The man behind the fighter that became ‘godfather of Pakistani MMA’
And you wouldn’t believe it now – not after seeing him sparring round after round, or complete one of those ridiculously hard exercise circuits – but he started smoking early and continued to push the law
If ‘achieving the aim’ is any reliable measure of success, then Bashir Ahmed already stands triumphant. He has a fine ONE FC career and his dream of unleashing a mixed martial arts (MMA) frenzy in Pakistan has become a roaring reality. Everybody knows he served in the US military – as a medic in forward bases in the Iraq war – and how he returned to Pakistan, despite a comfortable life in America, to successfully spearhead Pakistan’s ‘MMA revolution’.
But there’s much that the headlines have missed. Bashir’s fight to spread the fighting game has not just brought the octagon to Pakistan, it has also assumed a significance in the wider debate about shaping society itself. And it’s Bashir’s difference-maker attribute that this article explores, for which DNA is grateful to the ‘godfather’ for his exclusive time.
Disclaimer and the ‘martial way’
This writer has not only personally benefitted from Bashir’s Synergy gym, but also holds the distinction of a one-on-one session with the man – though owing to pure accident.
The gym has pictures of him; sometimes shouting through a bleeding face, sometimes holding his opponent in a choke hold, one in a stance ready to fight. They know him purely as a warrior. One who learned the way in the military and applied the same discipline to his martial arts career. He calls it the martial way.
“The army and martial arts are very inter-linked”, he said. “They both essentially enhance the same thing”.
For him, it is about overcoming your prejudices and fears and “being a warrior”. It is this warrior philosophy and spirit that defines the “martial way”.
But he was not always the clean-cut good boy that now mentors another breed of warriors – more about them later.
“I was a trouble maker”, he said, looking back. “People who knew me thought I’d either end up dead or in jail”.
Back in those days he would get kicked out of school, be homeless for “two months at one time” and later not quite fit into the college mould.
And you wouldn’t believe it now – not after seeing him sparring round after round, or complete one of those ridiculously hard exercise circuits – but he started smoking early and continued to push the law.
He might soon surprise his fans with a fight in Pakistan. “In April or May this year, but that’s not the point”, he pointed out strongly. The point is creating and nurturing a breed of warriors among the youth of Pakistan
“Nobody’s perfect, and I had more than my share of faults”, he readily admitted. “But then the martial way came as a life saver for me – physically, mentally and spiritually”.
The debate
There’s a deeper integration in his gym than the glare of the fight shows. Of course there are a lot of DHA boys that can afford it. But you’ll also see defence market delivery boys who can’t even afford the bikes they deliver on.
“I once saw him and told him I wanted to be like him”, said one. “He just said you better show up from tomorrow and never even mentioned money. Ever.”
He’s grown to become part of Synergy’s elite, competing and training others. And he’s not the only one of his kind.
Then, as is known, Bashir went on to start his Shaheen gym in Charrar Pind right next to Defence. Everybody knows this area houses the lower and lowest ends of the social chain that serves the Defence upper class. And everybody also knows how the out-of-school children of these cleaners, drivers, maids and servants spend their days begging, stealing and doing drugs.
“Shaheen suddenly gives them an alternate environment where their regressive routine is replaced by a progressive regime where smoking, drugging, etc, simply renders them uncompetitive”, Bashir said.
And this is the crux of the debate he has triggered. Hordes of children come toShaheen every day. His rag-tag apartment gym of once upon a time – that article after article on him has already spoken of – has now, after all these years, triggered a demographic change.
They are not just, finally, being taken off the streets and off the drugs. They are also becoming healthy and strong. They are becoming fighting fit; learning the martial way. In effect, the MMA revolution is not only producing young, college going martial artists capable of making their mark internationally, it is also turning helpless, bottom-of-the-totem pole child-drug addicts into confident, progressive contributors to society in the long run; even though it’s bad business.
“For now it needs financial support”, he said, showing no signs of wrapping it up for lack of funds, though. “But it’s a labour of love and I’ll be happy even if it just breaks even”.
But the seed is planted, he stressed, and the fruits will come.
Losses, humility and rebirth
Famous world chess champion Bobby Fischer once said, “It’s not enough being a good player, you also have to play well”.
One thing being a fighter requires is, of course, fighting. Bashir’s hard work, and self-belief, triggered a dream run in April ’13, when he beat fighter Shannon Wiratchai via unanimous decision in Kallang, Singapore, despite getting a cut above his eye in the first round.
Then, in September the same year, he lost to Brazilian BJJ black belt Bruno Pucci visa submission after a rear naked choke despite shocking him early in the fight.
But he came back strong against Tanaphong Khunhankaew in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in October the following year, submitting him with a rear naked choke of his own.
Then the run hit a brick wall. He lost to Afghan fighter Amir Khan after a brutal fight that the doctor stopped in Pasay, Philippines in in April ’15, then got knocked out cold by Jimmy Yabo 21 seconds in the first round in Feb ’16 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
He should not have taken the Khan fight. He got it with three days’ notice. But he sees it differently. Besides, things were very different, as usual, than they seemed.
“I’m very happy I did it” he stressed, even though he started cutting weight the moment he was offered the fight after Khan’s opponent withdrew, than had a long cross-Atlantic flight and a sudden fight. Still, he went down fighting.
“I was smiling afterwards, I did not give up”, he said proudly. “Even in the third round I came out swinging, tried to win till the end. There was no quitting.”
But the Yabbo loss shook him. “The odds were in my favour, everybody expected me to win.”
Talking about it made him look back, naturally. “I don’t know how many people could handle something like that emotionally”, he said.
It’s not just that he lost a fight he should have obviously won. It’s that he’d also just become a father.
“That was important to me”, he said, adding that “the loss wrecked me”.
There were times, he said, when he believed he’d overcome the shock. All that mattered was around him, after all – his family, his boy.
“But then I’d suddenly break down; even cry”, he admitted.
“At the end of the day, though, you have to be the person your child wants you to be”, he said, explaining the driving force behind his return.
Then he came back hard in Oct ’16, defeating Egyptian fighter Mahmoud Mohamed in Yangon, Myanmar via heel hook less than a minute-and-a-half in the first round.
By that time he had already overcome his demons, and regained his composure and his confidence. He even brought his family to the fight, and felt strong and proud as they cheered from the crowd.
And now?
Now? More of the same. Soon he’ll likely return to the US. But the success of the recent Pakistan Fighting Alliance (PFA) has proved that MMA is Pakistan’s new popular sport.
He might soon surprise his fans with a fight in Pakistan. “In April or May this year, but that’s not the point”, he pointed out strongly. The point is creating and nurturing a breed of warriors among the youth of Pakistan.
Also, he doesn’t like to mention it publically, but the special forces drive him up to the mountains in Chirath for some “mutually beneficial interaction” from time to time. And they’re making a habit of it.
Just a couple of weeks ago he took some of his Synergy boys with him, including the delivery boy, and everybody was impressed.
It turns out, therefore, that the ‘MMA revolution’ is the least of the ‘godfather’s’ accomplishments. At a time when Pakistan’s glorious tradition of sports is dying, his sweat, blood and tears is creating a new generation of “warriors”.
They are not just learning to fight. They are learning to survive and thrive. So far, so much has been the success of the martial way.
