Fight for your community

Hi, my name is Max Winkler. I am training to compete in a Point Muay Thai fight on August 5th, 2023 to raise money for my incredible gym, BoxFit. Win or lose (but let's be real, I'm out here to win), I want the work I'm putting in to benefit a larger community of people that have supported me unconditionally.

This is why I'm raising money: BoxFit is part of a program called Rock Steady Boxing specifically built for folks with Parkinson's disease. I've volunteered in this class and every day I am blown away by every one of the fighters. They are there to do hard and scary things. Also, I box with two folks who have Cerebral Palsy. They are incredible & outwork me frequently.

Goal: I am training to fight to raise $2,000 for Mike, Colton and the BoxFit team to:

***None of the proceeds will go towards my training costs. Those are being covered out of my own pocket. All proceeds will go directly to BoxFit!

~~~~ You'll find more context around my journey & why I'm doing this below~~~~

For as long as I can remember, I've struggled; with food and obesity as a kid/teenager, nicotine and cigarettes from 16-32, anxiety & depression most of my life, alcoholism in my teens and 20's, & progessively more dangerous drugs until I got sober in 2019 [ I've never done heroin mom, don't worry :) ]. Although I have been working out since my senior year of high school, I was still drinking heavily and struggling with my mental health. That continued until 10/9/19 when I quit drinking, smoking & doing drugs. I've been sober since.

Looking back, the biggest issue I had was being uncomfortable in my own skin. I lacked a community, self confidence, and the motivation to make meaningful change in my life. Not because I was incapable, but because I was scared to fail.

This is why I started boxing in 2020. Combat sports can be very intimidating & I chose it because I was scared of it. It wasn't until I truly understood the benefits that it all made sense to me; a focus on health, mental fitness, & a strong community of like-minded folks who are there to push themselves beyond what they thought was possible.

I have accomplished some great things in my life; I lost 100 pounts my senior year of high school and kept it off, I quit drinking and smoking cold turkey in 2019, I fell in love with an incredible partner in 2020 who has aided my growth as a human being, I aimed for and completed my first marathon in 2022 (on my 3-year sober anniversary), and in 2023 I fell in love with Muay Thai and the community that surrounds it. I am proof that you can do anything you decide to do.

Because of that, I decided to fight in my first amateur Muay Thai match in August 2023. As I put all of my training plans together, I realized that the only reason I have the confidence to do this is because of the community we've built at my gym.

BoxFit isn't your typical combat gym. By design, it feels more accessible to those who want to learn and improve themselves no matter the issues they may face in every day life. My Muay Thai coach, Colton, has built an incredible community around Muay Thai when it was something no one had ever done before his arrival. Our owner, Mike is the kindest dude you'll ever meet and makes sure that everyone feels welcome. We still throw down, to be clear :).

I want to give back in a meaningful way. What better way than to raise money and fight :)