Resembling a series of enormous containers stacked against one another like books tipping over on a shelf, Arena, one of Saudi Arabia’s latest fitness facilities, is a striking addition to the Al Nahdah roadside in Jeddah on which it was built. And that was exactly the idea, according to Arena’s general manager Hussein Madi. “Given that we preach that about doing things differently, it also had to look different. We wanted to design something that was very unique, something that could be a landmark in the Kingdom and look a little bit intimidating. That’s why the facility looks a little bit odd,” he tells me.
This is just one example of the way Arena has integrated its design into its ethos as a fitness centre. Odd-looking it may be, but at just over 9,000 square metres, Arena actually is one of the biggest specialised MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) and crossfit facilities in the world. “We’re looking to redefine fitness,” Madi continues, which is obviously no small claim for a facility that’s been open for just a few months. In fact, focusing on MMA in Saudi, a country where lifestyles tend to err on the unhealthy side, is a risky business in itself. ‘Typically, Saudis are not into martial arts,” he says. “You can tell this from the Olympics – which countries tend to do well or be active in Taekwando, Judo, Karate like Iran, Iraq, and Jordan. Saudi, normally, is not.”
It was a challenge faced by the four young Saudi founders and investors, who after spending time in the US, decided they wanted to bring home some of the fitness trends they were seeing explode Stateside. As one of the owners, Nasir Alabdaly tells me, “We are all sports fanatics but most importantly, what brought us together was this shared vision of creating a totally new fitness concept in Saudi Arabia. We brought Hussein, who took care of the development side of our holding company, on board initially as a project manager of Arena and then he transitioned to general manager.”
Through a mutual friend of one of the group, they forged a strong relationship with a company in Florida called American Top Team – the biggest MMA school in the world, in fact. It boasts more than 80 affiliates but Arena is now their biggest and part of the agreement was that several instructors (all of whom are world champions in their respective martial art form) would come and teach the curriculum at the Saudi facility once it opened. Therefore, even though it’s a totally homegrown brand in Saudi, it is Arena MMA & Fitness’ affiliation with US brands (three to date) that lend it authenticity and credibility.
Essentially what these guys have done is to create a unique fitness concept, one that’s seeking to change the way people exercise in the kingdom. As Alabdaly explains, “We offer members the full range of workout disciplines – from basic fitness, to functional fitness, weightlifting, crossfit, jujitsu and MMA, all socialised around an arena space, hence the name.” It’s an unusual but rather effective design that Madi says was intended to ‘break the ice’ regarding any hesitation about engaging in such sports.
Interestingly, the fight cage also hosts real-life competitive matches – at Arena’s opening for instance, there were ten live fights which were witnessed by an 800-strong live audience in the gym and broadcast to 30 million people in the Arab world on NBC. It is precisely for such occasions that the 12-metre high space was designed without columns and even the glass-walled offices on the upper mezzanine become VIP viewing rooms. “The grand opening was a very important event for us,” says Madi, “not just because it gave us a lot of exposure, but also because it proved that our design of a convertible space, which can switch from a fitness gym into a real life arena in just a few hours, really does work.”
When Madi and the founders talk about ‘redefining’ or ‘recreating’ fitness, it is because Arena is at the forefront of a trend currently making waves in the fitness industry. “Fitness is going back thousands of years to how people used to train without equipment,” he explains. ‘They would train using the natural movements of the body, using the simplest forms and just one’s own body weight. It’s actually more effective.”
And though they reference the past they are of course firmly looking to the future, even going so far as to create a segregated children’s area, named ‘Arena Heroes’ for kids aged between 7 and 14. “The Heroes brand, where the kids can engage in fitness as well as MMA was our biggest surprise,” Alabdaly admits, “it teaches a lot of discipline and respect, and we are already running at full capacity.”
“You know,” he continues, “we weren’t actually being that conservative when we projected 2,000 unique members by end of the first year and that our cash flows would be positive by the end of our second year but we are still doing better than we expected. We have been watching the development of fitness in Saudi Arabia for a while and the consumers are sophisticated, up to date and follow trends. We capitalised on a gap in the market but to be honest, we were surprised by how ready the market was.”
By the end of 2016, there are plans to open a women-only facility and the founders are currently talking to some big-name franchises back in the US in order to realise this possibility. “We are very bullish and optimistic about the ladies market,” Alabdaly says, “in compliance with the regulations of course. We are also planning to have one more fully-fledged gym in Riyadh and seven to ten smaller, specialised fitness ‘boxes’ that focus on MMA, or Heroes, for instance.” In a country where so much seems at odds with the modern world, it looks like in Saudia Arabia, this rather progressive and totally unconventional idea is very much ahead of the curve.
