Fed up as I was with Princeton, Matt Polly put his degree on hold and moved to China to study Kung Fu with Shaolin Monks. Rigorously devoting himself to it for two years, he became the first American accepted as a Shaolin disciple and went on to write a book about his experience. American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New China was published in 2007. Later in life, he entered the MMA arena as a participant and journalist, traveling the globe for another two years, as he had before, training with renowned masters across disciplines. This became Tapped Out: Rear Naked Chocks, the Octagon, and the Last Emperor: An Odyssey in Mixed Martial Arts (2011). Most recently, he penned Bruce Lee: A Life (2018).
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[Video Version] American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch with Matthew Polly