Paul Cullum is a Personal Trainer and also runs Swindon Higashi Karate Kai.
After struggling with his own mental health, Paul decided to set himself a ‘challenge’ – to share small parts of his life that have shaped the way he coaches, every day, for a week.
“I find social media quite a challenge, at times. And people put on a mask. They show people what they want them to see, and I find that there’s a lot of people who don’t necessarily show themselves.
“So, I thought I would take the opportunity to just try to show people a little bit of who I am as a person, and what works for me, in the hope that I can reach out to other people,” said Paul.
In his posts, Paul shares ‘the moment he nearly gave up’ being a Personal Trainer (and why he didn’t), why he coaches the way he does, and ‘The Truth Behind the Coach’ – who he really is as a person.
The aim of these posts are to encourage people to open up more, and try to be themselves – an important message to send, particularly this month.
“With a lot of my personal training sessions, sometimes the blockers can be mental”, said Paul.
“With Movember, which is partly to do with men’s mental health, I wanted to put my story out there and to show other people that everybody goes through these things, and you’re not alone.”
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Paul’s personal struggles inspired both these posts, and his career as a Personal Trainer.
“A lot of it started throughout the pandemic, to be honest. At the time, I kind of needed something to help rebuild myself.
“And the way I found to recover myself was either going to the gym, doing exercise, or training. I found that such a powerful way to rebuild myself and reidentify with who I am again. And it’s almost like a new beginning for me.
“So, I like to get to work with people who are struggling like that. I was glad to find something that could help people.”
Paul became a Personal Trainer two years ago, having run karate classes for nearly a decade.
“I decided I wanted to be the best karate teacher I could be. I inherited my karate club from my instructor.
“Most instructors, they know how to do the martial art, but they don’t necessarily know how to teach. It’s a skill that doesn’t really get taught in the martial arts world.
“So, I decided to do a personal training course to try to work out how to work with people, and to get the best out of them,” said Paul.
Swindon Higashi Karate Kai is held in Eastcott Community Centre and Drove Primary School, and offers classes for both children and adults.
To get in contact with Paul directly about Personal Training, visit his Facebook page.
To find out more about more about Swindon Higashi Karate Kai, visit their website or Facebook page.