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Asa Ten Pow’s day begins at Powerhouse Gym.

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The fighter trains six days per week for about six hours per day

starting with a morning session and finishing it off with another workout at night. Ten Pow’s only day “off” is usually on Sunday.Local fighter Asa Ten Pow, 25, who graduated from Royal Palm Beach High School in 2008, practices muay thai inside Powerhouse Gym, Tuesday, July 7, 2015. Ten Pow has been invited to join the United States National Team at the at the Royal World Cup. (Damon Higgins / The Palm Beach Post)

 

“There’s not really an off day,” Ten Pow said with a smile. “It’s more of a mental thing. You don’t want to go too hard on an off day, but I’ll do some jogging to clear my mind and refocus.

“It’s a daily grind and it’s kind of vicious. It’s a constant circle that you have to keep repeating over and over again.”

But that “constant circle” has brought the 25-year-old Royal Palm Beach resident many good things, including an invitation to represent the United States at the International Federation of Muay Thai Amateur’s Royal World Cup held in Thailand in August.

Local fighter Asa Ten Pow, 25, who graduated from Royal Palm Beach High School in 2008, practices muay thai inside Powerhouse Gym, Tuesday, July 7, 2015. Ten Pow has been invited to join the United States National Team at the at the Royal World Cup. (Damon Higgins / The Palm Beach Post)

It doesn’t stop there. After winning the Muay Thai Classic Championship’s 142-pound division in June, Ten Pow is now ranked the top 142-pound Muay Thai amateur fighter in North America.

“He is the hardest working person I’ve ever come across,” said Dmitriy Shirganov, who has trained Ten Pow for the past year. “He basically lives, breathes, laughs, cries martial arts.”

Ten Pow’s passion for the sport began when he took a karate class as a 5-year-old in Portland, Oregon. After moving to Royal Palm Beach in 2008, he continued to practice martial arts despite also being on Royal Palm Beach High’s football and track and field teams.

It was a struggle to find time for everything, but fighting was always his top priority.

“It was complicated,” said Ten Pow, who has experience as a boxer and Mixed Martial arts fighter along with Muay Thai. “But there were days I missed games because I was fighting. Fighting was No. 1.”

It’s always been No. 1 for him, which surprises Shirganov. Fighters who start the sport at a young age tend to burn out before reaching the level Ten Pow’s currently at.

“It’s hard to stay motivated, especially when you’re doing it for a very long time,” Shirganov said. “You have to be extremely self-motivated to keep going.”

High aspirations keep Ten Pow going, though. His biggest goal is “triple crowning,” which requires him to win three professional titles in three different styles of fighting.

Ten Pow won’t be able to win one of those titles at the upcoming Royal World Cup because it is an amateur event. But he’ll be OK with settling for a gold medal.

“It would be nice,” Ten Pow said of the possibility of winning a medal at the event.

But Shirganov believes Ten Pow eventually will achieve his goal of “triple crowning.”

“I think he can definitely achieve that,” Shirganov said. “He’s technically already been doing that on the amateur level.”

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