Traveling: A martial arts adventure.

Growing up in the idyllic seaside town of Exmouth in the south west of the United Kingdom I have always been grateful of the natural beauty, pleasant people and endless enjoyment the town had to offer me. Due to this in my teens I rarely travelled any further than my neighboring city of Exeter on my own. I was content.

Very soon I would stumble across the beautiful sport that is mixed martial arts and delve deeper into training and amateur competition which would become a vehicle for me to explore the length and breadth of the UK alongside my team at the Lions Den. My eyes were beginning to open and my horizon was expanding. I had piqued my curiosity for travel.

After several consecutive successes on the amateur MMA circuit, at the age of 18 years old me and my team decided to make a run in the professional rankings.

Soon after this decision I signed my first contract agreeing to fight on the prestigious European promotion: Cagewarriors.

Set to make my debut in The Helix Dublin, Ireland it would be the first time (I can remember) flying. Pent up with anticipation for the fight as I scanned my blank passport through check in I now had the bonus angst of the flight. Although only being 1 hour long the thought of being so high up in the air was the real concern.

Boarding the plane. Dave my coach, a seasoned traveler offered up the window seat to me to which I promptly accepted just wanting to get the whole thing over with I took my seat and buckled up. Fortunately for my impatient and anxious self the plane boarding quickly and take off commenced. The whole experience for me was completely enjoyable, I found take off and landing thrilling and was glancing out of the window for pretty much the whole flight trying to soak it all in. This would be the beginning of a triumphant weekend as I would win my professional debut with a submission of the night bonus on a card with elite competititors. This weekend of victory, exploring and a brief taste of the Irish culture would be a catalyst for many of my other adventures overseas.

The United States

I would soon fight future BAMMA bantamweight world champion and suffer the first loss in my career which hit me hard but was huge motivation for me to improve. After a conversation with my coach and gathering some savings we began researching training facilities in the United States and after some vetting and debate between different camps we decided Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, California would be a good fit.

Boarding a “Big Plane“ for the very first time with the sole purpose of traveling half way around the globe completely unaccompanied to get my face punched and kicked by the some of the most accomplished athletes and fighters in the world had my heart racing to say the least. I was definitely questioning my sanity.

Arriving in sunny California I instantly fell in love with the place, especially where I was located in Northern California where it was only a 2 hour drive to either the snow capped mountains and crystal clear waters of Lake Tahoe or to the hustle and bustle of the Bay Area and the start of the Pacific Ocean. I was spoilt for choice. Even in the city of Sacramento I was never short of fun activities. Despite spending my time training 3 times a day on the highly recommended ”Train with TAM“ programme I still managed to explore places like old Sac which is dated back to the times of the infamous cowboys and outlaws you hear about growing up. The people were so welcoming and kind and the American food was incredible, my favorite restaurant being Thai Orchid in the heart of downtown.

The training at Team Alpha male was phenomenal with over 40 high level athletes and martial artists on the mat at one time and people i had watched growing up in the sport like Urijah Faber who was always very helpful and welcoming. All the team were eager to exchange and share knowledge to help others improve. I would go on to visit America up to 6 times overall and found my beautiful fiancé there. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to visit in two years due to a visa denial, however in 2020 I will reapply and hopefully have more success.

The visa denial was devastating for me, I felt completely locked out of one of my favorite destinations. However soon after I received a call and got an offer to travel to Oman in the Middle East. Hungry for an adventure I accepted and set off on a new journey I’m currently still pursuing.

The Middle East/ GCC

Before traveling on this new journey into the unknown, I was bombarded with concerned opinions of the Middle East, being told to “keep safe” and “don’t get shot”. This made me almost second guess if I’ve made the right decision but after touching down in Muscat, and living here for 2 years now I have to say it is by far the most peaceful country I have ever visited and has some of the most genuine and kind people I have encountered.

While experiencing the Middle East I have to say Dubai in the United Arab Emirates instantly took my interest. Almost everyone who is there is an expert in their field. It is home to a variety of successful people to network with and abundance of activities it is easily one of my favorite cities.

Brunches are a great way to get your weekend started in Dubai with 4 hours to indulge in all you can eat 5 star buffets accompanied with a variety of beverages if you wish.

Both JBR and La Mer beach are great to relax and enjoy the constant sunshine, with plenty of different cuisines only walking distance away.

For training I have visited Team Noguira Dubai, UFC gym business bay and also Royce gracies gym. All of these facilities offer great training for a martial artist of any discipline.

In the GCC I have also been to Abu Dhabi which is home to the F1, but here I received free tickets to Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Dustin Poirer and the whole event was electric with many nations coming together to support their muslim brother. I have been to Bahrain a couple of times as well in the hopes to build contacts with top MMA promotion in the Middle East, Brave. So far to no avail. My next planned training trip will be 2 weeks in Phuket, Thailand training with the well established Tiger Muay Thai team, this will be over the Christmas period and I plan to make the most of the Thai style striking to add to my game.

Travelling and training has been hugely beneficial to me, not only for performance in the cage but also in life as it has made the world seem a lot smaller and accessible and made me curious to travel more countries to experience more fascinating cultures.