Қазақша
Русский
Forbes.kz interviewed the founder of Oman Boxing Club about how he moved to Muscat and opened a flagship school there.
Olzhas Parzhanov is from Kentau. From an early age, his father trained Olzhas and instilled in him a love of sports. When the boy turned eight, his father signed him up for boxing classes.
– "When I turned 16, I entered the Momyshuly Zhas Ulan Republican Military School in Almaty, which started my 15 year military career", Olzhas begins his story.
In 2014, Parzhanov took courses in Pakistan as a first lieutenant of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan. This period of his life can be described as fateful, because he met his colleague – a military man from Oman.
– "We became good friends and through our communication I learned more and more about Oman. Apparently, boxing is poorly developed in this country. Since I was fond of this sport, I came up with the idea to open a boxing school in Oman. But that was just a distant prospect," Olzhas says.
Later, Parzhanov married. As a bachelor, he was quite satisfied with the military salary, but after the wedding, living from payday-to-payday became difficult.
– "We needed money, because my spouse went on maternity leave. Once the baby was born, expenditures increased, while the income stayed the same. I tried to do business and take part-time gigs, but with a busy military schedule with night shifts, side hustles were impossible. Constant business trips, exercises at training grounds and duty did not leave me time even for my family," Parzhanov shares.
In 2021, Major Parzhanov's contract in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan was ending. He started thinking about retirement from military service more often. He wanted to try himself in a new business and even started considering going to Europe or the USA.
– "One day I was video calling my Omani friend, and I got an idea - to go to Oman to achieve success there. I waited until the end of the contract in July 2021. However, my departure was complicated by global Covid-19 restrictions, including in Oman. My already purchased plane ticket simply expired, and I had to work as a taxi driver in Kazakhstan. As a result, I flew to Oman only in November 2021," Olzhas says.
Upon arrival in Oman, he managed to get a job as a coach. Under the contract terms, 60% of the proceeds went to the employer, 40% – to Parzhanov. The employer also had to arrange a visa for him, but failed to do so for four months of his work. Olzhas decided to change his job. At the new place, besides having the same working conditions, Olzhas had difficulties with the employer.
– "He simply refused to pay salaries to all his employees, let alone help with a visa. The visa situation in Oman is very complicated, as the state is trying to employ primarily the local population. If an employee is a foreigner, they ask many questions and conduct checks. Visa also cost a lot, not every employer can afford it," Olzhas says.
After all these hardships, Parzhanov decided to open his gym.
– "I no longer wanted to work for others and give away most of the profits, and I still didn't have a visa. All this time I was in Oman on a tour visa and spent a lot of money every month to extend it not only for myself, but also for my wife and child. In addition, the income from the gym where I worked did not even cover my basic expenses for housing and food. Fortunately, I had a car in Kazakhstan, which I sold, and it somehow kept me afloat. Nevertheless, this money was not infinite. And I started looking for an investor, because foreigners in Oman are prohibited from registering a business for themselves," Parzhanov said.
He eventually found an investor, but unfortunately, the boxing type he chose was unpopular in Oman. For example, the first and last time this country with a population of 5 million people nominated its two boxers for the Olympics was in 1988!
– "Oman has a very calm and measured life. This country is among the ten safest in the world, crime is nearly eliminated. Interpersonal conflicts are rare, since people are very reserved, friendly, hospitable and non-aggressive. Consequently, any aggressive sport be it boxing or MMA is unpopular in Oman. If in post-Soviet countries boys are taught to stand up for themselves from an early age, this is not the case here. And that's why developing boxing in Oman was not an easy task, I have to promote this sport literally from scratch," he says.
The results of the Oman Boxing Club's one year of activity are already encouraging. Olzhas has about 80 students – children from four years old, teenagers and adults of different ethnicities, women and men.
– "The classes cost 40 Omani rials per month (about $100), we also provide discounts to students from the same family. Until recently, I was the only coach at the gym, but now I have a female coach to train women. Soon I plan to bring two more coaches from Kazakhstan," he says.
Olzhas Parzhanov notes that he is making great efforts to ensure the efficiency of training, because his gym is now the leading one in the country.
– "At this stage, I am not chasing money; my classes are not just for profit. I am promoting the image, strengthening the reputation and developing the Kazakh boxing style. I believe that after a while my name will work for me. I am also encouraged by the feedback I receive (overwhelmingly positive), both from students and from coaches of other gyms. Parents are also happy with the results of their children whom I train – they see how they literally began to change both physically and mentally before our eyes. Almost all students lose weight in the first month of training. Many students have come from other gyms, and this gives me confidence that my training is in fact higher in quality. This gives me motivation to progress further," Olzhas Parzhanov says with confidence.
– "Our students have already participated in three competitions. I myself organized two of them in Sharjah with like-minded clubs from the UAE with coaches from Uzbekistan. These were friendly sparring competitions. The third competition was huge and interesting, with the participation of the UAE Boxing Federation and clubs from Sharjah, Oman and Abu Dhabi. Out of ten of our students who participated in the competition, five took first places, and the rest also did very well," he noted.
Recently Olzhas faced a problem. The number of students is growing, and there is not enough space in the gym for everyone.
– "I decided to open a second gym with a larger room. The renovation and furnishing is already in full swing. I plan to bring trainers from Kazakhstan and I will teach them my training methods myself," Olzhas sums up.