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| Augusto Miranda (right) and Luciano Queroz practice in their apartment in Beijing. (China Daily/Yin Di) |
Big King BJJ has had the softest of soft openings, slowly increasing the size and number of their classes to ensure each new student feels like they are part of the business. Chatting to them, it is apparent that they are operating their gym with the same one-eyed zeal they approach their sport - this is less a business and more a labor of love.
"Most gyms here start out by looking for a lot of capital from an investor and then they start looking for the students. They are usually not that financially sound and the students don't feel that much ownership to the gym, so we are doing it the other way around," says Thomassen.
When Big King BJJ opened they had only one student - their neighbor who worked in a local horse riding equipment store.
"He was just your average Joe, you know?" says Thomassen. "And the thing is, we still have that kind of customer, not all professional fighters, not all rich embassy people or something, we want all kinds of people, all walks of life to just blow those barriers away and just communicate and be happy together," he says, sounding more yoga instructor than martial arts competitor.
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