My name is Ky and I started training Muay Thai in October 2025 at 25 years old.
I had grown up watching the UFC and always found martial arts fascinating, but never had the means of participating. After high school, I got busy with college, work, and trying to establish myself in a new town. I forgot that I had the free will to finally give it a shot.
I worked so hard for my degree, at times working 60 hours a week on top of full time classes. After graduating, I dedicated myself to my career and saving towards buying a home. By the age of 23, I had achieved my two biggest goals, to be a homeowner and to have a career. I realized the only reason I had worked so hard towards those things was because they felt impressive, not because they truly aligned with what I wanted out of life. For four years I had worked relentlessly towards achievements that weren’t for me, and I sacrificed experiencing life in the process.
Night after night, sitting in my home after work, I felt lost. I became so caught up in working that I never thought about what I would do when I finally had time to myself. Often, I joked about how I have the personality of the color beige, but I realized that joke was strikingly true. I was a shell. I became a reflection of the people around me and had no personality of my own to offer.
My 25th birthday, I realized I had no friends. No real hobbies. Nothing to strive for. Nothing other than my career to work towards. I just existed. I wanted to experience life. I wanted to be self-disciplined. I wanted to find appreciation for the little things again. I wanted to achieve things that felt meaningful.
Shortly after this realization, I began coming across Muay Thai content online. I was instantly fascinated. Two weeks later, I found a local gym that taught Muay Thai (a miracle considering the size of the town that I live in) and I took my first class on October 28th.
What I originally thought was going to be a fun form of exercise and lessons in self-defense quickly changed my life in so many ways. Most importantly, I started reaping the rewards of time spent intentionally and working towards self-mastery.
I created the Pursuit Digest to share the lessons that I am learning along the way. I have always believed that pursuing the highest version of oneself is a duty. You owe it to yourself, you owe it to the people around you, and you owe it to the world. The martial arts community is a rare space that encourages this kind of self-refinement and I am looking forward to exploring that connection more.
Thank you for being here.