Chris Romulo is a resilience speaker, mental performance coach, and retired professional Muay Thai champion from Queens, NY. Over 40 years of martial arts and 42 bouts, he became a WKA North American champion. When Hurricane Sandy destroyed his gym in 2012, he rebuilt it from nothing into a thriving Rockaway Beach fitness community with over 300 members. Chris has built his reputation not on his championships but on his willingness to talk openly about failure. That honesty is what makes his message land differently, and it is the foundation of everything he teaches through the Champ Up Philosophy.

The Champ Up Philosophy is Chris Romulo's approach to resilience, captured in a simple idea: Fall 7 Times, Stand Up 8. Built on 40 years of martial arts and lived experience rebuilding after Hurricane Sandy, it's the belief that getting knocked down is part of life in any environment, whether on a job site, in a boardroom, or in a classroom. What separates high performers isn't that they avoid failure. It's that they have a trained response to it. 

The A.C.T. Framework is Chris Romulo's repeatable mental performance tool for navigating pressure, setbacks, and uncertainty. Accept Reality means facing what you have been avoiding rather than denying it. Challenge Your Beliefs means questioning the story in your head that is holding you back. Take Aligned Action means choosing one intentional next step and moving forward. The goal is not to feel motivated. The goal is to know what to do when pressure hits.

You can reach out through the contact form on this site or use the Book a Call button found throughout the site. Chris offers keynote speaking, resilience workshops, Muay Thai performance seminars, and mental performance coaching, with every engagement tailored to your audience and goals.

Chris works with professional NBA teams, construction and trades crews, corporate leaders, and colleges. He has partnered with the Line Construction Advancement Fund (LCAF) to develop mental fitness programming built around a simple premise: on the frontline, mental fitness is a safety skill. His programs are built for high-pressure environments and tailored to the specific demands of each audience.

Most speakers lead with their highlight reel. Chris leads with the falls. He has tested his philosophy not just in the ring across 42 bouts, but through setbacks that had nothing to do with fighting and everything to do with survival, including a life-threatening illness. His Champ Up Philosophy and A.C.T. Framework give audiences a concrete, repeatable system built from that experience, tailored specifically for NBA teams, construction crews, corporate leaders, and college audiences.

No. While Chris draws on his background as a professional Muay Thai champion, his coaching and speaking programs are designed for anyone navigating high pressure, including frontline workers, construction crews, corporate leaders, students, and individual professionals. The skills he teaches, including composure, decision-making under stress, and building a resilience habit, apply far beyond combat sports.