A growing community project founded by former British Army soldier Stefan Daniel is helping veterans and civilians rebuild confidence, improve mental wellbeing, and reconnect through Muay Thai training and holistic recovery practices.
Warrior Within Project was created to support people struggling with the lasting effects of trauma, stress, isolation, and the challenges many veterans face after leaving military service. The initiative combines martial arts training with community support and wellbeing techniques designed to promote resilience, discipline, and personal growth.
Daniel served 26 years in a frontline armoured cavalry regiment and completed seven operational tours during his military career. Drawing on both his military experience and his own understanding of recovery, he founded the project to create a supportive environment focused on healing, structure, and purpose.
The group uses Muay Thai as a central part of its programme, with participants training together while also taking part in activities such as breathwork, meditation, cold exposure, and mindset coaching. Organisers say the aim is not only physical fitness, but also helping people rebuild confidence, routine, and connection with others.
In recent months, Warrior Within has taken veterans to Thailand, where members trained together while experiencing local culture and spending time in natural surroundings intended to support mental recovery and reflection.
One veteran who travelled with the group, Adrian Navarro, said the experience had a major impact on his life and mental wellbeing.
“Flying out to Koh Yao Noi with the gang at Warrior Reset completely changed my outlook on life,” he said.
“Back home I was stuck in the same cycles, stress, work and bad habits. Being out there pulled me out of that mindset completely.
“Training Muay Thai twice a day, riding around the island freely and meeting locals and backpackers from places I’d never heard of opened my eyes to a completely different way of being.
“The food was simple but amazing, everyone there was warm and welcoming, and the whole island had a relaxed family feel to it, smiles all round.
“I came home with a clearer head, a changed perspective, and feeling like myself again, which honestly I hadn’t felt like for years.”
Navarro, who served in the Devon and Dorset Regiment, now known as The Rifles, said the trip offered veterans a rare opportunity to step away from the pressures of everyday life and reconnect with themselves in a supportive environment.
Daniel’s long-term ambition is to establish a permanent Warrior Within retreat on the island of Koh Yao Noi in Thailand. The proposed retreat would offer structured programmes aimed at helping veterans and others dealing with trauma through Muay Thai, mindfulness practices, wellbeing coaching, and community support in a peaceful environment.
Supporters of the project say it is helping create a sense of belonging for people who may otherwise struggle in silence after military service or difficult life experiences.
As conversations around veterans’ mental health continue to grow across the UK, Warrior Within Project is aiming to provide an alternative approach centred on discipline, connection, and recovery through shared experience.
Photographs and Video © Wayne Perry / Plymouth Post