Life & Work with Ruel And Destiny Taylor of Kalamazoo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ruel And Destiny Taylor

Hi Ruel and Destiny, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?

My name is Ruel and my wife is Destiny, and we are the proud owners of Midwest Thaiboxing Academy in Kalamazoo, MI. We are a husband and wife couple who met in the US Air Force in 2005. We moved to the Michigan area in 2007 after we had our son. I (Ruel) started teaching hand to hand combat classes at our base after attending an instructor course at Camp Lincoln in Springfield, IL. After that I wanted to further my training and also get my son into martial arts. We trained at a few locations before moving to Kalamazoo in 2012. My son and I joined a local gym and began training Muay Thai and BJJ. We since had our daughter, Morgan in 2010 and Destiny was pregnant with our youngest, Havana who was born in 2013. Destiny began training 2 months after Havana was born and has continued to compete to this day. I competed a few times, but quickly fell into a coaching role after our son Jaden quickly climbed the ranks with almost 30 fights, 7 national championships, and brought home the gold Medal in 2018 as part of the USMF youth Team USA. Our oldest daughter, Sydney is no stranger to martial arts either, having spent some time practicing the gentle art of Brazilian jiu jitsu. She is now succeeding in her endeavors at Butler University, and we couldn’t be more proud. Our daughter Morgan is a rising star, having already 2 national championships. And our daughter Havana at 10 yrs old made her debut in the ring in 2023. Destiny also has almost 30 fights, 6 national championships, 1 international championship, and is a current member of WAKO Team USA kickboxing having fought internationally at the world championships twice. We opened Midwest Thaiboxing Academy in 2023 and in a short time of being open we already have 80 students and have competed both in the US and internationally, boasting 6 national championships in that time.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
While very rewarding, we will not lie and say it has been easy. We are both still active military working full time jobs, with 3 kids in school and sports. We are forced to miss alot of things that other parents do not, but we do a great job dividing and conquering so that either one or both of us are there to see our kids accomplish their dreams. There are late nights making sure all of our students are taken care of, designing gear, running social media platforms and putting together content in order to get our academy out there to those who are looking for what we have to offer. Financially it can be taxing when we have to travel for fights as we always want to give our students the opportunities to showcase their skills. It can be thankless at times, but well worth it to see it all come together.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
We are both serving in the armed forces and have been doing so for 20yrs. We are proud to wear the uniform and are honored to be apart of the defense of our country. We like to think we are known for our positivity and service to our community. We enjoy helping others achieve their goals and find strengths they didn’t know they had. From a martial gym perspective, one word we hear from those who come through our doors is the word…FAMILY! It is something we hold very near and dear and a thing that sets us apart from other gyms. Martial arts is for everyone and we want people who come to us to feel apart of something special from the very first moment they walk in.

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
We are a veteran owned, community minded martial arts facility offering Muay Thai, Kickboxing, and BJJ to southwest Michigan. We except students of all backgrounds, experience levels, races, creeds, man, woman, and child. We preach strength,optimism, attitude, and respect and ask our students to be positive influences both inside and out of our academy. Martial arts changed our lives, and we hope to share our love and experience with our community!

Pricing:

• Free week trial
• Military discount
• First Responders discount
• Student discount

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Midwestthaiboxing.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/midwestthaiboxing/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/p/Midwest-Thaiboxing-Academy-100089741472973/