An Interview With Khari Ahmad of Sparta Muay Thay & MMA in Kuala Lumpur

Published on November 29, 2011 by The Editor in Opinion

An Interview With Khari Ahmad of Sparta Muay Thay & MMA in Kuala Lumpur

Khairil Ahmad is opening up Sparta Muay Thai and MMA in Kuala Lumpur soon:

Will Sparta Muay Thai & MMA be teaching only Muay Thai or will you also teach BJJ?

 To kickstart, we will be teaching muay thai first. Our muay thai classes are split into two – cardio based muay thai which primarily focuses on conditioning, strength and fitness and fighters/self defense. The latter classes have a set syllabus approved by Tiger Muay Thai and will, apart from improving ones fitness, strength and conditioning will incorporate muay thai techniques. As a member/student progresses, he/she will go ahead to the next level where the more advanced techniques will be taught to the members.

We are planning to teach BJJ but given the lack of qualified/reputable trainers in Malaysia, we are at the moment looking outside. We have shortlisted a few candidates but wont be able to disclose much at this juncture. We are targeting for the BJJ trainer to come in sometime next year.

Who will your instructors be?

Our MT instructors are Thais and have over 700 fights between them. They were chosen by Tiger Muay Thai and are highly respected individuals/fighters in their field. We will from time to time hire more trainers from Tiger Muay Thai and in the future will look to having local MT trainers.

As for the identity and profile of our instructors, we are still keeping it mum to keep and build up the anticipation and excitement.

Are you hoping to have fighters training there or will it mainly be people training as a hobby?

There are usually 3 types of members who train at muay thai/martial arts gyms in Malaysia. The first are the cardio-fitness junkies whose all up for a good workout and love the intensity that MT training provides them. The second group are ones who takes up MT/BJJ as a hobby and self defense and have a passion for the arts. The third group (which is a minority) are the ones who train to fight.

We will cater for all 3 types given the facilities and space that we afford to our members. Different people will have different aims when they join a gym and being in this industry, we will need to provide such services to all. We aim for our gym to be a one stop centre for fitness junkies, fighters, children, women et al.

We do hope to one day produce a local fighter though.

Why do you think that KL is ready for an MMA camp right now?

The exposure provided by ESPN and the internet have skyrocketed the interest in MMA in Malaysia. Malaysians who studied abroad were exposed to this sport and picked up their interests overseas, and when they came back, many scouted for quality and credible gyms to continue their training but its difficult to find the ‘perfect’ gym. Many of these students (myself included) are back in Malaysia and most of them are working in KL. Apart from them, local schoolchildren and college students are showing an interest. To this end, we believe that KL is ready.

The exposure and interest shown in recent amateur competitions are evident of this fact; and the mushrooming of MMA gyms all over KL is testament to this.

MMA in KL is growing and we are glad to be part of this revolution.

Is MMA becoming more popular in KL?

Yes, amongst the younger urbanites. The general norm is that MMA is seen as too violent, parents are quite reluctant to allow their children to pick muay thai, BJJ but this is down to the Asian psyche that many Asian parents have. In comparison to the west, muay thai, BJJ and mma are seen as a more viable and realistic alternative to the conventional asian arts (TKD, karate, judo,etc).

Many MMA participants in Malaysia are college students and young urbanites, school children are slowly showing an interest. MMA in KL is still in its infancy but we are confident that it’ll only be a matter of time before it will reach a much wider audience.

TMT is part of the One FC network and One FC are putting on a show in KL in April, are you going to have any fighters who could get on that card?

At the moment, our gym (Sparta Muay Thai & MMA) do not have any fighters, but you’ll never know ! As for TMT, I believe that they will be sending a few fighters.

What is your relationship to TMT and why did you decide to affiliate yourselves with them?

TMT is one of the most respected gyms in Asia, if not the world. It wasn’t that hard of a choice. That being said, TMT has been very supportive in all aspects and have assisted us in the setting up of our gym.

TMT will provide our MT syllabus and we intend to send our local trainers to TMT for training every now and then to hone their skills.

We are looking at this relationship in the long term, and TMT have been great, supportive, and we are comfortable with them, that is an essential ingredient in any relationship.

How much help and guidance have TMT been giving you with things like the design of your camp and recruitment of trainers?

TMT has been a great source of help and advice. We wouldn’t be here hadn’t it been for them. We do seek advice/opinions of TMT from time to time.

Can you describe what the layout of the camp will look like? Will there be separate areas for BJJ, Muay Thai, MMA etc?

Our centre is located at an upcoming township (Oasis at Ara Damansara) built by one of the biggest conglomerate in Malaysia, Sime Darby. We’re on the 10th floor, with over 4,000sqf and we have an awesome view of the suburbs.

As we will be opening with only Muay Thai (BJJ will only come in March/April next year), we wont have a separate area yet. It is something that we are considering in the future in our expansion plans.

Can you tell us what the timetable will look like?

As mentioned earlier, as we are catering for all types of people, our timetable will be set according to the schedule of our members. We are still in the midst of finalising it and will from time to time change the schedule to accomodate our members. Our priority is our members well being, comfort and training experience, thus these are the factors that we will take into consideration in doing up our timetable.

Our thanks to James Goyder for this article