We had the good fortune of connecting with Tomer Oz and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tomer, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
People who knows me will always tell you how I look at my career, “make your passion your profession”. I believe that when you pursuing your passion , if you succeed in it or not , you will never fail because you are doing something you enjoy doing.

I personally can not work in a job that I don’t have full motivation to do.
As I dedicated all my life to martial arts, I knew that that will be the source of my income, I pushed to the limits to be the best I could be so I can teach, perform and work on having that life style as my business.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
After a professional training career in Thailand, I decided that my destiny is to teach and open my own gym one day. After intensive training in Bangkok, I got a trainer certificate to teach Muay Thai. About a year after I moved to china to check my options, I heard from friends that the economy is booming there. So I took the trip,  I arrived in Shanghai and realized that all the advice my friend gave me regarding the opportunities were true! I looked for a foreign martial arts schools, kickboxing gyms etc. but have not found any, just very basic and not well maintained gyms, I was so surprised of how in such a big metropolitan city with so many foreign people, the city doesn’t have these programs. In 2008 I opened the first Muay Thai school in Shanghai, I couldn’t speak Chinese or know what the process was like, but I had a goal. I just focused on the goal ( opening my own gym) and the rest just followed.

I had a lot of difficulty on the way, I couldn’t understand the way business was running there, why things operate in certain ways, but step by step I learned and before I knew I had my gym.
within a year I had about 100 students, after another year it reached to 150+ students both foreign and local Chinese. and it grew to 250 students. It was the best business decision I made. following my art.
by doing what I liked and believe in, I got discovered by He Jun from the Jackie Chan team and before I know I am on set with my idol, my childhood hero, Mr. Jackie Chan.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I think that Los Angeles has so many fun areas to hang out, but most importantly it has the beach, I will definitely stay around Venice, Topanga, Malibu etc for hikes , beach activities, coffee shops… but I will often go downtown to eat or to check some new bars in the city.

I am here only a couple of years now and I don’t know many places , I am discovering myself.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would love to give a big shout out to Jackie Chan and his team, especially He Jun ( stunt coordinator) for believing in me, appreciate my martial arts skills, teaching me the art on films and let me join them on an amazing and unforgettable journey. Today the Jackie Chan stunt school is located in Beijing and it gives opportunities to new stunt people who would like to develop their school and work in Asia.

Instagram: tomer.oz

Youtube: https://youtu.be/3r-Fp7nbCrk

Image Credits
Dawa Hong

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