Behind the Build (TNT Combat Lab): What It Really Takes to Create Something From Nothing

Everybody sees the finished product. Nobody sees the late nights, the self-doubt, the messy middle, the part where you’re not even sure if any of it is going to work out.

But before we get into it, let me be clear about one thing: TNT Combat Lab is not a finished product. It’s an ongoing one. A living, evolving thing that I’m still building toward the best version I believe it can reach. So let’s talk about how we got here.

The Dream That Sat in the Back of My Head for 10 Years

I’ve been thinking about starting an MMA gym since around 2014-2015. Got really serious about it in 2018-2019. But life happened, financial pressure, wrong priorities, distractions, and I kept pushing the goal further down the road.

The funny thing is, looking back, combat sports were always there for me. Growing up, Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson were my idols. There was something about them that went beyond fighting, the discipline, the belief, the way they carried themselves. 

I never told anyone, but deep down I wanted to be like them. I even bought Boxing and Judo tutorial books when I was 14. Never got to practice it, though. No guidance, no one to point me in the right direction, and I never told my parents because I kept that world locked inside me. 

I liked living in my own world.

So that dream just sat there, quietly, for years.

Then in 2025, it came back to me, and this time, it felt like it was meant to happen.

How TNT Combat Lab Actually Started

TNT Combat Lab wasn’t originally mine. It was started by my brother-in-law, and back then, it was called TNT MMA Club.

I was the first person to encourage him when he came up with the idea. And I was also the first person to pay him a full one-year membership upfront, and the 12-month fee in advance, just to help him get the gym off the ground.

When a few months later he started looking for either a sale or a partnership, that’s when I stepped in and came on as a partner with 40% ownership.

Then, not long after, he decided he wanted to exit completely to focus on his existing fitness gym, where he and his wife also run Zumba classes, and honestly, that was a smart call on his part.

And that’s how I became the sole owner.

Here’s the reality, though – by the time full ownership landed in my lap, the gym was still in its infancy. No real structure. No system. No clear plan for the future. I could see immediately that if nothing changed, it wasn’t going anywhere. It needed someone to actually build it, not just run it.

That became my job.

Why I Actually Did This (It Wasn’t the Money)

Let me be honest about something most people don’t admit when they’re starting a business.

I’ve been doing business since 2012. Did well in the early years. But I never learned how to hold on to money or grow it. Bad habits, wrong choices, chasing the wrong things, it all caught up with me eventually. 

I tried a lot of different hustles over the years, learned a lot along the way, but the kind of wealth I was chasing never really came.

And that’s partly why I kept delaying the gym for so long. The numbers don’t lie, around 50% of gyms in India close within a few years because they either barely break even or never do at all. It’s even harder for MMA Gyms as it’s still a new sport in the Indian context.

Note: Don’t believe the Google results when you search for the data; most blogs appearing there are either a gym franchise or a gym software that wants to sell something to your gym.

I knew a gym wasn’t going to make me rich. So I kept looking elsewhere.

But there’s a realization that eventually hits you, usually after you’ve spent enough time running after things that don’t fit you: build what you love.

Combat sports have always been my first love. And beyond that, I saw a real gap in our town. There’s never been a boxing club here. No serious martial arts academy except for a few Taekwondo setups with a small number of kids enrolled. 

Nothing for young people or adults who actually want to train, compete, and grow.

I wanted to change that. I wanted to bring a different kind of fitness culture to this town, one that isn’t just about building muscle or looking good. Something that builds reflexes, discipline, and mindset. 

Something that teaches you to defend yourself when the moment calls for it. Something that makes you stronger from the inside out.

As for money and profit? 

I made peace with keeping that secondary – as long as we could break even and keep improving over time, I was in.

The Messy Middle (This Is Where Most People Quit)

Nobody talks about this part enough, so I will.

Running a gym, or honestly any small business, is a constant negotiation between your vision and your reality. And the gap between the two can be exhausting.

• Time is the first battle. There are never enough hours. You’re managing the space, the coaches, the students, the marketing, the accounts, the equipment, and still trying to train yourself and show up for your family. Most days, you’re doing five jobs at once without the title or the pay for any of them.

• People will test your patience. Coaches call in for personal reasons. Students come late, leave early, or lose their focus. Two of our coaches had to take leave at the same time just last month. I had to step in with some senior students to keep the classes running. No warning, no plan B – just figure it out. I saw something like this coming a long time ago, which is exactly why I train hard myself. You can’t lead what you can’t do.

• Late payments will be a regular problem. This one’s uncomfortable, but it’s real. In a gym setting, students sometimes go months without paying. You don’t want to stop someone’s training, but at some point, that kindness becomes a problem for the whole gym. If you don’t address it early, even when the conversation feels awkward, it becomes the norm. You have to set a fee structure and actually enforce it. Politely, but firmly.

• Most local businesses here don’t treat their business like a business. I’ve noticed this across the board, not just in gyms but in general across Arunachal Pradesh. People set up a shop, wait for money to come in, and call it done. No reinvestment. No marketing. No systems. No thought about the future. Think about it, if a potential customer searches “gyms near me” on Google or even asks ChatGPT for a recommendation, is your business going to show up? For most local businesses here, the answer is no. And that gap is only going to grow if nothing changes.

What I’m Learning: Systems, Tools, and Staying Visible

Before you worry about which tools to use or what to post online, get clear on something more fundamental first: How do you want your business to operate? Are you making money or losing it? What do your customers actually want?

Answer those questions. Then plan. Then execute. Then update and upgrade as you go. And remember, a business is never a one-time setup. It’s a living thing. You have to keep feeding it.

Once you’ve got that mindset in place, the tools make more sense. Here’s what I currently use at TNT Combat Lab:

• Website & Hosting: All my websites, including TNT’s, are built on WordPress and hosted with WPX. It’s on the pricier side, but the speed and support are worth it. If you want something more budget-friendly, Hostinger is a solid alternative. (I’ll drop a link to learn more about WordPress and hosting here.)

• Accounting: Zoho Books for managing invoices, tracking expenses, and, most importantly, keeping a clear eye on cash flow and profit and loss. Know your numbers. Always. You can’t fix what you can’t see.

• Professional Email: Zoho Mail for a proper business email address. I know most people use Gmail, and there’s nothing wrong with it personally. But for a business, a professional email builds trust instantly, especially now when there are so many scammers using generic email addresses. It’s a small thing that makes a real difference.

• Extra Income: Amazon Associates and a few other affiliate programs help bring in some additional money on the side. (More on affiliate marketing here.)

• AI Tools: Google Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude. We live in an era where answers are literally at your fingertips. Use them. For content ideas, business strategy, planning, and writing. AI can save you hours every week if you use it right. Businesses that ignore these tools now will feel it later.

Why You Should Share Your Journey – Even When It Feels Pointless

Here’s something most small business owners in our area haven’t figured out yet: social media is the cheapest and most powerful marketing tool that has ever existed.

There was a time when reaching new customers meant buying newspaper ads or booking spots on local TV channels. That era is mostly over. Today, the playing field is open. A small gym in Aalo can reach people just as easily as a big brand, if you’re willing to show up online consistently.

The biggest excuse I hear is, “I don’t know what to post” or “I’m not a content creator.” Here’s the good news – you don’t have to be. You don’t need a viral video. You don’t need professional editing or a ring light setup. 

You just need to share what’s already happening. Post your students’ training, your operations, etc. Talk about your journey. Share a lesson you learned this week. That’s content. That’s enough.

And here’s the bigger reason it matters: people now search for businesses online. Someone in Aalo looking for a gym will Google “gyms near me.” Some will ask ChatGPT or Gemini. 

If your business has no online presence – no website, no social media activity, no content, it simply won’t show up. It’s like having a shop with no signboard in a place no one walks past.

Creating content around your business is how you become discoverable. And sharing your journey honestly is one of the easiest ways to create that content, because you’re not making anything up, you’re just talking about what you’re already living.

I’ll dive deeper into websites, SEO, and local discoverability in a future article.

Training Like My Life Depends On It (Because in a Way, It Does)

Let me talk about why I train the way I do, because I think it matters.

Being an MMA gym owner without a competitive fighting background is a real challenge. 

I’ve done some kickboxing, trained alone for years, and completed the TJ Dillashaw Fit and Fight Ready program – which genuinely helped me understand how to structure workouts, build conditioning, and work on footwork and drills. But I won’t pretend that replaces years of actual competition experience. It doesn’t.

So I make up for it by outworking the gap.

I train almost like a full-time fighter, not because I’m trying to compete, but because I need to be ready to step in when needed, which, as I mentioned earlier, already happened. And more than that, I believe you can’t ask your students to commit to something you’re not committed to yourself.

There’s also a deeper personal reason for all of this.

For years, fitness was on and off for me, mostly because of alcoholism. In 2018, I ruptured a disc in my lower back and kept it untreated for too long. My body started compensating, my posture shifted, and I was walking and standing at an angle just to manage the pain. 

By the time I finally saw a physiotherapist, it had taken months to stand straight again. The uneven hip is still slightly there today. Even after that, I couldn’t stand for more than 10-15 minutes without serious pain. That went on for over three years.

I started running anyway. Then strength training. Then kickboxing. And slowly, gradually, it got better. Today I can stand, move, and kick for hours. 

That transformation is why training isn’t optional for me; it’s personal. This year, I’m adding wrestling and grappling to my routine in a smart, structured way.

And then there’s my elder son, who just turned 10. I take him to the gym every working day. I want him to grow up strong, physically and mentally. But how do you ask your son to show up every day if you’re not showing up yourself? 

You can’t. So I don’t give myself a choice.

Being fit also means I can actually be present for my family – not just alive, but active and engaged. That matters more than any trophy.

Where TNT Is Heading

Right now, we have a small but growing group of students. But I know it won’t stay that way for long.

We had a rough start in our first tournament outing – one win from five contestants. But we had only been training for two months, so that result was expected. What matters is what happened next.

At the RFC (Rhino Fighting Championship) in December, we won 5 out of 7 fights. Two of those wins came from a single student. The two fights we lost – one was a split decision, the other was a takedown error that came down to inexperience. That’s not failure. That’s growth you can measure.

This year, the goal is to compete more, win more, and bring in more people from the area to train. We’re also working on upgrading our equipment and bringing in new tools to push students further.

We’re also in the planning stages of launching an annual tournament – Aalo Addison. More details on that soon.

And the bigger dream? 

In the next five years, I want Aalo to be known as a fight camp hub. Maybe the fight capital of Arunachal Pradesh. Maybe of the Northeast. Maybe even of India one day. 

Ambitious? Yes. But you have to have a destination before you can start the journey.

We’ll get there one step at a time.

This Is Just the Beginning

If you’ve read this far, you now know more about TNT Combat Lab than most people do – the origin, the struggles, the vision, and the why behind all of it.

I’m not writing this to look good. I’m writing it because I believe there are people in Aalo and across Arunachal Pradesh who are sitting on a dream the same way I sat on mine for 10 years. And maybe reading this will shorten that wait for someone.

If you’re from Aalo, spread the word. Send your kids to train, no pressure to compete, just to get fit, get strong, build some discipline, and grow a mindset that’s ready to face whatever life throws at them. That alone is worth it.

And if you’re building something of your own, a gym, a business, anything, feel free to drop me a message. Let’s talk. The build is always better when you’re not doing it alone.