“It’s what I look forward to every single day and it’s what keeps me from not going crazy with all the hours spent in my room,” Sanchez said.
Since January, Sanchez has been practicing Muay Thai, a combative martial art originating from Thailand that uses punches, jabbing of elbow and knees, and footwork. He practices at Carlsbad Kickboxing Club.
“[Muay Thai is] like kickboxing,” he said. “[It] is very heavy in the arms, less so in the legs, [and the moves are] very swift motions; it’s not very technical.”
After quitting gymnastics and volleyball, Sanchez struggled to find an outlet to relieve his stress. It was then when his cousin, Ethan Garcia, reached out and introduced him to Muay Thai. Garcia has experience in Muay Thai since he’s internationally ranked.
“At the beginning of the year, I was struggling a lot mentally” he said. “But I hadn’t discovered Muay Thai and wouldn’t have discovered Muay Thai if it wasn’t for my cousin.”
Sanchez’s previous experience in sports gave him a strong physical foundation that allowed him to transition into Muay Thai seamlessly.
“I used to do gymnastics for over eight years and that gave me a good physical foundation, but I wanted a mental outlet,” he said. “Gymnastics gave me a very strong physical foundation and it’s allowed me to be very capable throughout sports.”
While the practice of Muay Thai has come easily to Sanchez, he still struggles to juggle his numerous responsibilities and the sport at the same time. While he loves Muay Thai, it’s still a time consuming commitment.
“It’s been very hard to juggle Muay Thai with college applications and academics,” he said. “People don’t expect martial arts to be such a time commute in comparison to team sports.”
Sanchez is nonetheless proactive about devoting time to Muay Thai even with responsibilities at home. Along with the stress that comes with senior year, Sanchez also suffers from nocturnal epilepsy, a condition that causes him to experience seizures in his sleep.
“Ever since I started Muay Thai, [the seizures] started dispersing.” he said. “I don’t know how much of those nocturnal epilepsies crossed over with stress, but it’s definitely been a stress manager.”
Muay Thai also fulfilled the desire for Sanchez to improve his self defense and discipline.
“To have that confidence level for self-defense is something that I’ve always strived to have in life,” he said. “I never really developed a sense of self discipline and what it means to actually be dedicated to a sport.”
His own personal peace of mind and motivation are not the only things Sanchez had gained from Muay Thai. The Carlsbad Kickboxing Club has given him a community to connect with.
“I never really had a sense of what it felt to be on an athletic team sports team with a good sense of family,” he said.
Sanchez wants to balance the physically taxing part of it while also keeping up with school. However, Muay Thai has helped clear his mind.
“It’s good because it’s one thing keeping me sane, but it’s also very hard to find that middle ground,” he said. “All the other stresses in the world disappear for those two to three hours I’m in the gym and I get addicted and fall in love with the sport itself.”
Sanchez has found the communication between his coach and team is a nice change of pace, according to Sanchez, from his previous experiences in team sports. His coach has helped him improve his form with personalized feedback, a change he said he didn’t have in his previous sports.
“Our coaches have written plans like physical plans or to do in the gym for all of us personalized based on our specific needs,” he said. “We do technique training one-on-one with our coaches and as a group.”
Muay Thai and Carlsbad Kickboxing Club gave him the sense of belonging and healthy outlet he needed all along.
“As soon as I walked into Carlsbad Kickboxing Club, I knew this is the one. This is going to be my home for the next year or two that I’m in San Diego.” he said. “Ever since discovering Muay Thai, I know what it means to actually love your sport and never want to leave it.”
