The path to success for a warrior begins with a dream and great desire. It is driven by inner strength, desire and zeal. You never know the result. You simply decide to go and overcome obstacles, and to get to know yourself. You do not hear that it is not possible, or that you cannot do something.
You train your body, but without a strong mind it doesn’t make sense. Mohammed Shahid is a man who began the journey to success with a huge dream. He constantly believed, worked hard and did not give up, despite the obstacles, worked hard and built the strength of his own mind. He knew that the difficult path of self-knowledge in the most challenging situations would make him feel more powerful than he had ever imagined.
“With the support of strong leader His Highness Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, We are building the global future of martial arts. He is not satisfied with anything average; I just want to do the best, too and He is not afraid to follow his great Global Visions – no matter how difficult the road is.” Mohammed Shahid.
Le Globless:
I offer my great respect for your hard work. Mr. Mohammed Shahid you are an entrepreneur and a mixed martial artist from Bahrain; the CEO of KHK Sports; CEO of KHK MMA; and the President of the Bahrain-based global mixed martial arts organization, ‘Brave Combat Federation’ owned by His Highness Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa. How did everything start?
Mohammed said:
Everything in life begins with a dream and great desire. Every child wants to be the best and wants to win. They desire to learn new things and to improve themselves in the things they enjoy.
My biggest passion was martial arts; I wanted to become a fighter. At that time, we had no fitness centers in Bahrain. Trainers and martial arts were in their infancy. The only way I could learn was by using YouTube. I watched all possible videos and imitated the fighters. I copied their movements. Later, I went to Thailand where I had the opportunity to train with real fighters. I invested all my money in the trip and I only had a small amount left for my diet, from which I bought protein shakes and Nutella and I lived on it for a whole month. My desire for martial arts was huge and I really wanted to learn and improve. I got to the first matches and with each win I became more and more confident. I was getting better. I learned something new every day and after my return to Bahrain I wanted to continue martial arts.
“Martial arts is about having huge desire, control, self-knowledge, denial and very hard work. There is no compromise.“
We opened the first fitness centre in Bahrain, but no one wanted to go there. I was like a salesperson and I told everyone about martial arts, motivated them to start and shared my enthusiasm. I invited many coaches because I wanted to improve and at the same time open up opportunities for others. I learned many martial arts. I went to matches. I became the first mixed martial artist from Bahrain to compete in global MMA events.
,,Now every boy in Bahrain wants to be a fighter, and Bahrain is the fastest growing MMA power in the world.“
,,Everything begins with vision and faith. I am very grateful to have believed that my dream could come true. I am grateful that I had the courage and that I took this risk. I am very grateful for the patronage of HH Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad of Bahrain. Under my stewardship, the Brave Combat Federation has become the fastest growing MMA organization in the Middle East.“
With the huge support of His Highness Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa and his brother His Highness Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, who have always been huge fans of sports and constantly support the growth of Bahrain through sports activities, we have managed to create ‘Brave’.
International Mixed Martial Art Event
Le Globless: What are your next plans?
Mohammed:
Our plan is simple; we want to bring MMA to the global level. We want to establish cooperation around the world and organize MMA fighters’ events in each country. Our aim is to promote MMA at the global level. We are monitoring all possibilities and moving forward.
“We’ll start at the top and gradually build even higher,” says His Highness Sheikh Khaled bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
His Highness has great knowledge of MMA and other combat sports and when he came to know that the sport has such great global potential and the opportunities for fighters to represent Bahrain were extensive, he recognized that the industry needed a vision that was not commercially focused. This is when he decided to launch KHK MMA and Brave CF.”
Le Globless:
You manage promotion in several countries around the world, and under your leadership, Bahrain has become a global concept in MMA, building partnerships with countries such as Brazil, India, Colombia, Europe, Indonesia, and U.A.E. You have also organized the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation World Championships held in Bahrain. How did you do it all?
Mohammed:
We work very hard. We travel several times a year to countries like Morocco, India, Brazil, Russia in order to get to know the countries and gain experience. We are constantly monitoring trends in MMA, and at the same time we are constantly learning. We choose the best coaches and invite them to Bahrain to teach us and train future fighters.
In Jiu Jitsu we have a coach from Brazil who teaches us Jiu Jitsu and the mentality of the fighters. I have Tony Davis from GB for boxing, who is a boxing expert. We have a Russian fighter from Tajikistan Eldar Eldarov who is the best coach who teaches us Wrestling and the mentality of the sport.
We have taken all these cultures, mentalities, knowledge and we learn the best from everyone. We put that in the minds and training of our youth. The future of MMA is a mix of all the top cultures into one. Only then will we be the best.
HH Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa supports Mixed Martial Arts. Bahrain is directed towards the global expansion of the sport and Bahrain supports upcoming talent from the whole world.
KHK MMA Bahrain specializes in wrestling and combat sambo, as the training facility works closely with some of the iconic coaches in the world including John Kavanagh and Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov. The training facility had attracted a host of MMA fighters and legends including Frankie Edgar, Wanderlei Silva, Cris Cyborg, Eduardo Dantas, Mehdi Baghdad, Karl Amoussou, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Frans Mlambo, Hamza Kooheji, Rustam Khabilov and Eldar Eldarov.
‘BRAVE’ MMA Event, fighters
‘BRAVE’ MMA Event, fighters
Le Globless:
It sounds like you chose Bruce Lee’s strategy; he became the best and gradually added more fighting styles and improved. He tried to teach from his experiences with the best fighters to become stronger and support his own knowledge. How do you recognize a talented fighter and how do you choose fighters?
Mohammed:
As has been said by Bruce Lee : ,,Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and it can crash. Be water my friend.”
When selecting new talents, we focus on their strengths of tactics and mind.
A wrestler must believe that he will be a champion. If he does not believe that he will be a champion, he will forever be just a fighter and will never reach his peak and will not use his full potential.
We don’t want fighters who fight for their own glory. We want fighters who love this sport and have decided to do everything to become the best in the world. Most of all, they have to believe in themselves because the hardest fight is not in the ring, but in the head. You have to overcome obstacles every single day and believe that you will become a champion. You have to believe that it will happen; that you can do it.
I am sure that when they have this faith in themselves, they will achieve everything in the world. Everything they desire.
Martial arts build really strong men, and I honestly appreciate your contribution to this. It’s great that you teach young men discipline, self-knowledge, some humility and self-esteem. Martial arts build faith in themselves and motivate them to perform amazingly and make them strong men.
You create strong fighters and personalities. Martial arts are not just about a strong body. They are about a strong heart, bravery and a strong mind. In today’s world, it is as if men have ceased to be men. You have a huge challenge ahead of you and I sincerely support it. I really want a world full of strong people. What did you think about it?
Mohammed:
I agree with you 100%. Whenever we are looking for new talents, I say that thought is most important, because when the mind does not want to engage, the body simply does not move.
All your life you have been building only the power of your mind, it is not something that someone else can do for you. You have to do it yourself. Our brain is still training with us, presenting us with easier options.
For example: “You trained hard yesterday, today you can indulge in a little rest and you don’t have to get up at 3 in the morning.”
This is not how it works. If you don’t force yourself to do it there can be problems, because every morning there is a new challenge that you can address with the words: How can I be better than yesterday? What can I do differently? And when you start enjoying these challenges in your life, it will be great. ”
You have to enjoy the whole process of building a personality, the feelings of being in an uncomfortable zone. “People are looking for happiness, comfort, but how can you achieve something if you don’t want to do anything?
“We each have the devil and God in us, and only you can decide who you will listen to and which way you will go. It’s something we’ve been fighting all our lives. Every day is our own inner struggle that we must win.
It is necessary to teach young people and motivate them properly. Set goals in life and move forward with them.
We are trying to focus on this in Bahrain, and today, when you look at our fighters, they have a very strong mind and enthusiasm. We use the mindset of fighters. You can always learn the technique, but the way of thinking is important.
The mindset of Bahrain, as well as the strength of the minds of our warriors, is changing incredibly fast because we are learning quickly from many cultures.
Le Globless:
You are a perfect example of the connection between martial arts and business. I would be interested in what you think are the key character traits of a Strong Warrior and at the same time a strong Leader?
Mohammed: No one is born a leader, you become a leader based on experience, hard work, self-knowledge and control of your own emotions. You need to understand yourself so you can understand others; and then you can teach them. In the life of a leader, it is important to go through everything and know all your weaknesses as well as strengths. Manage your emotions.
,,Self Awareness is the key, it is the priority of education. Manage and hear your feelings. It is how you can grow on to the next level. Everything starts in you – in self awareness. “
The warrior must perceive his emotions to understand his fears and pains. He has to give up many pleasant things, such as sitting with friends in a café and watching TV or having fun together. You simply have the choice of either watching TV with friends and drinking coffee; or choosing to go to bed. Get up at 3:00 AM in the morning and start training, work hard and don’t give up, believe in yourself and, if you are the best, one day they will show you on TV.
Learning to be happy and self-loving and being self-respectful; also make sure you have respect for your parents, coach or life partner. It’s all about: 1. renunciation 2. control 3. hard work 4. self-control and 5. self-knowledge.
,,I think that’s what connects a Warrior and a Leader. However, only by overcoming every obstacle can you build yourself and can you be proud of yourself. The whole process is about self-knowledge.
Every feeling in your body is important, you just have to listen to it and control it, and the day you learn to play the orchestra of your emotions, will be the day when you win your own match. Every leader is actually a fighter in the ring.
“Once you learn to adapt, you’ll be able to handle every situation. Self Awareness is the key.”
Mr. Mohammed Shahid
