http://sg.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/fit-to-post-sports/iraq-war-vet-lives-pore-mosque-ahead-cage-164950018.html
Bashir Ahmad is a brutally honest man. There was little room for cliché when the first-ever Pakistan-born American MMA fighter explained why he chose to live in a mosque in Paya Lebar, for two weeks leading up to his ONE FC debut this Friday.
Ahmad, who will face Thailand’s Shannon Wiratchai in a featherweight contest, nonetheless confessed to a “religious side” to his decision.
“I wanted somewhere to focus, to be away from distractions and not think about what’s on TV or the Internet,” said the 30-year-old Muslim. “At the mosque, there’s also more incentive to attend to my spiritual side.”
Ahmad moved to the United States when he was three. He was the resident troublemaker for much of his youth, until “the army cleaned that up for him”.
In 2002, Ahmad joined the US National Guard, as part of their sponsorship of the political science degree he later earned at George Mason University in Virginia. The brawny, 1.7-metre-tall combat medic was soon deployed in Iraq – where he found himself fighting more than just the enemy.
“There is something very unnerving about seeing people who look like me get killed and everyone is cheering about it,” Ahmad said. “If you took off my uniform and put me in Iraqi clothes, my platoon-mates would immediately see me as a scumbag.”
It was in this state of “angst and negative emotions” that he started on martial arts. Sleepless at night, he would hit the gym at his base and work on a speed bag for hours at a time. This “obsession” often produced bloodied knuckles, but also proved “therapeutic” in “taking him away from where he was at that time.”
When his tour of duty ended in 2005, Ahmad returned to the U.S. and picked up Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) and Muay thai.
But it wasn’t until his return to Pakistan in 2010 that the man in Ahmad, steeped in life’s experience, truly emerged to seize his destiny.
Today, Ahmad is best known for single-handedly setting up the MMA scene in Pakistan, including fight promotion PAK MMA and the Synergy gym where he trains and teaches at.
For now, his efforts are focused on his upcoming ONE FC fight. Visa issues prevented Ahmad from having a BJJ instructor to spar with in Pakistan, so he flew to Singapore to train with the coaches at Impact gym in Shenton Way. Coupled with his first time living in a mosque, conditions might seem less than optimal, but Ahmad is fueled by a cause larger than his own.
When asked what he would most like to be remembered for, he simply said: “I’d rather be a decent fighter and a great person as opposed to a great fighter and okay person.”
No comments:
Post a Comment