A boxing club might conjure images of no-nonsense physical training, but that’s not the case at Spartans Boxing Club (SBC). What was once a neighborhood gym in Singapore’s East Coast, which opened almost a decade ago, is now a holistic health space that places physical fitness and mental health at the forefront. What’s more, SBC’s community-driven approach has reaped rewards, allowing it to expand across five countries in 18 locations – and counting. In this conversation with SBC’s founder Naz Musa, we discover how the club aims to transform lives beyond boxing through a comprehensive ecosystem.
SBC has grown from a single gym in Singapore to an international brand. What inspired you to start and how did you envision its global expansion?
I started boxing in 2008 when I was diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic. To try to return to health, I needed to lose 40kg and boxing was the only athletic endeavor that allowed me to do that without being self-conscious. I fell in love with the sport and continued even after the weight was lost.
In 2015 I was living in Singapore’s East Coast and was traveling into the CBD to train every day. I had just sold a business and had some time and disposable income. Opening a gym near my house made sense. I took the opportunity to incorporate everything I saw in boxing gyms around the world that I liked (community, inclusivity, and fun) and left out what I disliked (like aggression and bad smells!). At the time, I did not envision any expansion, let alone globally. I built something that I loved and thankfully, it resonated with others. We grew to 11 gyms in Singapore and with the support of Enterprise Singapore, we opened our first international gym in Dubai.
SBC emphasizes community, with members feeling like they are part of the Spartans family. How do you foster this strong sense of community across the gyms worldwide?
Community is not just in the gym, or around our locale – it is also sharing experiences across gyms and across geographies. In each gym, we encourage and drive member interaction through technology groups, through shared activities outside of the gym, and through our teams who know everyone’s name and are trained to make the business inclusive and fun. We also have boxing technology on each punch bag that allows members to have competitive bag work not only within the gym, but with other gyms in the country and globally. These virtual “fight nights” prove extremely fun and successful, but also allow members to show progression without needing to have a fight in the ring.
We’ve learned that SBC also partners with local businesses and grassroots boxing associations. How important is local engagement to your overall business model?
This is massively important and a key to all our gyms. We work with our neighbors to offer the best possible products and experiences for those who live or work in our community. We have done this from the very first gym we opened, and we partner with cafes, health providers, recovery centers, and basically any other business that is in the neighborhood. If we succeed, we want our neighbors to succeed too.
You’ve mentioned that SBC is more than just a fitness franchise; it’s about mental wellness as well. How does Spartans Mind, your mental health initiative, integrate with the physical training offered at SBC?
Everyone starts boxing for a reason. Maybe you want to lose weight. Maybe self-defence is important to you. Maybe you are having a tough time at work or with an addiction or in a relationship and you just want to punch bags hard. We can provide the facility, the training, and the bags, but that does not really address the deeper cause for that reason.
I found this out when I was on my weight loss journey. For me, losing weight was not that hard, but understanding why I was overweight was more difficult. We therefore have our Spartans Mind initiative, which integrates physical training with therapy aimed at several of the main reasons where we see people need help. They key is understanding the “why” and then working with members to address the totality of the situation.
Can you share some success stories where SBC has had a transformative impact on a members’ mental well-being?
Mental health is no longer stigmatized and I am the best example of how boxing helped me. My journey from being overweight and becoming diabetic to losing the weight was just the start.
It was key for me to understand why I was overweight. In my case, it was excessive bad behaviors while going through a divorce. It took talking to and working with skilled professionals for me to understand and address the key issues around me before the weight loss stuck and the yo-yoing ended. This is just one example. We have hundreds of members, young and old, whom we have supported in their endeavors to change themselves physically and mentally.
(Related: The Mental Health Film Festival Singapore let's you feel through film)
SBC has been involved in outreach programs and charitable work. How important is giving back to the community for you personally and for SBC as a brand?
From the beginning, working to help with those who are less fortunate than ourselves has been a vital part of our business. Initially, we started working with “at risk” youths in Singapore and this support of others has extended to our gyms in every country.
This year in the UAE, we raised nearly AED300,000 to support children’s charities in Africa and Asia from our White-Collar events. We strive to increase this number year on year. We are all very lucky and it is important for me to ensure everyone knows that and we support those who need help.
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