The altruistic entrepreneur inspiring confidence in a generation through martial arts

Sebastian Bates is an award-winning, bold and compassionate entrepreneur, mentor and thought leader who has grown his business, The Warrior Academy, from a single club in rural England to a multi-million dollar movement operating out of the UAE aimed to help children overcome adversity and build a more positive future and develop a ‘Black Belt character’.

As a young person, Sebastian was a firm believer in the power of martial arts to overcome adversity, grow in confidence and self-esteem, and develop character. Martial arts guided him through four years of crippling bullying as a teenager and made him the person he is today.

In his twenties, Sebastian began teaching martial arts to children and, working with many young people from challenging backgrounds, he soon spotted a niche. Martial Arts did not just have to be about competition and performance but could be a key to character development for children who did not have many role models or structures to guide them.

This realization ignited the flame of entrepreneurship within Sebastian, and in 2011 The Warrior Academy was born, uniting world-class martial arts tuition with character development training for young people.

Sebastian’s taste for stepping outside his comfort zone was soon tested following a near-fatal BASE-jumping accident in 2014. At just 24 years old, Sebastian was told he’d never walk again and was confined to his parent’s living room for two years during a gruelling recovery for both the body and the mind.

But Sebastian’s inner strength enabled him to defy all the odds and make a full recovery (and then some), learning more about motivation, discipline and mental resilience in that time than many people do in their whole lives. Following his accident and recovery, Sebastian’s passion, ambition and clear natural entrepreneurship spurred him forward to expand The Warrior Academy from the UK to the Middle East into a global, multi-award winning success it is today with 80 clubs across two continents.

He became not only stronger than ever but a true leader.