“Snowboarding Is Like Medicine” – Jo Nattawut Shares How a Passion Outside Muay Thai Helps Him Live a Happy Life

When “Smokin” Jo Nattawut isn’t in the depths of training camp or throwing down under ONE’s bright lights, he can often be found racing down the side of a mountain.

This Friday in U.S. Primetime at ONE Fight Night 17: Kryklia vs. Roberts on Prime Video, the hard-hitting Thai will square off with American sensation Luke “The Chef” Lessei in a pivotal featherweight Muay Thai clash.

That fight will go down in front of a raucous Bangkok crowd at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.

Jo Nattawut and his love for snowboarding

While Nattawut has spent the past several weeks focused on preparing for Lessei, he says that he’s never been one to only train and think about Muay Thai around the clock.

Instead, he finds a welcome respite in the form of snowboarding:

“Snowboarding is like medicine to me because I’m not the guy who’s always in the gym – like, Muay Thai, Muay Thai, wake up fighting… I’m not that guy. No, it is not my thing.

“I just love it. I love the view, the feeling, the technique. I just love it. It’s something that’s me.”

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With well over 80 professional fights and some of the sport’s most unforgettable knockouts to his name, the 34-year-old certainly understands the value of maintaining his happiness.

The 34-year-old feels snowboarding makes him a better fighter

Nattawut admits that for some fighters, Muay Thai is all they need. But for him, he says the key to happiness is finding something outside of fighting –like snowboarding –to help him stay fresh and motivated:

“For me, I want to live a happy life. And if I do Muay Thai every day, I wouldn’t be happy. So many people would be happy. They want to do Muay Thai. Wake up? Muay Thai. Sleep? Muay Thai. Wake up? Muay Thai. And they’re happy, so I’m happy for them.

“But I’m just different. You know, I’m not happy with that. That’s not my happiness. So my happiness is to get to do something that I like.”

More than just putting him in a good mood, hobbies like snowboarding make “Smokin” Jo a better fighter.

Because if he feels good outside of the training room, he knows that he’ll be able to give it his all when it matters the most.

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He added:

“Happiness helps with everything. So that helps. That’s something that made me happy. When you’re happy, you work better, and your life’s better.”