One Percent: packing a punch

1.660755-3951033855 — One Percent gym owner Adam Todd shows off a few moves to his students of whom 75 per cent are women Image Credit: Xpress /Abdel-Krim Kallouche

Dubai: There is certainly more to One Percent gymnasium than just its unusual name.

Tucked away in the bustling Al Muraqqabat district of Deira, while having undergone a radical overhaul in terms of strength and conditioning equipment as well as the addition of a boxing ring, this gym still retains the image of a classic old-fashioned training centre for martial arts exponents. And that's just the way its proud young Australian owner Adam Todd likes it.

A 28-year-old muay thai expert from Perth, Todd came to Dubai two years ago with a plain and simple goal — take the sport of mixed martial arts to the next level in the Middle East.

"I had been doing a little bit of research before I came over here," he says. "I found that the sport hasn't really taken off yet. I've seen a lot of kickboxing but not really the authentic muay thai. I also found I couldn't continue my own training because there was no one to train with. So I said this way would also be easy for me to train."

More to come

It has taken Todd a year to transform what was formerly known as Champions Gym into his current set-up. And he doesn't plan on stopping there.

"I'd always planned on putting a [boxing] ring in here. The initial idea was also to have an MMA cage," he says. "That's still on but this gym's a bit small for that. But I've created a franchise model now so we'll have it in the next gym we set up."

Fully aware of the success of the recent UFC 112 event in Abu Dhabi, Todd, a former member of the Australian national muay thai team, believes he could not have got his baby under way at a more fitting time.

"It's the perfect time to launch," he says. "It's the fastest growing sport in the world, so that makes it a little bit easier. We are not looking to conquer the world but we are going to set up a series of gyms in the Middle East and concentrate on promoting the sport locally."

For someone who oozes passion when talking about the sport, martial arts was not Todd's first love. "I played Aussie Rules since I was six years old. I was basically born into it as my Dad was an Aussie Rules footballer. He played professionally for Swan Districts. I went through all the ranks and later played for East Perth.

"[Martial arts] didn't sort of occur to me till one of my coaches just invited me over to kick a bag in his house. I gave it a few kicks and thought it was quite nice. Soon I rang the first Thai name I could find. I said if I was going to learn I may as well learn from an authentic coach. And it sort of blossomed from there."

Interestingly, Todd reveals that the inspiration behind his gym's unusual name comes from his Aussie Rules footy days. "It comes from one of my first football coaches. It's a term that describes the hard things you do that make a big difference in the end."

What's on offer?