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Getting Addicted to the Process and Chasing Excellence
0 Playsin 8 hours
What happens when you go all in and bet on yourself?
Taylor McClatchie, professional Muay Thai fighter with ONE Championship, joins the show to share how she did just that.
She spent a decade in reproductive science, working in a lab. Then she walked away from it all to turn her pastime into her profession. Went 20-0 as an amateur. Made her pro debut at Madison Square Garden with a head kick knockout. Has competed 65 times—exceptionally rare for a North American woman in combat sports.
This episode isn't about technology. It's about what happens when you stop following the prescribed steps and start building a life around what actually matters to you.
Taylor didn't fall in love with winning. She fell in love with the process. With adding one more piece to training camp—sprints, nutrition coaching, strength work—and never taking them away. With waking up and doing it again.
She talks about needing three types of sparring partners: people worse than you to test new skills, people at your level to compete with, and people better than you just to survive the round. "I never want to be the best person in the room because what am I getting from beating up on the new kids?"
The parallel to our industry is unavoidable. You can't grow if you're always punching down. You need to be uncomfortable. You need rounds where you're just trying to survive.
We spend a lot of time on this show questioning whether technology actually serves human interests. Sometimes the best lessons come from outside our world entirely—from someone willing to abandon the expected path to pursue something real.
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Transcript
Introduction to Taylor McClatchy
00:00:00
Speaker
i I think it was about just over two years ago now, I had a really, really big fight opportunity come up and I quit my job and was like, we're all in. Let's do that.
00:00:11
Speaker
um The actual becoming a professional athlete was like a really sneaky transition from like a chubby teenager that was just going to do cardio kickboxing to being like, I'm going to quit my whole life to do this.
00:00:26
Speaker
um I'm not really sure at what point that happened, but It did. Sorry, Mom.
Tech Podcast Welcomes Taylor McClatchy
00:00:39
Speaker
I'm George Kay. And I'm George And this is Bare Knuckles and Brass Tacks, the tech podcast about humans. And today our guest has nothing to do with technology. It's Taylor McClatchy, professional Muay Thai fighter. But there was a lot in here that could apply to any personal journey, whether you're trying to make a startup work, whether you're trying to just get better at your job.
00:01:04
Speaker
I really enjoyed the conversation. was really refreshing. So, George, thanks for bringing your friend on who likes to punch people in the face. Yeah, I really um and was super excited because she just got back from Thailand.
00:01:17
Speaker
She is the current BC Canadian featherweight champion in Muay Thai at the professional level. You know, and and just with everything we're trying to do with this season and really trying to find real human interest stories, I thought, you know, this very, very kind, very studious, very intelligent woman who grew up in my snowy little town of Ottawa,
00:01:38
Speaker
traveling the world and now doing this big thing, fighting on pay-per-view and living this dream, ah ah admittedly a dream that I had one point shared in my own life. I thought that was the coolest thing ever and our show could benefit from it. And I think our audience could really benefit from A girl who, like she said, just one day decided to do the thing.
00:01:55
Speaker
And now she's taken her all the way to her world level.
From Biology to Muay Thai
00:01:58
Speaker
That's right. So stay tuned. We talk about controlling the controllables, being in love with the process, how Taylor went from a master's of science and working in a lab and sort of casually doing kickboxing to making it her life. Yeah.
00:02:11
Speaker
Let's turn it over to Champ.
00:02:21
Speaker
Taylor McClatchy, welcome to the show. Hey, how you guys doing? Good. Thank you for being here. So, Taylor, it's really, really... ah can't believe you're actually on the show because it's our dorky little tech podcast and you actually do really, really cool shit. I think it would be really cool to kind of let our...
00:02:41
Speaker
well, our our our tech audience, which isn't really tuned into the world of Muay Thai or striking or a lot of the stuff that like we do outside of work. Tell us a high level of your story and kind of where you are now because you just got back from Thailand and kind of what high level, what led there. we'll kind of start picking that apart.
00:03:00
Speaker
So I am a one championship contracted professional Muay Thai fighter, which is insane for me. that that actually is my life now. I have a master's in biology.
00:03:15
Speaker
um I studied reproductive science for like 10 years. um I basically made mouse babies in a lab um professionally.
00:03:26
Speaker
And then i i think it was about just over two years ago now, I had a really, really big fight opportunity come up and I quit my job.
Amateur to Professional Fighting
00:03:36
Speaker
And like, we're all in that.
00:03:39
Speaker
um The actual becoming a professional athlete was like a really sneaky transition from like a chubby teenager that was just going to do cardio kickboxing to being like, I'm going to quit my whole life to do this.
00:03:55
Speaker
um I'm not really sure at what point that happened, but it did. Sorry, mom. Well, let me me counter that. Is it quit your own life or take up your own life?
00:04:08
Speaker
Right? Like, I just, I would like, these are the steps that you're supposed to do to be an adult. And I'm going to not do those. I'm going to pass on those. So, yeah yes. So for the benefit of our listeners, we will say,
00:04:20
Speaker
Spoiler alert, this episode is not about technology, but a large part of what we talk about on this show is human flourishing, usually vis-a-vis technology, but I think that this is a worthy journey, right? So you mentioned here that you started out as cardio kickboxing, probably took it up as just exercise, right? So can you identify the moment where you felt oh, I have more interest in this. Obviously, you didn't make the leap immediately from that professional, but you you did at some point take it more seriously that it became something that you were willing to commit to in terms of training, etc. Yeah, so I started, i was 13. Like I was the youngest you could be in like the adult space for women's class. um
00:05:07
Speaker
And I trained there for year. good number of years and just the gym that I was in got kind of progressively bought out by different organizations and um so we had a few different coaches over over time and eventually one was like hey you've been here for ah for a while like do you want to try ah and do I jump into sparring and like yeah I'd love to do that and do you want to do a demonstration fight like like everybody's a winner just a participation yeah sure I'll try that and that was that was pretty fun I did well
00:05:40
Speaker
And then someone like, hey, do you want to do a tournament?
Professional Debut at Madison Square Garden
00:05:43
Speaker
Amateur tournament. Yeah, sure. So i I won a big shiny belt at a tournament. i was like, hey, winning is pretty fun. I really like training. And I really like this feeling and of ah being successful with what I've what i worked for every day.
00:05:57
Speaker
then you know, started finding amateurs. I went 20-0 as an amateur. I was like, hey, winning like really good. I really, really like winning. And I like training. So that, I think, really just carried me through that I got kind of just obsessed with doing the thing that I loved and then having a test at the end where you, you tested it against someone who had in theory worked just as hard as you with the same goal as you. And only one of you get to be successful.
00:06:26
Speaker
And then i ended up doing that now, like 65 times, um which in in, North America is, is is a lot of fights. I think that many fights as a North American, especially as a female is,
00:06:39
Speaker
Very rare. Cause yeah, there's just not that many opportunities. And then like the opportunity started getting bigger and bigger and they like, Hey, do you want to make your pro debut Madison square gardens on glory kickboxing? Which is a huge organization. Absolutely. Like that's, that's a bigger test. Let's try that.
00:06:54
Speaker
And then I ended up knocking the girl out with a beautiful head kick. And was like the best win ever. and it's just, it's a little bit addictive, honestly, to to be successful at something.
00:07:06
Speaker
But I really just love training if I'm honest. And that,
00:07:10
Speaker
I just want to keep getting better and then put the little test at the end and see how far we can go.
00:07:18
Speaker
paul Sorry, can we pull the thread on?
Training Passion and Lifestyle Challenges
00:07:20
Speaker
i i wrote down, I like training and I double underlined that. let's pull on that thread, right? Because I think it is easy, especially in the world of tech, we always see the wins and it's easy to celebrate the wins.
00:07:35
Speaker
But it sounds like your journey is becoming enamored with the process, which is always more interesting to me. So maybe can you talk a little bit about what it is that you're looking for in training or what it is about training that became addictive?
00:07:54
Speaker
I feel like training has obviously from a first amateur fight to fighting on one championship, the process that a quote unquote training camp looks like has changed a lot.
00:08:05
Speaker
So I feel like I've i've really enjoyed seeing that but like every every fight camp as you grow up in level, you add like a little piece. You're like, oh, now I run sprints on Wednesday morning.
00:08:17
Speaker
Now I have a nutrition coach to help me make weight. I have, now I do strength and conditioning. Like all those little pieces, you add them in. And i i feel like I got quite frankly obsessed with keeping them all.
00:08:29
Speaker
And then you add one, you add one, you can never take them away. have to them forever now. Only only additive. We only add, if you take something out, like you're <unk> doing less. And then you don't know that you're doing more than your opponent. So that is how I build my confidence in fighting.
00:08:43
Speaker
I feel like when I get matched up with someone at a high level now, there's definitely a little piece of me that's like, this is the one. This is the one where they see that like this has all been an accident.
00:08:55
Speaker
And i I really build my confidence through that training process that I know that I've done all the little pieces that have made me successful until now and that those have, those have given me success. So why would, why would that stop now?
00:09:11
Speaker
Yeah. I have to say too, like, i I think what's an interesting perspective and a lot of our listeners would probably enjoy it. It's, um, you have given us a very like almost Cinderella, like, um,
00:09:27
Speaker
version of a story where nothing bad has happened. There's been no tears. There's been no anger. There's been no bullshit.
00:09:37
Speaker
We can change that. these were like Involves a lot of pain and snotting and crying and being very, very hungry. So when I say I like training, training can be exceptionally unpleasant.
00:09:52
Speaker
And I am probably going to need some therapy when I'm done fighting to unpack why I enjoy that. But it's a grind. And i I really, truly love the feeling of like putting everything in every day. And then waking up with doing it again.
00:10:08
Speaker
But it's it's really like it's objectively not fun. Well, no. I mean, I think I try to explain to people like basically – The worst part about fighting is we're trying to do it competitively and like my opinion and experience, I think most people can relate to it is the competing is really fun. The shows are really fun.
00:10:28
Speaker
It's cool to do in front of your friends and family and your level do on TV and the pay-per-view and all the things. The worst part about fighting is actually making weight. That is literally the worst thing ah about this entire process and not losing your mind and like turning into disordered eating for the rest of your adult life.
00:10:46
Speaker
So
00:10:49
Speaker
So just I mean, I guess I kind of want to how did you find the right balance as someone that you've like already admitted, like you started off as kind of like an overweight kid you got into this.
00:11:00
Speaker
And if anyone ever sees you or sees you in person or sees you on TV, you are not an overweight kid at all. So not talking about between camp, just in general, you're a pretty lean, like strong woman.
00:11:16
Speaker
How do you maintain that kind of balance? Because even when you like have your periods like on the off season, quote unquote, you might put on like, you know, 15 to 20, depending on like how much fun you've had.
00:11:28
Speaker
Your version of saying like, oh shit, I'm so fat versus like an actual normal person saying, oh shit, I'm so fat are two very different things. Baseline is a little different. Yeah. So for a normal person who has to interact with you, like, can you give some perspective as like,
00:11:44
Speaker
How do you maintain a degree of sanity trying to talk to people who are not involved in fighting about just like generally how are you doing in life?
00:11:56
Speaker
i um Yeah, so the weight cutting is rough if I'm honest. The weight cutting is definitely unpleasant side effect of being in a weighted sport.
00:12:08
Speaker
And I... But i I really do. That's another piece of the grind that if I don't do it, ah don't feel like I've done my best.
00:12:18
Speaker
Like I've had fights at, you know, 10 pounds above my ideal fighting weight. So there's not a lot of weight cutting involved in that, like a light diet. And i just, I feel like having to make weight is another piece of the puzzle that means that I have to give it my all.
00:12:35
Speaker
Because for me to walk around 125 pound person takes all my effort. Because I am not a 125-pound person. So like that means that I have to get up and run in the morning. I have to prep my food. i have to work with professionals to plan the diet so that I can actually train and not cry every day. um And i i again, it's really unpleasant, but I kind of like it.
00:13:00
Speaker
I always tell people when they they say, hey, should I fight? And i I'm like, do you do you love this? Do you love it? Like so, so much that by the end when you hate it, you still love it. And by the end of a fight camp, it's it's not really enjoyable.
00:13:17
Speaker
But i I do still have a love affair. As you said, you are in love with the process, which is, if we have the pie chart, like 95% of the thing.
00:13:28
Speaker
Like the the fight itself takes up a very small portion of The fight is nine minutes. Like 15 minutes from like walk out to walk to walk out. that's its It's short, but it's at this point, it's like a cumulative lifetime. Like I've been doing Muay Thai for longer than I haven't.
00:13:47
Speaker
and And that's pretty cool. And at this point, i'm i I really feel that I like owe it to myself to to see it out. see what I can do with it.
00:13:59
Speaker
It's still fun. Yeah. I think it's that, it's probably that commitment to process. I think you mentioned this, that sort of gives yourself successive confidence to take on a new challenge, right?
00:14:10
Speaker
Yeah. Can we go, but can we go back to that moment where you are, you know, doing this as an amateur, you're meet you're seeing success, but then you have this opportunity, like, what is that moment where you're like,
00:14:23
Speaker
let's just Let's just put the job aside. Let's move from Canada. Let's go all in. Can we describe that moment? Yeah. So they're like the background to that is I did my master's as a student in a lab that I had a lot of flexibility to make my own schedule, come and go, train take a longer weekend because I had a fight on the weekend or anything that I needed really, I could arrange for myself. As long as I got my work done, nobody cared.
00:14:54
Speaker
And then I was lucky enough to get hired as a lab technician in the same lab. So i had the same supervisor and I'd been with him for like, I think master's plus, so like almost seven years in the end.
00:15:06
Speaker
And he ended up retiring. So he ended up retiring right around the same time that I got the opportunity to fight in a road to one tournament. which was an eight woman tournament to win thousand dollar contract to one championship, which is like that the highest Muay Thai you can get. And so those two things together, i was like, I'm not going to get hired in a lab by someone that's going to let me live the way I'm living now.
00:15:29
Speaker
They're going to want me to be present like eight to four, like an employee. I have no interest in doing that. I would like to train in the middle of the day for two hours and then come back and then go again then come back and but like schedule my my work around my training, not the other way around.
00:15:45
Speaker
Um, so those two things together, i was like, you know what I'm not, I'm not gonna find a new lap. I'm just gonna leave it, exit with, uh, with him and give this a try.
00:15:58
Speaker
And then I end up winning that tournament and now i can, I can fight at the highest level and feel, at least feel good about putting my like my education and traditional success on hold.
00:16:16
Speaker
Yeah, nice. Yeah, I think kind of the bigger thing I look at too, because I, ah sir you know, normally when we interview guests, they're all of all over the world or all over North America, and but you don't really have a lot of like interpersonal history.
00:16:30
Speaker
But I've gotten to have the privilege of kind of being your teammate for the last like five years now. And one thing I think is really cool is especially in the earlier years where like the gym was maybe a little less, I want to say, mature in its processes and culture, to put it very politely.
00:16:46
Speaker
When it was birthed out of the old club, it was still like pretty rough because I remember like some of the old training camps in Kanata because the gym used have multiple locations in Ottawa were absolutely bloody and brutal. i mean, we kicked the shit out of each other. And like, I'm amazed that you and all your kindness and just as a normal person,
00:17:05
Speaker
had to deal with us animals because we're all terrible. And like Jeff's found the way, Jeff's our coach by the way. ah Shout out to Jeff who, Jeff Harrison is a great coach. um He found a way to kind of make us not be animals to each other as much, but it was really, really rough for a few years.
00:17:24
Speaker
And so how did you as a woman not of a psychotic disposition, survive that. And now you're like a leader in the whole team. Like everyone looks up to you. How'd you make that happen?
00:17:37
Speaker
Yeah. i I also remember those years we would spar a Friday night in Kanata and I'd sit in my car before being like, am I going to die today? Well, timeout. And you didn't have to fight Mirza. No, it would be like, like five or high and level,
00:17:55
Speaker
professional or high-level amateur large men and you're right the vibe was just like we're we're gonna fight tonight like capital f fight like is material gonna
The Role of Tough Training and Recovery
00:18:08
Speaker
knock me unconscious today like i don't know could be today um and yeah looking back i don't i don't miss that but man it made me tough
00:18:19
Speaker
To to's also parallel the storage, like I went through, like I remember what she's talking about. I remember driving that 20 minute drive to Canada on Fridays and it's like the most nerve wracking drive every week. You're like, I hope I don't get a concussion this week. I don't want to get my nose broken again.
00:18:35
Speaker
it's of that nervousness is like real. Like it makes me feel better that you felt the same way as a not hundred woman.
00:18:45
Speaker
I feel like those, like those, that time and those kind of bonds did they make you like we're friends because we punched each other in the face yeah and like I I love those guys I did fear them deeply but I love them um and yeah i don't know we all kind of simmered out a little bit i think we also realized that we couldn't do that every night and not become stupid
00:19:13
Speaker
Hey, just a quick word to say thank you for listening and to ask a favor. If you're digging the new direction of the show, which is looking more at human flourishing and the impact of technology more broadly, share it with friends.
00:19:26
Speaker
We're really trying to grow something here organically. We don't do paid media. We don't do a lot of sponsorships, so we'd appreciate getting the word out and getting it to people who care about the questions that we're tackling, how to keep tech human, and how to make technology work for us instead of the other way around.
00:19:48
Speaker
Thanks so much for your time and attention. And now back to the interview. So just to extrapolate, right, for our audience who is not into punching people. Yeah.
00:20:00
Speaker
We've talked about adversity. We've talked about dedication to process. I really love what you said earlier about it's a level of control, right? Control the controllables. I know that if I put the time in upfront, doing the things I know have helped me succeed in the past, that's pretty much all you can do to prepare for once you're in the ring, right? Is that is that dedication process.
00:20:22
Speaker
Can you talk a little bit about rest and recovery? Because I know, you know, Instagram, what have you believe, is just like all 4 a.m. m wake up and cold plunge and grind until you win all the damn time.
00:20:35
Speaker
Like in any professional sport, and I would even argue any profession, knowledge work, whatever. it is also like downtime. You can't kind of operate, you can't redline the entire time, right? Because it's we're just finite creatures. We have finite energy stores.
00:20:52
Speaker
So I know you've talked a little bit about making weight and stuff like that, but what do you do in the downtime to just make sure you get the sleep, make sure you're also like sort of not preoccupied all the time because you also have to go into the ring with a clear head in order to make the best decisions at the time?
00:21:08
Speaker
Yeah. So ah Sleep. I'm a big proponent of sleep. I didn't pull all-nighters in university. Don't pull all-nighters now. like i I will always choose to sleep. And I think the recovery is something that also gets at least added over time.
00:21:26
Speaker
Like now I i have a strength and conditioning coach that helps me, you know, maintain my my my body so that when we're not, you know, breaking it down and getting injured. I have a nutrition coach that helps me actually eat food when I'm cutting weight.
00:21:40
Speaker
Because when earlier on in your career, you knowt you don't know. So you just are like, well, if I don't eat, I'll get skinny. turns out you feel like trash in training when you do that. That was one of the biggest differences though, recovery and like mental bandwidth that I noticed when I was in Thailand.
00:21:57
Speaker
Because at home, I obviously, I have to, you know, have to teach. I have, I have PTs to teach. I, I serve coffee in the mornings because, yeah, spoiler, you can't actually be a professional Muay Thai fighter um and only get paid by Muay Thai. So there's just so many things. Like I have to go to the grocery store and, yes chicken breast and then put my laundry in and all those little pieces that are always playing in your head.
00:22:23
Speaker
When I was in Thailand, you wake up and run and train and then take a nap and you get lunch and you kind of maybe do some strength and conditioning and then you train again and there's there's nothing else.
00:22:35
Speaker
So i I really noticed the difference in recovery and my ability to learn when I was there. Oh, say more about the ability to learn. Tell me about that.
00:22:47
Speaker
I was at a very technical gym in Thailand, Pinsman Chai Muay Thai, which was amazing for me because, again, they had a lot of knowledge to share. But I and really felt that over the course of the days and the week that I could absorb the information so much more quickly and then apply it, which is the whole point.
00:23:07
Speaker
yes I know a lot of Muay Thai. Can I do it on of resisting human being? a lot of it, no. like It's a great theory, but can I do it? No. but that I could learn something and then do it in training, do it on the pads and then do it on people a lot, a lot faster.
00:23:24
Speaker
Just, I can only attribute that to just having so much more brain width to, to, to give to Muay Thai. That's awesome. You know what i George, I will also turn to you here a little bit because I, this is a foreign territory for me, but one of the things Taylor that,
00:23:46
Speaker
is ah that I'm noticing is that at no point have you mentioned like this latent aggression like I just need to go in there and like kill the person in the ring it seems like the motivation is an intrinsic level of excellence versus obviously you have aggression in the ring but like that's not the motivating factor through like it maybe it's maybe not enough to carry you through the training but George I'm also interested in your take here right I think Taylor is way more of a finesse and skill like
00:24:22
Speaker
I think I'm skilled now because I'm old and I've had to be. But like, I think my disposition was a lot more of I'm just tougher than you and I'm I hit really hard and I'm going to fuck you up. going to fuck each other up and see who's still standing, which is not a good formula for winning or longevity.
00:24:40
Speaker
I think Taylor, you're probably more like the high skill person. i I which is interesting because i I fight with a very aggressive style. Boy cow is like, it's like knee fighter in time. And it's like, I'm going to, I'm going to walk forward and grind you down until I can start to win.
00:25:00
Speaker
So like, I don't have, I'm not known for having a super, super finesse style, but I, I do love to collect the conditioning and then the, the, the techniques that, that kind of feed that style, especially like clinch techniques.
00:25:20
Speaker
Um, But you're right. There's a lot of, ah but especially men, in fighting are like, I don't like to train. I like to fight. I just want to go fight as much as I can. And like I just want to hurt people.
00:25:33
Speaker
and in my experience, that's not the most successful way to do it. Because it just takes so much time to collect the actual technique that you need to do that against someone who's resisting.
00:25:47
Speaker
and like i feel like... I love that verb collect. I just want to say that. I like that idea. feel like I'm like a dragon, like collecting all my treasures. So there's one thing, though, I think.
00:25:58
Speaker
And I think it's it's particular to each individual gym, each individual culture that a coach sets. Because some gyms, I've been to some gyms that are very, very toxic in their mentality. It's very dog-eat-dog. Like, i remember when when I started MMA and i was in, like, Kingston, Ontario and training at, like, Gladiator MMA with folks I don't want to name out in person. But, like, that was a place run by prison guards who had this little and MMA gym as like a side project. And there's like one or two dudes that were like decent. And then the rest were just like prison guards on steroids.
00:26:30
Speaker
And every training session was hell. And I'm like, why do I like doing this so much? Because like I'd be beat up like every time. At our gym, Shout to Fight Factory, our coach makes it so everyone at every level at the general classes, because there's competitive level classes, and then there's the general training classes, which is the majority of them,
00:26:48
Speaker
regardless of whether you're a top level pro or you're brand new, everyone has to train together. I think that creates a culture of we have to take care of each other. Like Coach always says, like, um rising tides raise all shifts kind of thing.
00:27:03
Speaker
I think that's, I know, Jeff had his stupid euphemisms.
00:27:08
Speaker
I don't know. said Do you think like that that's made it? Because you train all over the world. Do you think like that that unique ah aspect of our gym where we train at in Ottawa, that's kind of what raises so many champions, so many good fighters?
00:27:21
Speaker
i I think so, yeah. i I've heard from a lot of beginners at our gym, like, well, we don't have beginner classes. How am I supposed to learn? And it's because it's intimidating. I get that. But like i I train the recreational classes every single day.
00:27:35
Speaker
And I always have. And I think it just, yeah, to to train with everyone is so beneficial. Like lower level and higher level.
00:27:46
Speaker
Because I get all my basic reps in every single day. And I do that cardio-based class that like the mom is doing because she just wants to get a sweat on today.
00:27:57
Speaker
I'm not saying we do cardio kickboxing. I'm absolutely not saying that. Just sorry, Josh. the record. For the record. But that like, fitness-based class and then on the flip side some of like the younger competitors can see the effort that I'm putting in or that any of the other pros are putting in every single day and like what the standard is you know so it it it is an um and I don't know. I don't to say I'm the role model. Yeah, I mean, this is this is backed by tons of research, right? you
00:28:33
Speaker
If you only enter at the level you anticipate and not sort of your level plus one, you have nothing to reach for and you have nothing to model against. Like you said, it's where the standard is, right? So if you're, if you're I mean, it's the reason in schools, well, they'll put high-performing students with children that are on the cusp, right? Because you have to kind of hold each other accountable and And there's pure learning there.
Skill Enhancement through Sparring
00:28:57
Speaker
and And also to your earlier point, tons of research on the intrinsic motivation, the anger and the adrenaline kind of burn out after time. It's not sustainable over a very long period of time. As you said, 65 fights like you would just have burnt out if it was just pure aggression.
00:29:13
Speaker
We always say in the gym that you need to have like the three different types of rounds, especially something like sparring. Like I need to be sparring with people that um are worse than me or have less skill than me so I can try things with little very little danger.
00:29:27
Speaker
Right? that The new guy is not going to, really not going to be able to hurt me. And I need to have rounds that i can I can compete with someone, like like scrap it out a little bit. And we're we're competing to be the best to win that round.
00:29:40
Speaker
And then rounds where I'm just trying to survive, where I am outmatched. And like I personally never want to be the best person in the room. Because like what am I getting from beating up on the new kid? I'm not.
00:29:51
Speaker
Exclusively, I'm not learning anything. Yeah, punching down all the time ain't going to make you better. No, and you need to sometimes. Because if I learn if i learned something new, have to test it. And I don't want to test it on George. Because if he hits me, that's bad news for me.
00:30:07
Speaker
Which makes me tentative and scared. But at the same time, sometimes I want to you know bang my chest a little bit and and try to survive those rounds.
00:30:18
Speaker
But at the same time, like you can you can reverse the perspective. So like anytime where I've like done like an actual sparring round with Tay, it's like I'm working defense, I'm really training my eyes.
00:30:29
Speaker
like I know that like even if she cracks me as hard as possible and like my guard is completely down and she smashes my face, yeah It's going to leave a mark. It might bruise me, but that's not not going to end my training session generally. No, but if you do it to me, it's bad news for me.
00:30:45
Speaker
Yeah, but it's my my utility in this is like, cool, i and I'll tell her, I'm going let you come at me, and I'm going to train my eyes because you're super fast, and that's the value I get out of it.
00:30:57
Speaker
I think it's more... It's more like Taylor said, like creating a more mature approach where every round has a bit of nuance to it. There's like shark tank rounds when you're in training camp. And I think, Tay, you probably agree or disagree on this, but I think if you're always competing, going from fight to fight to fight to fight, all you're collecting are injuries and you're never taking the time to get better.
00:31:17
Speaker
And I think there has to be those periods where it's actually just chill and you're still like conditioning hard. But the actual like interactive training is more learning and exchanging back and forth and trying to work with each other. and You can almost like laugh and joke the entire time while you're doing those rounds.
00:31:35
Speaker
And then the actual training camp, like Shark Tank, like coaches yelling at us the entire time, that has its place. And I think if you don't balance the two, then you really burn out super fast, eh?
00:31:47
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Like Muay Thai, I love Muay Thai. So training Muay Thai for fun, is fun. And that's where I'm going to collect and collect more feels and joy and and like re
00:32:04
Speaker
reinvigorate that I actually like showing up every day. And that it's just so important. As an amateur, fight I had, it like I think, three years in a row where I fought 10 times a year. And that's a lot. That's a lot of training camp.
00:32:19
Speaker
And you don't get a lot of extra skills there because you don't try new things because you don't want to fail when there's a training camp. Because when you try something and it doesn't work, you're like, oh, if I do this in the ring, I'm going to get countered and knocked unconscious in front of everyone I know.
00:32:36
Speaker
That's not very motivating to try new things and and be successful or unsuccessful or like have any kind of doubt. But the off season, when you try things and you you fail, you fail, you fail until it works, that's how you that's how you learn new things. And and that's how you learn a new thing in any realm.
Advice on Pursuing Passions
00:32:57
Speaker
So I think, um Taylor, I have to say um thank you for for joining us on the show in our little season four experiment of like, but let's not talk to tech people and actually talk to people doing interesting shit.
00:33:09
Speaker
try if I guess to finish off one last thing, if you can give like one piece of advice from your adventures having just returned from Thailand and you're going to go back again next year, like what advice would you give someone who Whether they're an athlete or whether they're just they just in life trying to figure out a way to find themselves and find what their passion is, what would you tell them?
00:33:32
Speaker
Do the thing. Just the thing. I'm 33 years old planning on planning on leaving my gym that I've grown up in and like my home and my cat because I want to go do Muay Thai in Thailand.
00:33:47
Speaker
for like a somewhat longer term. I'm seeing right now and in that planning and that process of how how scary that is, but I'm also so, so excited to just go do the thing. And I think people have all kinds of different things, but like just do the thing.
00:34:06
Speaker
What a note to end on. Taylor, thank you so much for giving us the time. Thank you. All right. We'll talk soon.
00:34:18
Speaker
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00:34:31
Speaker
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