I’m Leaving.

by Sam Martin

I was teaching class this past Thursday at CFLA when one of my students walked strangely close to me to ask a question. I was kind of backpedaling–normally one doesn’t buzz the tower when asking for help with Turkish Get-Ups.

“Are you fucking moving?”

In a word, yes. I’m leaving December 1st. I’m sorry you had to hear it from someone else. I promise, though–it’s not you, it’s me.

When something’s coming to an end, I usually have a way of making the thing or person I’m leaving wrong. My end-of-college rant on Herbert Marcuse would be a good example. My college application essays were less curse-y diatribes on why my sleepy, football-is-king high school town couldn’t contain my inevitable greatness. I’ve given some brilliant, lawyer-level arguments on why one ex-girlfriend or another was too nice, too mean, liked me too much, didn’t like me enough, or some other obviously fatal flaw.

It wouldn’t be hard to do the same right now. I could harangue the absurdity of living in California. I could talk about how I need space to grow, which I just don’t have right now. I could make it about this place, but that would be ridiculous. It’s not about LA, it’s about me.

I miss my family. I miss my friends. I didn’t realize what I had until I left it for a bit. Every time I visit home, it gets harder and harder to get on the return flight. I don’t want to miss my nephews growing up. I don’t want to only see my best friends once or twice a year. So I’m moving back.

I don’t exactly know what’s in front of me. I want to take what I’ve learned and developed as a coach here and go further with it. The world of strength & conditioning for athletes is very exciting to me. No, I don’t have anything lined up. Yes, I do have some ideas.

I do want to be clear on one thing: my three years in Los Angeles have been an amazing adventure that went better than I could have imagined. I moved out here with nothing but a Jeep full of stuff and some dreams. I’ll leave here having turned many of those dreams into reality. I’ve created a life here, complete with an amazing job, great friends, and memories I’ll always cherish. The time has just come to move on. I’m declaring victory, and I’ll drive across the country with my head up.

To everyone who’s been a part of my stay here, thank you. I won’t forget you, and my life is different because you were a part of it.

It’s not over yet, though. If you want to see me, it’ll be a lot easier from now until December 1st than after that. So please, blow up my phone! I’m a “yes” to almost anything for the next eight weeks. Let’s have some fun before I melt away.

I’ll close with some of my favorite photos from the last three years. Enjoy.