Ustaz Nazim, helping Muay Thai in Sabah.

This month we hook up with Ustaz Nazim, a driving force for the Muay Thai movement in Kota Kinabalu Sabah. Ustaz Nazim is a lawyer by profession and has contributed so much to the sports; yet one would ask why would a Ustaz spend so much time, money and effort for the sake of a martial art like Muay Thai?

Today we interview Ustaz Nazim and get to know him better.




Good day Ustaz Nazim, to start off tell our interview, us abit about yourself?

I was born on 17th July 1980 in Kota Kinabalu and grew up here. After studying at the International Islamic University and working briefly in KL from 1998 til 2004, I returned to KK. I’m a lawyer by training and I practise in my own firm. Some people call me Haji Nazim, because I performed the Hajj pilgrimage 3 times and also completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Islamic Studies, which was a course meant for training Muslim preachers.

 Ustaz Nazim and family.

What was the 1st martial art you got involved with?

The first martial art I got involved with was Karate. I learnt it back in 1987, at the Sports complex dojo.  In 1998, while in KL, I learned Capoeira Angola under Mr Ahmad Qadir Firdaus, an American lecturer teaching at the International Islamic University. I played Capoeira Angola from 1998-2002.


When did you start training Muay Thai & under which gym?

I started Muay Thai under Kru Antonio, at Trinity Self Defence. Thanks Kru Antonio and Mr Faresh Onn for introducing me to the art of 8 limbs.


What did you do after the gym closed down?

After the gym closed down, I continued training on my own, and made contact with Raja Ahmad Talmizi, of Sitkrumat Muay Thai and Azman Abdul of Naga Api Muay Thai.

I also made contact and became friends with trainers / fighters from other gyms, such as Kru Kiang Saiprawat, Kru Marzuki Ismail, Kirsty Leigh Zulkarnain, Eddiey Selindang Kuning, Master Khoo Meng Yang, Kru Alvin Chong, Mr Musaddik to name a few.

Kru Raja Ahmad Talmizi (Cikgu Kacak) helped me a lot via his blog and I bought my first pao set from him. Cikgu Kacak remains one of my mentors til today.


You are known to have sponsored some Fighters in KK even to this day. How many fighters?

I help my friends in Muay Thai by sponsoring them. My sponsorship is in the form of cash (to cover training costs), training with trainers / coaches that I fly in to KK, equipment (to start your own classes) , training in KL, flight and lodging at fights.

I started sponsoring fighters in 2009, and the first fighter I sponsored was Jumat Lias Mansor @ AJ Vaa, the Sama Warrior. AJ emailed me from Kulim, asking me to help find him some sponsors to cover his training costs. My family’s construction company, Intiutama Sdn Bhd (you could see the logo on his old fight shorts), sponsored him from 2009 up to his fight in Australia. It wasn’t a one off sponsorship, but several sponsorships (of various amounts).

The next fighter I sponsored was Nurasmeen Karim @ Meen, in 2010, I gave Meen his first Pao set and his first bellypad, after Meen expressed to me his intention to teaching Muay Thai. I believe AJ and Meen are teaching in Citymall now, assisted by Nazri Othman, who also trained at my gym for his inter styles friendly match against a Kyokushin Fighter.

I also sponsored the flight for Borneo Combat Gym KK’s first fighters, Bro Julian Lee, Bro Rudy and Bro Kyo. They all won an Inter Styles match in Sandakan, against a pesilat and two kyokushin fighters respectively.

The other fighters I sponsored for training were Sahazri Selamat @ Kyo, Melvin Roy Mansor and Rudy, when they went for training at Naga Api Muay Thai. They are now certified Thai pad holders, accredited and certified by the Ministry of Sports. Sahazri Selamat stayed on for a week at Naga Api Muay Thai to train under Kru Paisan, who came from Thailand to teach at Naga Api for a few months.

During the DBKK Mayor’s Cup Boxing match, I sponsored the training and the singlets (under Kru Antonio) for Rudy, Melvin, Alexander Chong, Wan Tyson, and Mahendra; as we were supposed to form the KK District Boxing Team. Due to unforeseen circumstances, their names got dropped from the KK team and they had to fight for other districts. Sadly, Rudy, Alexander Chong and Melvin didnt get to fight.

I also sponsored the flight and lodging for Sabah’s first batch of ISKA trainers during their course in Labuan.

Recently, I sponsored the flight and training of Mr Ryan Yong (of Kinabalu Fighters and Furious Styles) to fight in the Naga Api Muay Thai Charity Match, Ryan won by k.o.
 
I’ll be sponsoring a few more fighters for pro-Muay Thai fights in West Malaysia next year.

 
You also hosted the 1st official Muay Thai seminar in KK, flying in coaches from West Malaysia. Tell us about that experience, organizing, funding and how was the respond for that?

That seminar was held on 10th of July 2010. I organised that seminar with the help of Persatuan Tomoi Gombak. It was meant to highlight Jumat Lias Mansor @ AJ Vaa the Sama Warrior and help create Nak Muay at a grassroots level.

My initial plan was to invite the best coaches from West Malaysia to hold a workshop / seminar in KK with AJ as one of the trainers. However, a few days before the seminar, AJ went to Sinbi to train for his fight against Manaf Anak Badak (I remembered sponsoring that training stint also).

Alhamdulillah, the seminar managed to go on smoothly with the help of the West Malaysian trainers, whom I sponsored flight, lodging and food entirely. The West Malaysian trainers who came were Kru Azman Abdul, Kru Raja Ahmad Talmizi, Kru Marzuki Ismail, Kirsty Leigh Zulkarnaen, Najib Naga Api Kajang, Mr Pendant and Kru Bernard Radin. I met them all for the first time at the Seminar. I booked their tickets and their hotel without even meeting them in person beforehand.

Thank God they came and the seminar was a success. The seminar was officiated by Datuk Abdullah Sibil, president of the Sabah Sama Association. The response was encouraging, and I believe Kru Bernard Radin was invited by (a policeman who attended the seminar )to host another seminar in Sabah a few weeks later.

I sponsored the seminar with my own funds. It cost me a lot, but it was worth it because it introduced me to my friends here in the Muay Thai scene in Sabah; like Aunty Fatmah and Aunty Normah, Julian Lee, Kyo, Rudy, Ronnysham, Syazree , Zul,Ag.Fathi, Jacky Leong, Matt Buvvart and Meen. It also introduced me to the best Muay Thai trainers in West Malaysia, who are also my good friends.

Tell us what were your next move after the seminar?

After that 1st seminar,I converted an empty room in Wisma Intiutama (my family’s building) into a workout area. All I had back then was the Pao and jumprope that I ordered from Cikgu Kacak. The floor was covered with carpet pieces. I named the place “Furious Styles”, after Laurence Fishbourne’s character in Boyz n The Hood. Kyo and Rudy were the first guys who trained there, while Shannuar and Rudy were my first students.

It was there where I hosted Persatuan Tomoi Gombak’s Muay Thai trainers workshops (to help KK’s first batch of Muay Thai trainers) and also hosted several technique workshops with trainers such as Kru Kiang Saiprawat, Kru Alvin Chong, Wes Jaya to help train and polish the techniques of the trainers.

Gradually, I bought (with my own funds) the floor mats, additional pao,gloves, headgear. My friend Zamzuri also helped by sending some samples of the gear he sells (Box! Brand).

Three fight clubs are training in Furious Styles, the Kinabalu Fighters, Tawau Boxing and Furious Styles Kickboxing.  I teach my students there twice a week. However; in my classes, the Muslim trainees are requested to memorise some verses of the Quran, and we have our own weekly halaqah, at the gym. I emulate the Cikgu Kacak’s approach to teaching, the talaqi system.

In April 2011, we joined the Borneo Combat Gym network, under the mentorship of Kru Alvin Chong. Collectively, Furious Styles Kickboxing and Kinabalu Fighters are known as Borneo Combat Gym KK. Thank you Kru Alvin for your support in KK!

Sadly, some dont think highly of my efforts and called us “Kru Segera” (“Instant Kru”).  I hope people don't think of us like that anymore as we’re all trying to do our part in spreading Muay Thai in Sabah. In July 2011, Ronny Sham, Julian Lee and I went for an Instructor’s course under the International Sport Kickboxing Association (ISKA) in Labuan, it was graded by Master Khoo Meng Yang.

 Alhamdulillah, we’re now certified by the ISKA.

Recently, I also hosted a capoeira Angola workshop featuring Ahmad Ibrahim Shukri @ Bigfoot, one of Malaysia’s first Angoleiros.


What is the driving passion in you sponsoring so many events / fighters and people for the sake of Muay Thai?

There’s a hadith, of the Holy Prophet s.a.w, which goes "bila mati anak Adam maka putus lah amalannya melainkan harta yang diwakafkannya, ilmu yang di amalkannya dan anak yang soleh yang mendoakannya ", I’m not doing all this for the sake of Muay Thai, I’m doing all this for the sake of Allah and the hereafter. I hope my teaching Muay Thai and helping others in MuayThai, will be recorded as one of my good deeds.

 Its not my intention to steal anyone’s thunder,or be “The Man” in the fight scene here in Sabah, there are other people who are more qualified for that. I’m just helping my friends and I hope my helping others in this life, will help me in the Hereafter. I’m a preacher who wants to preach via the Martial Arts. Muay Thai is my Jihad, my dakwah.

 

Will there be anymore events / workshop that you are planning to bring to KK?

Yes there are. I’ll definitely inform you on future updates.

What do you hope to see in the Sabah Muay Thai scene?

I’m just a preacher. There are others who are more qualified to comment on this. I’m just happy to see my friends train and I’m happy to see my friends show their skill in the ring. I’ll always be here to support and help them.


Any words or message you would like to give to the readers?  

 Al Hashr: 18-24. Read it, understand it, absorb it. Assalaamualaikum.


* pictures courtesy from Ustaz Nazim