The Hard Part of Starting a Gym in Tokyo Isn’t Paperwork: The Alma Fight Gym Story
Most owners who daydream about opening a gym abroad picture the same obstacles first: paperwork, bureaucracy, and getting lost in a system they don’t understand.
Grant Bogdanove (owner of Alma Fight Gym) has a different answer.
It’s not the forms.
It’s not the incorporation steps.
It’s not even the culture shock.
It’s the part that’s hard everywhere—just with more constraints layered on top: getting students… and keeping them.
“The hardest thing is, like, getting customers and keeping customers.”
If you want the full episode first, watch the episode.
A Move That Was Supposed To Last “One Or Two Years”
Grant was born in Ithaca, New York, and raised in Iowa. He’s half Japanese—his mom is from Japan—and he grew up visiting often enough that the country never felt like an abstract obsession.
But even with family ties, he didn’t arrive with a ten-year plan.
“It was supposed to be one or 2 years, then move back to America and start getting a life… start getting a real job.”
Like a lot of future gym owners, his real anchor wasn’t a career ladder. It was the mat.
He’d done judo since he was six, wrestled through school, and in college drifted into jiu-jitsu to round out his ground game. He started competing more seriously near the end of college, picking up his black belt in judo and blue belt in jiu-jitsu around the same time.
Then he moved to Japan… and stayed.
“I didn’t really make a conscious decision. I wasn’t really thinking things through so much… just one thing led to another.”
He describes Japan as a place that can make drifting feel easy—especially if you’re a foreigner. You can live in a bubble. You can postpone the “real life” decisions.
And for a while, that’s what he did.
“I was floundering, like, ‘What should I do with my life?’”
That line will land with more owners than people admit. Because many gyms don’t start from confidence—they start from a crossroads.
Why Opening a Gym Became The “Only Logical Choice”
Here’s the part that’s easy to miss if you only look at the surface: Grant didn’t open a gym because he woke up one morning feeling entrepreneurial.
He opened a gym because he hit a professional dead end—and he didn’t want to step backward.
“I had a really good job in Tokyo, and then the time came to part ways.”
He looked at his options. Most of them felt like a pay cut or a downgrade. In his mind, there was one move that felt like forward.
“The only thing I could do to move up… was to open a gym.”
It was always part of the plan… just not that soon.
“I ended up opening this place when I was 26, which was a little earlier than I intended.”
And he’s honest about the outcome: it’s gone well, but it’s not some fantasy “cash machine” story.
“It has gone well for me. Not, like, crazy well…”
That realism matters, because it sets a healthier benchmark for what success can look like—especially abroad, where the market can behave differently than you expect.
The Part About Starting a Gym in Japan That Surprised Him
If you’ve never tried to run a business outside your home country, it’s natural to fear the system.
Japan has a reputation for bureaucracy. Grant doesn’t deny it—but he doesn’t treat it like the boss fight either.
“It’s not that bad… it just takes some time to study… and like consult with people.”
He even mentions that help exists if you look for it—cheap help, sometimes free.
But then he drops the real non-negotiable:
“You have to speak Japanese and, like, be able to read Japanese, like for sure.”
That’s the first filter.
You can outsource accounting. You can hire admin. You can get support for setup steps. But if you can’t operate in the language—or you don’t have a partner/team who can—you’ll be fighting friction every day.
And even if you can navigate the system, you still face the universal gym-owner problem: marketing and retention.
The Demand Reality Most Outsiders Don’t See
One reason “start a gym abroad” content is often useless is because it skips the most important part: The market you’re entering might not behave like the one you’re used to.
Grant is blunt about what he’s up against in Japan.
“People are overworked here… many people in Japan don’t have time for hobbies.”
Even when people do have time, social pressure can shape what they’re willing to do publicly.
He gives one detail that instantly changes how you think about content, referrals, and community visibility:
“When we take a picture at the end of class… they say, ‘I can’t.’ … ‘If someone finds out, like, at my job, I can’t.’”
That means:
- Your “social proof” strategy might need to rely less on faces.
- Your growth might depend more on private referrals than public posts.
- Your schedule and programming have to respect work culture realities.
Even class times reflect it. Grant’s last class starts at 8:00 PM—yet he notes other gyms start their final class at 9:15 PM because people work so late.
Demographics can skew older in Japan, too. He describes an “average” customer as a 40-year-old Japanese man.
But Alma Fight Gym is different in a way that matters: it’s naturally bilingual.
That attracts foreigners and younger students—and it broadens the community. He mentions members from the Philippines, Europe, America, and other parts of Asia, plus college kids, and men in their 50s.
Then he shares a stat he’s proud of:
“Our female to male ratio is, like, one to 4… which I’m very proud of for Japan.”
He also runs a kids program (roughly ages five to thirteen), which adds stability many adult-only gyms struggle to find.
The Early Mistake That Made Growth Harder Than It Needed To Be
If you only take one tactical lesson from Grant’s story, take this one.
He did what a lot of motivated owner-coaches do when they open: He offered too many classes.
“One of the things I did was put classes on, like, every day, which was a mistake.”
If he could rewind:
“If I had to do it over, I would have started with only, like, 3 days a week…”
That might sound counterintuitive. More classes should mean more opportunity, right?
Not early on. Early on, your biggest threat isn’t lack of availability. It’s empty rooms.
When a new student walks in and there are only a couple of people there, it can feel awkward—like they’re being evaluated just for showing up.
Grant ties that to Japanese culture specifically:
“People don’t really like to be the center of attention or stand out…”
But honestly? That feeling exists everywhere. Japan just makes it louder.
Here’s the real principle: In the beginning, density beats frequency.
If you want practical systems for turning first-timers into regulars, these two are solid:
The “Core 10” That Changes Everything
Grant doesn’t glamorize the early grind. He describes it as exactly what most owners live:
“…Eventually we got, like, one regular member and then two…”
And then he names the milestone that created stability:
“We have about 10… super reliable, super consistent members.”
Those 10 people aren’t just attendance. They’re a flywheel.
Grant explains it like this: “Once you get that, like, a core of about ten people, then you could… have 100 people… built around that core…”
This is the type of insight that’s simple—and painfully earned.
Because your “core 10” does what you can’t do alone:
- They make the room feel alive.
- They normalize showing up.
- They teach the culture without you giving a speech.
- They make newcomers feel like they’re joining something real.
If you’re early-stage right now, don’t get distracted by vanity metrics.
Chase your core 10. Everything gets easier after that.
How The Gym Feels Welcoming Without Forcing It
When owners ask “How do I build community?” they usually expect a clever answer. Grant’s answer is almost annoying in how grounded it is.
“I don’t really do much, to be honest.”
He opens the gym. Cleans it. Teaches. But the welcome comes from the members.
“…Our members naturally go and… teach them stuff.”
He describes a scene every owner has seen: a new person arrives and waits awkwardly on the sidelines, not sure where to stand or what to do. In his gym, other members step in without being asked—sometimes they roll, sometimes they just spend five minutes helping.
Then he lands the real point: “It’s really the members that… make the gym atmosphere welcoming…”
That’s what owners should aim for—not “a friendly owner,” but a self-sustaining culture of welcome.
If you want to build that on purpose, keep it simple:
- Pair new people with your calmest regulars.
- Praise helpful behavior in front of the group.
- Make “help the new person” the default, not a special request.
Advice For Starting a Gym Abroad That Actually Holds Up
Grant’s closing advice is refreshingly unromantic—and that’s why it’s useful. He doesn’t frame gym ownership as a “business knowledge” contest.
“It’s not… about being a shrewd businessman…”
Instead, he frames it as something more basic: “It’s about being… a person that people want to come see and learn from and hang out with and train with.”
If you have that, he believes the rest is solvable. And if you don’t have that? You can still own a gym—but you need to hire the missing piece.
“What you’re not good at, you should outsource to somebody who’s… good at it.”
Finally, he defines success in a way most owners feel but rarely say out loud: “If I could live off of this and go on vacation once a year, I’d be happy.”
That’s not “thinking small.” That’s building a gym that supports a life.
About Gymdesk Originals
Gymdesk Originals shares real gym owner stories—the hard parts, the turning points, and the lessons you can use immediately. Watch them all here.
Gym management software that frees up your time and helps you grow.
Simplified billing, enrollment, student management, and marketing features that help you grow your gym or martial arts school.
