Meet Your Coach - Austin Stahl

I've been obsessed with martial arts since 2010. I began my journey with a Jujitsu class aimed at self defense (CSU Chico), and before long I was teaching the class. 

I continued learning Jujitsu, and supplemented my training with Judo...then Tai Chi...then Muay Thai...then Muay Boran. I now teach each of these arts as well. I don't see the journey toward perfection ending any time soon.  

I spent many years teaching at dojos, universities, and gyms and wanted to continue my personal journey by diving into the world of competition. This journey led me to Thailand, where I lived/trained for several years, in order to perfect my craft against the best of the best. My hard work and varied experiences paid off, as I was selected to represent the United States in the world championships of Sport Jujitsu (Jujitsu + Judo + Kickboxing) and I successfully represented. With a world title belt, and my various teaching certifications, I felt it was time to focus on sharing my knowledge once again. 

Part of my journey in martial arts was the realization that being a great technician wasn't enough...I also needed to be an athlete. 

I trained myself (based on prior sports experience, and research on sports science) in order to be as fit as possible for my training and competitions. I also worked alongside my partner, Dallas, a professional nutritionist and former bodybuilder to be as fit/healthy as possible. The results were impressive.

I learned much from the years of competition prep, but I knew I wanted to learn even more. I decided to become certified as a personal trainer, to both increase my knowledge base and to be able to properly share my knowledge of fitness with the world. I now train clients from various backgrounds, from complete newbies to Olympic qualifying athletes. 

My passion for martial arts and fitness continues to grow, and by combining my specialties and experiences my clients and I have continued to see amazing results. 

From age 13 until 18 I was a competitive runner, and was quite successful. Unfortunately I was running under a coach who pushed us too hard, and caused many injuries. This left a bad taste for running in my mouth for many years.

Once I moved to Thailand to pursue Muay Thai, I was once again forced to run despite not wanting to. Enough time had passed however, that I began to love it again. My fitness improved, and I remained injury-free due to my expanded knowledge of the human body, recovery practices, and general understanding of what it means to push hard enough without overtraining. 

My rekindled passion for cardiovascular fitness was largely responsible for my success in martial arts competition, as I always made it a point to show up in the best possible shape. Like everything else, I wasn't satisfied there however.

Wishing to expand my knowledge and my repertoire, I pursued a certification under ISSA to become a running coach and largely expanded my understanding of all things cardio/conditioning. This newfound knowledge, blended with my understanding of proper strength training, on top my martial arts experience...has produced something quite potent.