Thinking about moving back to BA

[Lincoln]

I spent a few years in Buenos Aires back in the 90's. I really enjoyed it, learned the language, loved the people, food, culture, and all that.

Since then I've moved around quite a bit from the US, Mexico, Mongolia, Singapore, and China. My wife is deliberating Korea or India next. I love traveling, but I've been itching to move back to Argentina for a long time.

The thing is, I need a good reason to make a move. Last time I was there the country was in a huge economic upheaval. So what I really want to know is how's the expat job market in Argentina right now?

I'm American- in my early 30's, married, no kids. Fluent in castellano, even been mistaken for a native a few times. (Some Portuguese, Italian, and Mandarin too if that matters) BA in Spanish, minors in Health and Human Performance, and a AS in Fitness technology. I currently work part time at a university in Shanghai teaching English writing classes. The rest of the time, I work as a personal fitness trainer, martial arts instructor, and professional fighter competing all over southeast Asia (MMA, Sanda, K1, Muay Thai).

You can make a good living on that skill set in China, but I have no idea how that translates in Argentina in the year 2011. Plus realistically, I've only got a few years left I can keep up the prize fighter thing before my body starts really hating me for it. So I've got to make some plans for the long term.

Ideally I'd love to set up a gym for Mixed Martial Arts, jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, sanda, boxing, etc... and coach full time for a living.

I tried setting up shop here, but the People's Republic of China isn't big on private ownership of business by foreign entities (possible, just not easy or affordable), so I'm just working for a locally owned gym at the moment.

Any idea what kind of market there is for combat sports training down there (both local and expat)? Or for that matter what you have to go through to own a legitimate business in BA?

Any input is welcome, especially if it's honest. Thanks in advance.

 

[elhombresinnombre]

Hello and welcome.

To take your last question first,

what you have to go through to own a legitimate business in BA?

I'm sure David won't mind my flagging up this thread http://baexpats.org/expat-life/13010-buenos-aires-not-faint-hearted.html

Since you are a fighter - of the mental and spiritual kind - this need not put you off - much!

The site owners have just launched a wiki - thank you site owners! - but it is so absolutely brand new that it hasn't been populated yet. In the meantime a search through the forum on visas and employment etc should trawl through most of the things you want to know.

But read that thread I flagged up (above) first, eh?

 

[ghost]

Things here are much different than they were in th 90s. However your fight skills will serve you well as you walk the streets.
Producing a good income in Argentina has become increasingly difficult regardless of ones skill set.

 

[Lincoln]

Thanks for the input!

Sounds like things haven't changed too much then. I got mugged a few times when I lived there. And the average wage for an unskilled laborer was around US $10 a day- unemployment was really high, lots of factories closed down. Most locals I knew didn't have much discretionary income. But most of the expats I knew were pretty well off.

How's the socio-economic divide nowadays?

I have to add this though- hand to hand fighting skills don't do much good when you've got a pistol pointed at you. I usually used the old 'give em your wallet and walk away alive' technique. Worked every time.

I'm just trying to get an idea if there's a viable market for fitness & combat sports training right now in B.A.

Are there many MMA gyms there? If any?

 

[SingForAbsolution]

I know there is a chain of Muay Thai gyms around BA. It's pretty legit and they make regular trips to Thailand for training and travel to many tournaments around South America. I recall seeing some flyers around Flores advertising an upcoming mma fight, so it seems to exist, but not at all as popular as in the US and Asia. Argentines just don't seem to be into that sort of violence as a spectacle.

I think it could actually work out for you. Many expats and college kids studying abroad would probably be interested in having a place to train down here. You would probably have more success attracting porteños if you emphasize the fitness aspect rather than the sport and competition. I haven't seen any other mma gyms, so you certainly wouldn't get much competition in the business sense.

 

[LAtoBA]

Thanks for the input!

Sounds like things haven't changed too much then. I got mugged a few times when I lived there. And the average wage for an unskilled laborer was around US $10 a day- unemployment was really high, lots of factories closed down. Most locals I knew didn't have much discretionary income. But most of the expats I knew were pretty well off.

How's the socio-economic divide nowadays?

I have to add this though- hand to hand fighting skills don't do much good when you've got a pistol pointed at you. I usually used the old 'give em your wallet and walk away alive' technique. Worked every time.

I'm just trying to get an idea if there's a viable market for fitness & combat sports training right now in B.A.

Are there many MMA gyms there? If any?

While I haven't looked to deep into MMA trainers or gyms yet I do know there is one in Palermo that is very popular. I would argue that it would be hard to make a "good" living here doing what you do like you could in China--labor is just much cheaper here, and as a result much much lower wages. And according to a friend of mine who is very much into MMA there is a decent sized MMA community here in Buenos Aires.

Your best bet would be to wait and see what the economic landscape of Argentina looks like after elections in October. It's my opinion that Argentina's "boom" cycle will soon be coming to an end. I don't think you'll see a crash like in 2001 but someone in your profession might be hit hard--Argentines and expats paid in pesos will have much less discretionary income. Inflation is already eating into that discretionary income very quickly. I'd say give it a year and then make a decision.

 

[RichardP]

This is one of the mma gyms that seems to be well-known. It might serve to contact them to see how the market for more trainers looks.
http://www.muaythaigoa.com.ar/index.html

 

[Nadina]

Things have really changed in BA since the 90s. There's hyper-inflation and robberies... But I guess it's happening the same in any country in America Latina. Anyway, with your qualifications, if you made the right contacts, you'd be able to be comfortably well off after some time.
Welcome to BA if you do come. We'll be glad to welcome you.