his hands. Seeing that as a child absolutely fascinated me.
I also remember him sitting in his office with a brick wrapped in rope, striking it with his first two knuckles and the edge of his hand. That image has stayed with me: my master sitting there, quietly working on his conditioning.
Years later, that interest took me to South Korea, where I spent six months training with him.
So when you see me practising with my hands and forearms now, that curiosity has a history.
Why I went into boxing
Competition Taekwondo put a huge emphasis on kicking. I wanted to explore using my hands.
I wanted to learn how to get close to someone who was trying to hit me. How to avoid a punch, find an opening and land my own shots. I wanted to get in the ring and find out what I could actually do.
Boxing gave me an education in distance, timing, pressure and composure.
Throughout my boxing career, though, I kept exploring the things that had interested me before it. I still practised with bare hands. I was still interested in palm strikes, knife-hand strikes and the use of the forearms.
I kept thinking about how those traditional movements connected to the experience of being in front of another person. My martial arts background was always there, influencing the way I thought about fighting.
Finding stillness in the ring
Alongside the physical training, I became fascinated by yoga and meditation.
I wanted to explore whether I could bring that awareness into the ring. Could I stay connected to my breath while someone was trying to hit me? Could I feel what was happening and respond without becoming so tense that I lost touch with it?
There is pressure in the ring. There is adrenaline, and another person with their own intentions. Finding moments of stillness in the middle of that fascinated me.
It was something I kept working towards: moving, reacting and striking while remaining aware.
Breath, movement, timing and attention became part of the same exploration. That connection still runs through the way I train and teach today.
Why I train in the woods
Running up hills. Throwing rocks. Carrying awkward things. Practising movements with space to experiment.
I love being outside, using my whole body and giving my attention to what I’m doing. There’s something deeply satisfying about that kind of physical work.
The hand-conditioning practice comes from the same curiosity. I’m interested in the relationship between a technique and the part of the body delivering it—the palm, the edge of the hand, the forearm.
What does the movement feel like? How does contact change it? How does familiarity affect your confidence in it?
What you see in my videos is part of my own practice, shaped by years of training. Harder contact doesn’t automatically mean better training, and pain isn’t proof of progress. My childhood fascination with breaking things explains where the interest began; it isn’t a promise of what this practice will do.
What keeps me interested is the movement, the contact and the attention it asks of me.
My training has changed with my life
I understand the appeal of mixed martial arts: bringing different skills together and testing what works. That willingness to explore makes sense to me.
But I’ve had my time fighting. I’ve been punched in the head enough, and I don’t want that to be part of my training anymore.
I still love striking. I love the precision of a well-practised pattern, the balance, the timing and the skill. I love meditation and exploring how that quality of attention carries into movement.
These days, I can follow those interests without needing another fight at the end of it.
Keeping the freedom to explore
Boxing is part of me. So is Taekwondo. So are yoga, breathwork and the other practices I’ve explored along the way.
I want to keep learning, keep moving and keep following the things that excite me.
That’s what you’re seeing when I’m out in the woods or practising something that doesn’t look like typical boxing training. You’re seeing an interest that started when I was a child and has grown through everything I’ve experienced since.
Martial artist first, boxer second.
I still want to find out what a movement feels like when it comes alive. That curiosity has never left me.
Train with me at Tiger Temple
My online school brings together the movement practices, workouts and body resets I teach. If this approach speaks to you, come and explore it with me.