Nick Giles has always been fueled by curiosity and hands-on learning. As a kid, he took apart radios, his Gameboy, and the family PC to understand how they worked. That same drive led him to martial arts at age five, where he built confidence and discipline, earning black belts in Karate and Taekwondo, a 4th-degree rank, and a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He even tested his skills in amateur Kickboxing and MMA.

In college, he embraced a different kind of energy—playing in a (terrible) punk band at fraternity houses and backyard shows. His love for music carried over into building and modifying electric guitars and amplifiers, always looking for ways to refine their sound.

A deep appreciation for Japanese history and culture led him to years of self-study, and he’s now attempting to learn the language. He highly recommends George Sansom’s History of Japan series to fellow enthusiasts.

One final note: never trust him around sushi or ramen.