After a series of adventurous jobs around the world, Sam Sheridan found himself in Australia, cash-rich and with time on his hands to spend it. It occurred to him that he could finally explore a long-held obsession: fighting. Within a year, he was in Bangkok training with Thailand's greatest kickboxing champion and stepping through the ropes for his first professional bout. But one fight wasn't enough, and Sheridan set out to test himself on an epic journey into how and why we fight, facing Olympic boxers, Brazilian jiu-jitsu stars, and Ultimate Fighting champions.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 I grew up romanticizing fighters and fighting, and I was a not-so-secret nerd. I played sports and was a mediocre varsity athlete. I was a not-so-secret nerd. #2 I joined the merchant marines out of a burning desire to escape before college, and to see the world. I took the three a. m. train from an unmanned station in Amherst down to Maryland, to the Seafarers Harry Lundenburg School of Seamanship. #3 I had been signed up with the Marine Corps, but also to go to Honduras with the Peace Corps, both to begin right after graduation in 1998. I vacillated daily, hourly. I made it all the way to Australia, where I finally had had enough of being part of a rich man’s toy and stepped off onto dry land. #4 I was 24, in Darwin, Australia, and I planned not to work again until I’d spent my money. I began training in muay Thai, a Thai variation of kickboxing, and I stopped smoking and began thinking about fighting again.

Includes Transactions of the auxiliary to the Medical Society of the State of North Carolina and Proceedings of the North Carolina Public Health Association.