Biography:

Every mountain worth summiting offers the allure of the view from the peak in exchange for a conscientious effort; the effort and challenge of the climb. My climb began more than a 15 years ago after a knee injury that took something that I loved away from me - my martial arts training. In 2006 I was halfway through my near 6 year training process to test for my black belt. This goal had consumed me as a young man, dedicating every free hour of my teenage life to the endeavor. My LCL & ACL knee injury was a forced removal from that path; the removal of my primary source of meaning and driving purpose in life at this time. This injury was the punishing fall to the base of my metaphorical mountain. The subsequent frustration of being unable to train and exercise the way I wanted was debilitating, leaving my confidence in shambles, and me, a shell of my former self.

My foray into the world of fitness came in these formative years, stemming from contributions from my martial arts mentor and my internal predisposition for a challenge. My mentor urged me to explore dedicated strength and flexibility training to improve myself as a martial artist, and the allure and physicality of fitness training served as an unquenchable thirst for my longing of a challenge.

After my injury I received little to no productive advice from doctors and my next concrete step was unknown. I was lost wandering at the base of my metaphorical mountain, looking up into a cloudless sky at the ever foggy summit above. In 2009 I completed my black belt grading on shaky legs with my knee heavily taped and braced, never feeling more than 70% my previous self. The completion of that milestone was the end of one journey and the beginning of another.

More than 3 years after my injury, I met my university’s sports medicine team during my undergraduate degree. I committed to starting the long climb back up my mountain, irrespective of how arduous and taxing it was going to be. My reconstructive knee surgery and 9 month rehabilitation process were my first, handheld shaky steps up my mountain again. The mountain I had climbed so high on before was terrifying, knowing how far I had fallen previously. However, the determination I had to finally reach the summit all those years later lit an unrelenting inferno under my feet. This was a re-beginning of sorts, a new start to finding my purpose and drive again.

My rehabilitation process introduced me to how physiotherapists return athletes to sport, and to their scientific love of the human machine. I saw how PTs were experts of human movement, with exercise and fitness as cornerstones to optimizing, restoring, and maintaining physical function. This insight motivated me to train harder in my rehabilitation program and helped inspire my future career. Above all else, I saw through my experience that PTs can give athletes a sense of meaning and purpose back, allowing them to return to the discipline/sport that means everything to them.

In 2019 I was at the top of my mountain having left the corporate world to pursue my passion for fitness and give back to my students by teaching the martial arts principles I had been taught by my mentor. A chance conversation with a friend was the gust of wind that cleared the fog in front of a new summit in the distance; a summit I was too blind to see from basking in the glory of the little mountain I was king of. This summit seemed unsurmountable, but I committed to trying to climb irrespective. Facing this challenge, I knew the only thing I had control over was deciding to take that first step for the peak. This step, this mountain symbolized a small but important chance to become the same person that helped me all those years ago. I had the chance to give back to those I care about, to those in the same shoes I was in all those years ago by becoming a physical therapist.

More than 3 years later and I'm still climbing this mountain. I've fallen more times than I can count, but have learned over the past decade and a half that no challenge is worth seeking without the sacrificial fights and hardships accepted in the present in exchange for a future view from the summit. When I fall, the message to myself is "keep climbing". After my previous battles, I know I am the only person who can stop myself.

The man I am today, the professional I am today, the athlete I am today was forged by those who laid the groundwork for my interest in the human machine, and others still who reached their hand out to pick me up when I thought I couldn't climb my mountain anymore. 15 years later, I dedicate my career to reaching my hand out to those challenging the summits of their life, to those who have fallen to the base of their metaphorical mountain, to those who seek my guidance and inspiration, on their quest to reach heights and new summits that seemed impossible before.

The climb is never easy, but the view from the top is always and always will be worth the challenge.