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Having moved around a lot as a kid it was inevitable that Pauly would become a fighter of one sort or another. By the time he left to start work at 15 he had attended no fewer that 11 different schools. " I always seemed to be the new kid with a different accent, so learnt from an early age how to look after myself."
Although it wasn't until 1974 that Pauly established his gym in Peterborough, the original Paulys Gym was founded in 1969 in Singapore. Whilst living in the Far East Pauly, who had already been a fair school boy boxer, discovered the various martial arts that the orient had to offer. "I would go to different Chinese martial arts schools in my district and would then teach the kids on my street what I had learnt that week. This was done in the shed at the back of the house. My dad had been a PTI in the marines and so I commandeered a few bits of equipment that were lying around and filled his old kit bag with sand to use as a punch bag. I even had a 'Paulys Gym' sign on the door. The money I took off the kids would pay for my next week's training sessions. I was 14 years old at the time.
On returning to the UK in the 1970's Pauly established himself as a formidable kickboxer on the European circuit, becoming twice European Lightweight Champion.
In the early 1980's another trip to the Far East was on the cards, this time Thailand.
"When I arrived in Bangkok I literally found myself living on the streets and on my wits for a while. Moving around the boxing camps I worked as a padman to earn a meal or a bed for the night. This period was a great learning curve and eventually I became accepted as the first European to live and work as a trainer in the world famous Sityodthong-Payakarun Boxing Camp, working with the likes of WBC Super Bantamweight Champion Samart Payakarun.
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