2026 - Turning The Page

I’m sorry it’s been so long since you’ve heard from me. My life has been going through a lot of changes lately.

My fiancée and I finally bought a home we can start a family in—something we’ve been working toward for the last two years. The obstacles we had to overcome to make it happen felt impossible at certain points, and there were moments when I seriously considered giving up and trying again in a few years.

At the same time, I’ve had to shift how I run my gym. Two of my coaches are leaving after I had just launched a kickboxing program, and I now have classes running simultaneously throughout the day. I can’t go back to teaching everything myself—I built the business to support my coaches, not rely on burning myself out.

Through all of this, my greatest win has been my training.

I made meaningful gains in calisthenics. I unlocked a 5-second straddle front lever and completed unbroken reps of crow pose to handstand. I dialed in my nutrition and cut 10 pounds over the last three months. I’m now consistently 160 lb or lower. That progress grounded me when everything else felt unstable.

Our lender for the new home was… rough. Poor communication, constant uncertainty, and our closing date was pushed back the day it was supposed to happen. We had already scheduled movers and taken time off work. We ended up spending Christmas Eve unpacking boxes and trying to make the house presentable for Kash’s sisters, who were visiting. (We get along great, by the way—it was genuinely fun getting to know them.)

Leaving the townhome I spent over a decade in was emotional.

So many lessons happened there. Sleeping in the garage during COVID to keep the gym alive. Walking my living room all night when I decided to quit the dojo. Game nights. Stranger Things marathons. Wil helping me mount the massive TV I bought on sale. Magneto coming back after being missing for a month.

I bought that townhome in 2013 to save money by renting out a spare room. It became the leverage I used to start Karate RX through a home equity line. I made lifelong friends through roommates. I built memories I’ll always carry with me.

Standing there with everything emptied out, ready to leave for the final time, it truly felt like turning the page. I’m proud of the next chapter—but I also feel the passing of time and the quiet sense of loss that comes with it.

Kash and I have been working nonstop on the new house. I have my own office now. A kindred spirit, Adam, came over and basically installed my dream wall-mounted pull-up bar in the garage—my new home gym. I’ve wanted one since I bought the townhome.

After years of sacrifice—sleeping in the garage, not partying, tracking every dollar, delaying gratification, choosing home payments over nice things—it feels like it’s paying off. I have capital to invest in my home gym. I can breathe a bit.

With my coaches leaving, my overhead is going down. I’m pivoting to offload admin work to a virtual assistant. I just want to teach. God, I love teaching.

Last night I had two black belts whose legs were too sore to spar, and we ended up just goofing around after everyone else left. I’ve taught those kids since they were five. Moments like that make me deeply grateful for everything I’ve been through—especially the hard parts. Without those lessons, even the ones that came from people letting me down, I wouldn’t be here.

We’ve been nonstop with home setup. I finally have a monitor that I can use for both my PS5 and my laptop—and it’s incredible. I haven’t bought a new screen since that TV back in 2015. Adam wall-mounted it in my office too. I even found a speaker that plugs straight into it for sound. I’m just trying to slow down enough to enjoy it.

There’s still a lot to do.

My first employee is moving on this Saturday, and I want her to feel recognized and appreciated. I need to refinance using the proceeds from the townhome so the mortgage doesn’t crush us. We found a tenant for our spare room to help set us up long-term. I’m training my VA and documenting systems that apparently live entirely in my head—and not always logically. I’m training two newer coaches from a completely different generation. I have to leave the house in ten minutes and haven’t eaten lunch.

I’m still making time for therapy, because I need to do the work to be my best self for Kash.

There’s a lot I need to work on—but I’m doing better.

It’s crazy, but I love it.

I will be posting more soon. And to whoever used my referral code for Monarch—thank you. I’m going hard in 2026. Making content and helping people will be my biggest win next year.

Once the house settles, the VA is trained, and the home gym is finished… look out. You’re going to be sick of hearing from me.

Happy training,
~ An Average Ninja