Biography
My involvement in thai massage began sometime toward the end of the year 2000. After 12 years teaching martial arts and working construction, I wanted to do something different. My body was telling me I needed to do something different. A somewhat random suggestion by a friend quickly blossomed and crystalized into a certainty. I would go to Thailand and study thai massage. It was a far and exotic destiny that seduced me to eager anticipation. I didn’t know where Thailand was, I had no idea what awaited me. But the calling was strong and clear.
It was either Dec 2001 or Jan 2002( I can’t recall) when I actually stepped off the airplane and took in my first humid, adventurous breaths in Bangkok. It was exciting and scary and amazing. The jet lag precipitated several days of chronological confusion. Eventually I found my way to Wat Po, the most respected institution of thai massage among the thai people. And I was immediately hooked. There was no going back. Like many other people I have met , thai massage was a catalyst to a new model of the world and a way of being in it.
I have studied at a number of recognized schools in Thailand, including 2 weeks at Wat Po ( and some return training), 6 weeks at ITM, and 2 weeks at the Old Medicine Hospital. I am among the lucky people who claim Pichet Boonthumme as my most significant teacher and have spent over 6 months at his Hang Dong school.
I was also fortunate to meet Mr Chaiyuth just a week before he passed away. In fact I spent a whole weekend with him attending spirit dances and gaining valuable insight into his very unique and somewhat unorthodox approach to massage and life. I am sorry for his passing, for my own loss. On Sunday afternoon, after two full days of spirit dancing and vital living, as I walked down his driveway, he called out to me ”come to study with me, I can make you PERFECT”! And then he, and his unique trance induced snake dance, were gone.
Here in the West I completed a 500 hour certification with Phillips School of Massage in 2008, in Nevada City, California. And I completed a 40 hour course in pathology through Austin Community College, making me eligible to apply for National Certification.
Over the last 15 years I have spent well over 2 years in Thailand studying massage and traveling. I love the culture and the language. I am slowly learning how to read and write thai language as well. My massage studies are as follows:
Winter 2001
- Wat Po (Bangkok) - 2 weeks with teacher Kuhn Yaai(1 basics, 1 therapy)
- ITM (Chiang Mai)- 6 weeks (basics, therapy, instructor training)
Winter 2002
- OMH (Old Medicine Hospital) 2 weeks basic massage
- Visit Master Pichet but illness prevents study
- 2 weeks Wat Po (review with teacher Kuhn Yaai)
Winter 2003
- Two and a half months with Master Pichet. (No diploma)
Winter 2004
- One and a half months with Master Pichet
Since then I have returned most years, and always return to my main teacher mr. Pichet Boonthumme.
Martial Arts
I began martial arts at the age of 14 dabbling briefly in Aikido and Shotokan before arriving at Golden State Karate School in Santa Rosa, California, where I trained and taught Lon Fu Kenpo (yet another eclectic system from American Kenpo) for over 15 years, including:
- 12 years teaching
- 3rd degree Black belt (close to 4th) in Lon Fu Kenpo
- 5 years (96′- 01′) co-owner/ instructor with my teacher Roy Saxton
- 2 years Concurrent independent instruction in my business called Ronin Kenpo Karate in the “West County” (Sonoma)
- 4 months bicycling across the US visiting karate schools.
Our emphasis at GSKS was practical instruction in self-defense combining kata, technique, sparring and mental training (including personal and emotional development, and applied Zen philosophies for incorporation in daily life).
Carpentry
Additionally I began working in construction along with my father at 15 years old, and I have many years of experience in all phases of wood frame residential construction from concrete foundations, sub floors and framing to flooring, finish work, tile, cabinets, decks, electrical and plumbing, all the way up to roofing!
