Alia. Malaysian. Muay Thai Enthusiast. Daughter. Sister. Fighter. Dancer. Teacher.

Founder & Owner of Gumby’s Fitness Garage

What can you tell us about your new training centre, Gumby’s Fitness Garage?

It is the first female only Muay Thai gym in the country. The idea came to when I was a trainer in my previous gym. I realised most of the female students, especially the ladies with hijabs would always request for female instructors. Most of them only felt comfortable with a female instructor due to their ‘limitations’ but at the same time they really wanted to learn Muay Thai. Most of them were shy; some were overwhelmed because it was an open space so they could see how others (experienced fighters) practiced. I thought it was a good opportunity to open a place that specifically catered to this target market. My goal was to provide a space where they could train at a place they felt comfortable in.

This gym is located in Plaza Damas 3, Seri Hartamas. Parking is awesome here. One thing that I’ve learnt when it comes to opening a fitness centre is that parking is so important!

Do the ladies train with their hijabs on now that they can train in your gym?

No! That’s the best part! This lady came up to me just recently and said that she could finally wear whatever she wanted to wear while training. This gym has become a place where they don’t have to care what others think about them. When you put all of them under one roof, true colours come out and I mean this in a good way. Everyone gets to be themselves and you don’t see this often especially in gyms because everyone is expected to ‘behave’.

Have you always listened to what your customers need and do you think you could have related to their ‘situation’ if you hadn’t seen them practiced in your gym?

Of course! I relate to my customers like how I relate to other people I know in my life. To me, that is how I would always do my business. My customers are my priorities. I take care of them, maybe some times a bit too much but I want them to feel safe around me, I want them to go to the gym without any hesitation, without any doubts, a place they know that they can run to feel safe.

What were the challenges that you had to face while putting together Gumby’s Fitness Garage?

Wow, where do I even begin. Well, just to put it out there, it was all totally worth it in the end. I did everything mostly by myself. Hardly got any help from anyone except for the amazing support I had from my silent partner. From the beginning to the end, I had to do almost everything. Even though I am exhausted I try not to think about it too much, I just see the end result. Maintaining this place will always be a learning process for me, so I try to be as positive as I can. All I know that now the gym is open, I just want to do this for as long as I can, the way I want to run it.

How has the journey been like, emotionally and physically?

I find myself feeling drained sometimes. It got to the point when I could not even open my eyes because I was so tired. Once I was at a restaurant waiting for my friend and I closed my eyes just to rest and I didn’t realise how long I was asleep for until my friend came, and she was late! That was when I realised I cannot play around with my health because my work is 100% physical. The exhaustion from running this gym and training my students did give me a wake up call to take care of my health even more, because my work depends on it. I work 14 hours a day but it’s okay, I can handle it because I love what I do.

Why did you decide to pursue teaching Muay Thai?

It thought me discipline. I tried so many things before and after 10 years of searching I still hadn’t found anything. One day I watched a reality tv show about people fighting Muay Thai and thought maybe I should give it a try because it looked like fun I had always been athletic, so I thought this was something different but something I could do. Next thing I knew I packed my bags and headed to a training centre in Phuket.

And how did that go?

Horrible. I was badly bruised after the first lesson, like black and blue all over my body, puked twice after one session and I swear at one point I felt like I was dying. But somehow it was so satisfying because all my stress, worries and all the shit that I had gone though were gone. They were non-existent. I didn’t have to think about anything while I was doing Muay Thai.

Even though I felt like I couldn’t cope with the difficulty of the sport, I still wanted to do it. The only challenge I had at that time was trying to convince my mom about staying in Phuket. I didn’t want to go home. She kept asking me what was it that I had to do in Thailand, why Muay thai, why did it had to be one month. I had to convince her why I really needed to do it. Because honestly back then, I was soul searching. I know myself so well. I know if I do something I don’t like, I am not going to finish it. If I could find something I love doing, it would be for life. I have always been into sports, anything to do with movements and the more I trained Muay Thai, the more perfect I realised it was for me because it suited me so well.

But what was it about the sport that changed you? How did it get stuck to you?

While I was training and when I started socialising with the locals, I realised so many people in Thailand had to struggle because they had to fight in order to survive. Children as young as 7 years old had to be away from their families because they had to learn how to fight. It was the only way they knew how to make a living. Then it hit me that life in Kuala Lumpur was not so bad. What I had at home was nothing in comparison to the hardship the locals had to face. I fell in love with this realisation. It changed me into a completely different person and I didn’t expect that this experience would be so significant in my life. I became mentally stronger. I finally learned about gratitude and I started seeing things differently. Training with my friends, talking with the locals made me feel so thankful about the life that I have. Since then, I learned not to sweat the small stuff and that changed my life tremendously. Muay Thai saved me.

Did your loved ones noticed this change when you came back?

They realised I was happy, healthy and fit. Had some abs to show off but whatever I loss or gained physically was not important. It was my attitude towards life, health and fitness that changed and those were the only things that mattered. When I came home I realised I wanted to continue doing Muay Thai or anything that was remotely related to do the sport. Then the idea of opening a gym came about. I had people telling me that if you love something, don’t do it too much because it will become a chore. But I knew that was not going to happen with the newfound love of my life. I knew I could do it every day because I had found ‘the one’.

Who is your biggest role model?

My Mother. The strongest person I know. The toughest but she has the softest heart. Hati dia baik. I saw her struggle and to this day I still have no idea how she did it. Raising 4 girls all on her own. She was married and all but it was all her. All her. And you know what was the best part? She was not always around. She had to work and she worked so damn hard. Again, I don’t know how she did it but she did it in a way that my sisters and I didn’t feel left out, we didn’t feel suffocated, you know what I mean?

Mama is just one of a kind. I was such a troubled kid, I was all over the place, never knew what I wanted and I always felt like I was a burden to her and many others. For mama, I am just so grateful she had always been there for me and all my crazy dreams and all the crazy nonsense that I presented to her. She would give me the ‘eye’ and she would always say something but I knew deep down I could tell that she knew I could do it. She still had hope for me and that to me is pure gold. When people see me, I know they don’t know me. They see me like this but to be honest I don’t think anyone really knows me inside out. I don’t present myself the way I should. I’m an introvert and I hide a lot of things, emotions, feelings, struggles, everything, I shut it out for most people. So at this stage, what ever I have achieved, 90% of it is because of my mama. The drive I had was because of her. When I look at her, I think ‘Man, if she could bring up 4 kids, work and become so successful, I can do it too’. It is nothing compared to what she had to go through. I am still half way there, but whatever it is I just want to make her proud.

What else do you enjoy besides Muay Thai and teaching?

Performing. As much as I would love to say sleep and eat and not do anything else but if there is anything that I love besides Muay Thai is performing. Dancing, singing, modelling and acting. I started acting a while back, I was in this movie called ‘Aku Haus Darahmu’ that was released in February earlier this year but nowadays I am so occupied with the gym so that has been my main focus for a while. I’m trying to recruit female trainers for the gym because I’m doing everything by myself. There are many fighters out there but not everyone can teach. I have seen many potential candidates that can defend themselves so well in fights but when you put them in front of a big group of people, most of them have no clue what to do.

Was it a difficult transition, the change you had to go through in becoming a teacher?

It was quite natural for me, I love teaching and helping people out. Whatever I know, I want others to know as well and I will tell my students everything. All the tricks I know up my sleeve, I share it with them.

Everything? But why?

It makes me happy. It’s as simple as that. To me, it’s satisfying and I want my students to do well.

What would you tell others who are still soul searching and have not found their dream job or passion in life?

Just keep going. Don’t do something just because you have too. Be brave with your choices and try to think outside the box. Just try everything out, and if it is time and if you are lucky, when you find the one, everything else will fall into place. It took me so long to find this, I just didn’t want to settle for things I wasn’t passionate about. My advice is don’t settle. If there is something that you are proud of, something that you know you can face every day, try it. Just do it. Failure isn’t an option, it is going to happen. It will be a rollercoaster ride but you cannot have room to be afraid. Take a leap of faith, try and you just may never know. Muay thai saved me in ways I can’t even imagine so I hope others will find their passion too.

You have some quotations painted in your gym wall. Why these quotes in particular?

Because that’s what I hope for, for everyone. Every day when I walk into the gym, the first thing I would do is I stare at the wall. I am alone, I choose to be alone and I need that fire in me to not go away. Those quotes are my favourite quotes and it empowers me. I want everyone to feel the same way when they see the wall. I want it to give my girls the extra push when they are with the punching bag, whenever they have problems at home or whenever they need it. When I read the quotes, I know I am going to be just fine.

How do you deal with people who doubted your journey with Muay Thai and your dream of opening a fitness centre?

Ooh, I request to follow them on Instagram! Yup, that’s what I do! A bit unconventional but to me it works well because I don’t have to do any talking; I just show them what I can do. That’s all I need to shut them down.

People actually said to me that they didn’t think that pursuing Muay Thai was not a good idea, that opening a gym would not be as rewarding as working in the corporate world. I don’t have to resort to that, some people can do work like that but I know myself. I know I’m good at this and my goal in life is to be happy, and this makes me happy. Sometimes it drives me mental when I know they don’t believe that I can do it. So instead of talking back, I will show them instead.

Any future expansion plans for Gumby’s?

I want to open more gyms like this and in fact I am opening another one in TTDI Jaya, Shah Alam. It’s a collaboration effort with another gym and the reason why we chose Shah Alam is because there are no female training gyms there. The Muay Thai program will be run by Gumby’s and that centre will have other programs like Yoga, TRC and so many other classes related to fitness.

Last question, what advice would you give to your 20 year old self?

I would say to her that she is more than what she thinks she is. Learn the art of composure. Be relaxed and don’t get too worked up when things don’t work out. Don’t freak out over little things and be with people who want to be there for you.

Don’t believe the mirror, it lies all the time! And do not attempt to wear high heels so early. They may seem like a good idea at first until they are not. Oh, and coconut oil is really good for you.

Be kind and be good to people. You deserve the good stuff in life, you think you don’t and you think you need to rebel to be heard and seen but you really do not have to put yourself through all of that. So sit back, chill out, learn, understand, watch, observe and listen. as this will help you in the future.

…The End…

Gumby’s Fitness Garage offers personal training and group training. For those who are interested, you may contact Alia (Amalia) through Gumby’s official Facebook page.

Address: 2^nd Floor, A-2-18 Plaza Damas 3, Jalan Hartamas 1, 50480,Kuala Lumpur