Meet Pothigai
After forty years of fighting and teaching, Pothigai realized a deeper truth: the most important battle is the one within. From this realization, Sangha Spiritual Warriors was created — a path where inner fighting pressure becomes a forge for awareness, discipline, and inner power.
Martial Biography
The Beginning
I was born in Spain and entered the world of martial arts at the age of six. In the 1980s, I discovered Muay Thai through my training, which marked the beginning of my fighting career. In the early 1990s, I moved to the United States, where I deepened my Muay Thai training while exploring the practices and philosophies of various martial arts. I continued to compete professionally for several years, integrating the teachings of different warrior traditions that profoundly shaped my understanding of martial arts.
Fighting Times
In 1998, after a decade of Muay Thai training and achieving the title of United States Muay Thai Professional Middleweight Champion, I set out on a mission to train with Thailand’s finest Muay Thai masters. During my journey, I immersed myself in the training at 45 Muay Thai Camps and Thai Sword Fighting Schools. Each camp offered invaluable insights and attributes, including elements of ancient martial arts and spiritual warrior teachings, which I seamlessly integrated into my Muay Thai training.
Teaching Times
In 2000, after returning from Thailand, I founded the Thailand Arts Institute in Atlanta, Georgia, before relocating permanently to Thailand in 2002. After living as a monk in Bangkok, I immersed myself in Muay Thai Chaiya and Krabi Krabong, blending their ancient principles with striking techniques to create Sangha Muay Thai. We opened our first gym in Chiang Mai in 2003, training competitive fighters while refining an approach focused on body mechanics, timing, and energetic awareness. To accommodate growing interest, the school relocated south of Chiang Mai in 2007.
My quest for deeper knowledge led me across Asia:
• 2008: Studied Bokator in Cambodia and Silat in Indonesia.
• 2009: Deepened my Kalaripayattu practice in South India.
• 2010: Studied Qigong and Five Elements Sound Healing in Wudang, China.
These traditions enriched the Spiritual Warrior philosophy at the core of Sangha Muay Thai.
Spiritual Biography
Spain
My journey into healing and the esoteric arts began in Spain at a very early age. Raised within the Catholic tradition, I explored Christianity through the Catholic Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), and Jehovah's Witnesses, seeking to understand the deeper spiritual truths shared by different paths.
At the age of seventeen, my interests expanded into Western esoteric traditions. I began studying the teachings of the Fourth Way of George Gurdjieff, the Rosicrucian tradition, and the philosophy of Jiddu Krishnamurti. These studies awakened a lifelong dedication to inner transformation and self-knowledge.
USA
After moving to the United States, I continued my work with Gurdjieff study groups while deepening my understanding of consciousness and human development.
Thailand
In my early thirties, my path led me to Buddhism. Soon afterward, I relocated permanently to Thailand, where I ordained as a Theravada Buddhist monk. During the following twelve years, I immersed myself in disciplined Buddhist practice, meditation, and monastic life, laying a solid foundation in mindfulness and direct spiritual experience.
In March 2009, after years of intensive practice, I reached a profound stage of realization centered on the direct experience of emptiness. This marked a decisive turning point in my life and spiritual path, creating a clear distinction between what came before and what unfolded afterward. From that moment, my understanding of practice shifted from seeking knowledge to embodying direct experience.
India
2015, my studies entered a new phase through the traditions of South India. Under the guidance of my gurus, I began an intensive exploration of Kundalini Yoga, Tantra, Siddha teachings, and Agamic wisdom, integrating these ancient sciences with decades of previous spiritual training.
Today
Today, after four decades dedicated to the study, practice, and teaching of healing and the esoteric arts, my work integrates the wisdom of Eastern and Western traditions into a practical path of healing, self-transformation, and spiritual development. My approach is rooted in direct experience, lifelong learning, and the belief that true healing arises from the harmonious cultivation of body, mind, and energy.