My Story

The Beginning…

I suppose I have an unusual background. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m half Saudi and half German, and I live in the Kingdom of Bahrain. I lived in Saudi from when I was born to around the age of 12. In 1985 my family moved to Bahrain and then in 1993 we moved to the UK. I returned to Bahrain in December 2001.
I was always extremely ambitious, and always planned to make a name for myself, but I never knew how. Keep reading to find out what I did.
I graduated from the university of Buckingham with a BSc in Marketing at 21 years of age in March 1995 and worked in London for several years. I worked in SABIC Global Ltd, a subsidiary of the Saudi industrial giant SABIC.
SABIC was great because I learnt a lot there. I joined the company as a Commercial Trainee and left 4 years later as Sales and Logistics Manager. I originally planned to stay for a year only and then do an MBA. But I enjoyed working there so much that I stayed much longer than originally planned. I learned a lot about business – and I also learned a lot about company politics and how not to do things. It was an invaluable learning experience. Incidentally, I still know the difference between Liner Low Density Polyethylene and High Density Polyethylene. I also know what MTBE and industrial methanol is used for! I bet you’ve always wanted to know that didn’t you?

The Weird Cobra Karate Instructor

I grew up in the 1970’s and 80’s in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). One day my father came back from a business trip with a bunch of Kung Fu Movies, most of them were Bruce Lee films. You could say I was hooked ever since. My friends and I would play these elaborate Kung Fu games full of revenge and “AYAAAAAAA. WOOOOOOOO!” sounds.
When we moved to Bahrain my first martial arts instruction began in 1985 with an instructor named Sensei Alan . He was from England and I think half of the kids in Bahrain had lessons with this guy. We learned Cobra Karate there and I trained with him for 3 years. Incidentally, Cobra Karate was the ‘evil’ style taught in the Karate Kid movies, it was practiced by the kids who always bullied Daniel San (I’m sure some of you have no idea what I am talking about).
Sensei Alan was a nice enough guy but he did strange things like beat his senior students with a stick, and sometimes taught classes in a suit! Classes were held at the Gulf Hotel, we had no proper mats or anything and we’d move to a different ballroom each class depending on the hotel’s activities. I spent a large part of my youth in the Awal ballroom in the Gulf Hotel practicing my katas…
It appears Sensei Alan often got himself on the wrong side of the law and I remember coming to karate class one day and our instructor was nowhere to be found. Someone from the hotel told me there was a call for me (in those days I didn’t have a mobile, in fact only the really important people had mobiles then, and those phones were HUGE) It was Sensei Alan and he was in jail! I offered to teach the class on his behalf (I was 15) and naturally all we did was spar (fight)!
Sensei Alan eventually left Bahrain under dubious circumstances and I remember hearing that he was still wanted by the authorities here. Anyway, though my interest in martial arts never ceased I did not start taking lessons again for a long, long time.
In the 1990s we were living in the UK. I’m sad to say that my late teens and early twenties were the unhealthiest years of my life. In university there were more important things like cars, parties, fast food and the opposite gender – oh and the occasional attendance of classes and a quick glance at a textbook once in a while. Though I never smoked or drank it was not unusual for me to have McDonalds for lunch and KFC for dinner, several times a week!

Introducing The One and Only Captain Ahmed

When I graduated from Buckingham University in 1995, I moved back to London. At the time my brothers were doing Shotokan Karate with an Egyptian guy named Captain Ahmed (why oh why do Arab martial arts instructors like to be called “captain”?)
At the time I was interested in starting martial arts lessons again but I was a bit disillusioned with katas and some of the unrealistic aspects taught in some styles. So I asked Captain Ahmed if he knew anyone that taught street fighting. “Yes, me!” he said.
So I started having private “street self-defence” lessons with this guy for about 6 months or so. I remember him promising to teach me something like 200 arm locks, 300 throws and six dozen different street scenarios. Well, I soon realised that this guy was one of the worst (and most dishonest) martial arts instructors that ever walked on planet earth. The final straw came when he offered me a Black Belt after only 6 months! In fact he sat down with me and explained that because I was doing ‘freestyle’ and not traditional shotokan I was entitled to either a Brown or Black Belt, it was up to me to decide!
Well I soon ditched Captain Ahmed and started looking for a place that teaches kickboxing. When I used to spar with my brothers one of them said that I looked like a kickboxer, so I figured this is what I should learn. Captain Ahmed would always inflate my ego and tell me how good and how gifted I was. I figured that I’m probably not as good as he says I am but I’m probably above average…boy was I wrong!

At Last! Meeting A Real Master

“Hi, I’m Raf.”

It was November 1995 when I first walked into the National College of Karate and met a short, friendly man who greeted me and said “Hi, I’m Raf!” You could say that my life changed from then onwards. I remember him asking me why I wanted to do Zen-Do kickboxing and I said that my previous instructor told me I was good, and that I wanted to find out how good I was.
Well to give you an idea how BAD I was, my first lesson lasted only 20 minutes! It was with another instructor named Dino. We did some basic kickboxing movements and then did a workout on the focus mitts (the big pads held on the hands). I was completely exhausted. I remember Dino looking at me with a mixture of pity and disgust saying “Go home Suhail”.
When I look back at those days I think how irresponsible it was of Captain Ahmed to offer me a Black Belt and make me think I was really talented. Imagine if I had gotten into a fight thinking I can handle myself, I could have been really injured, or worse!
Well it turns out the club I joined was one of the top martial arts schools in the UK which produced many national, international and world champions. The guy that introduced himself as Raf was actually Master Rafael Nieto, a 5th Dan and a former British, European and World Kickboxing Champion! Part of the reason I respected -and still respect- Sensei Raf is because he is so down-to-earth and humble. He may not be modest but he is humble and approachable and will make time for anyone. He, in my mind, epitomises what a martial arts master should be; wise, patient, understanding, knowledgeable and humble – and he was fun to be around!
Well it took me six years to get a Black Belt in Zen-Do!! Our dodgy, non-airline ‘captain’ offered me a Black Belt in 6 months! It took six, long, hard years to earn my Black Belt, and that included training 3 to 5 times a week. I was awarded my belt in November 2001.

My Thesis, The Martial Arts Foundation, And Why I Hated Working As A Banker

I left SABIC in March 1999 to pursue my life long goal of getting an MBA. I chose a university that was close to my kickboxing club. When it was time to decide on my thesis I spoke to Master Rafael to see if I could do it on the kickboxing school (my specialisation was entrepreneurship). He told me that he was starting a new venture and that I could do my thesis on that.
It turns out the new project was a new concept in martial arts called the Martial Arts Foundation. It was meant to be an organisation that would raise the standard of martial arts and help professionalise it. Master Rafael and his partners were also planning to open a multiple-style, high-end martial arts school in London, and then later expand in the UK and the rest of the world. I spent a couple of months with them and did my thesis on this project.
I was so excited and interested that Master Rafael and his main partner asked me if I wanted to invest with them. I said “yes!” and invested a considerable amount of money into the project and joined them in October 2000 after I finished my degree. Unfortunately, a few months later Master Rafael and his main partner had a big argument and the whole thing fell apart.
It was early 2001 and I lost a lot of money, was unemployed and very frustrated.
I didn’t want to move back to Bahrain as I still had almost a year to go to finish my Black Belt. I managed to get a job in a large GCC bank in London, in their Asset Management department.
I have to say it was one of the most miserable periods in my life. I was 28 years old, had several years of work experience under my belt, had a fresh MBA yet they treated me like a 21-year-old graduate. What made things worse was that I hated the job! Convertible bonds and stock index based funds did not turn me on at all!
In the Martial Arts Foundation we were a small, ambitious group and the environment was very exciting and entrepreneurial. We were going to change the world. And here I was now sitting behind Bloomberg and Reuters screens tracking all kinds of markets.
My soul was slowly being killed. I had to leave!
I think I stayed there for 2 or 3 months. The day I left the bank was one the happiest days of my life! I felt elated! Freedom!
I promised myself that I would never work for anyone else ever again. And I’ve kept this promise to myself ever since. Today I’m completely unemployable. I live my life by my rules and I love it!

Coming Back To Bahrain

My wife and I moved back to Bahrain in December 2001 and I decided to open a world-class health club. I had done a lot of research in my last few months in London and must have visited dozens of health clubs. While doing the business planning and preparation for this project I started teaching kickboxing on the side to keep me busy.
I started teaching private lessons to friends and family. My student body grew to about 20 students in mid 2002. Over the months I realised that the cost of the health club project I was planning kept going higher and higher, and it kept on getting delayed more and more.
So in 2003 I decided to forget about the health club and focus on martial arts full time. I had around 50 students at the time. By then I had started group classes and kids as well.

Gaining Knowledge And Learning The Secrets of Success

I was not content with having just 50 students. If I was going to do this I wanted to have a large and successful school. I started learning and reading everything I could about being a good martial arts instructor. I bought books, DVDs and audio CD’s. I also attended secret martial arts seminars and networked with some of the most successful school owners in the world.
I didn’t stop there. I also read everything I could on self-improvement and success. I read tons of books on this topics as well as biographies and autobiographies of successful people. It wasn’t unusual (and still isn’t) for me to read several books a month and work 12, 14 or even 16-hour days.
I then decided to learn everything I could about business, and specifically about marketing. Again, I read countless books, attended seminars all over the world and read hundreds of newsletters, articles and reports.
In a few short years I was able to do something that no one in Bahrain’s history was ever able to do; my school (Zen-Do Bahrain) gradually grew to 100 students, then 150 students, then 200 students! Today we have over 270 active students (the average school here has between 20 and 40 students).
I started appearing in various magazines and newspapers and even appeared on an several TV channels. You could say I became a master of marketing, PR and entrepreneurship.

Becoming A Consultant

I started noticing that because of my success people started asking me for business and marketing advice. And since I enjoyed teaching others new skills I decided to become a marketing consultant. I’ve helped several business owners make huge increase in their sales and profits. For more information visit www.RadicalMarketing.com.

Giving People Their Dream Body. The Dream Body Centre® Story.

Remember how I told you earlier that during my university days I’d have lots of junk food? I gained a lot of fat around my belly, which made me really uncomfortable and self-conscious. I hated looking at myself in the mirror. I still remember that deep feeling of insecurity.
I’m glad to tell you that those days are over, and that I’m in really good shape now, but I sill see members of my own family, friends, employees, students and clients struggle with their weight – and literally victimised by the diet industry, again, again and again.
When teaching people martial arts I often have to urge them to lose weight, and then hear their stories of frustration and disappointment with many honest attempts at losing weight. While martial arts can help people lose weight, I wanted to develop a concept that would be a little bit more effective (and faster) when it came to transforming the body into being more toned and trim.
I spent months and months pondering this issue. I knew that most people were frustrated with going to gyms and health clubs; they wanted something that guaranteed results, and didn’t require spending long, boring hours in the gym.
So I did a lot of research, went on special training courses and traveled to far away places. I discovered that many of my long-held beliefs about weight loss and exercise were completely false. You could say I had a rude awakening of sorts. I always thought you had to go on a strict diet to lose weight and that you had to exercise several hours a week.
After all the months of research, the concept of the Dream Body Centre® was born; a place where you can finally get the “body of your dreams” – no dieting, no dangerous pills or drugs, no surgery and no BS. For more information, visit www.DreamBodyCentre.com.
Well, that’s my story. I’m glad to tell you that today I own multiple businesses and live a great lifestyle. I’m happy and in good health, and so is my family. I’m living proof that dreams can come true.
This blog is the latest of my endeavours. I hope you like it! Thanks fort taking the time to read this. And I hope you’re successful no matter what you do!