We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tien Nguyen a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Tien, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

The name “Formless, Shapeless” was derived from a famous quote by Bruce Lee that reads, “You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can flow and it can crash. Become like water my friend.”

When I was creating a name for the business, I wanted to base it on this philosophy. Mixed martial arts in essence is the creation of all different styles of martial arts. According to Bruce Lee’s philosophy, it is important to become non-binding to traditional martial arts and to always be open minded to other forms and techniques.

Tien, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

As a child, I was bullied for being a minority and always considered martial arts as a way to defend myself. My idols were comic book superheroes and martial arts legend, Bruce Lee. He was my first inspiration to start martial arts at 12 years old.

In 2008, I started training in mixed martial arts with legendary coach Saul Soliz and competed in two amateur competitions. In 2014, after 6 years of working in the oil and gas industry, I was laid off and I decided I wanted to share my passion and love of martial arts with my community.

So, in August 2016, we opened our first location and it remained open for 3.5 years until we had to close due to Covid-19 in July 2020. We were fortunate enough to be able to reopen at our new and present location on Franz and Katy Hockley Cut Off Road, which is right across the street from Katy Middle School

We offer both kickboxing and jiu jitsu classes for adults and children in group classes and private sessions. We also offer a variety of other classes such as self-defense seminars, daycare field trips, and summer camps. Some of our students also train in order to compete in local tournaments and competitions.

Our programs are curated to build confidence, respect, loyalty, integrity, courage, honor and honesty which we emphasize daily as a part of their curriculum. We can be best described as a family oriented martial arts academy where everyone is welcome and pushed to become the best martial artist they can be. The community, culture, and family we cultivate are the things that we are most proud of. Whether a child is being bullied, a woman wants to learn self-defense, an adult wants to lose weight and get in shape, or a family wants to learn martial arts together, we have a solution for everyone.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think that our curriculum and focus on families is what helps our reputation the most. My martial arts background and training with the late Saul Soliz has helped the most with understanding what it takes to train to be the best you can be.

When training children, we emphasize the importance of values and explain why training martial arts is not just learning how to punch, kick, or choke someone unconscious. Children are tested on their comprehension of these values and parents understand that behavior in and out of the academy is mandatory if they wish to be promoted within our systems.

Lastly, our students are the best ambassadors for the business and our brand. Not only that they give the best reviews and recommendations to their friends, but they are always welcoming new students and make them feel that they can relate to their concerns and apprehensions.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

When Covid-19 started spreading across the country in 2020, we had been open for 3.5 years. 2020 was supposed to be the year that we really started to see significant growth in our membership rate.  Unfortunately, after spring break we had to close our doors. We started to do small classes and even had online classes but found that those options were unsustainable. The future for our business was grim and we broke our lease, moved our equipment out, and closed our doors.

In 2021, many martial arts schools remained closed and only a few left their doors open and took the risk of operating during a global pandemic. I sought guidance from Saul Soliz as he was also experiencing the same struggles we, as martial arts gym owners, were facing at the time.

After months of searching, we finally found our new location in Katy, directly across from Katy Middle School. We had our re-grand opening in July 2021 but we were soon struck with tragedy when my coach Saul Soliz passed away only a few months later.

Saul Soliz was one of the biggest inspirations in my life and after he passed away, we dedicated a part of the academy to him. Our students know that what they are learning was once taught to me by him. Life throws you curveballs and the pandemic was probably the biggest one in our lifetime. Everyone was affected and we must not take anything for granted.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.fsmmafitness.com
• Instagram: fsmmafitness
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fsmmakaty
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkzhiOYli3E6XpO6E4Q71xg