Ruben Payan JR.

Former US marine, seven summits climber, writer, actor, film producer, and fitness guru Ruben Payan Jr. talks with us about spending more than 10 years in China developing fitness programs and being a first-hand witness to the growth of MMA as a new sport in the region. He also speaks about eventually becoming the strength and conditioning coach for world champion UFC fighter Zhang Weili.Additionally, we touch on his novel-turned-film “We Are War” and his experiences as a former US marine while living in China during the podcast. Show notes: 1:45 Upbringing in America in a large Mexican American household 5:50 Motivation for joining the Marine Corp 9:40 How he was somehow destined to come to China 12:50 Eastern philosophies with Western practice in fitness 15:30 Working with Chinese MMA fighters 20:00 Chinese athletes vs. Western athletes 23:05 Chinese market for MMA 26:30 MMA rise vs. boxing 27:35 Passion behind writing book “We Are War” 35:45 How he was received as former a US Marine living in China 38:15 Language or culture differences in training

You can listen to Ruben Payan JR. online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Ruben Payan JR. is an episode from CHINA FROM ALL ANGLES by WES CHEN.

This episode is 00:53:57 long.

This episode was published on Mar 28, 2022.

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