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While in Poona to fortify a branch of his fitness academy, K11, and to enthuse his students, Kaizzad Capadia’s sudden demise on October 13, 2021 at the age of 49 left his current and past students crestfallen. "Kaizzad was constantly thinking about the development of K11. His constant and untiring efforts to benefit his students has made K11 into a force to reckon with. He lived his life by the philosophy of Kaizen, which means continual improvement,” stated his wife Kalyani who is also the chief executive officer of K11.
"Kaizzad has laid an extremely strong foundation and all of us at K11 are carrying ahead the mantle,” she added when responding to queries from Parsiana. Their K11 School of Fitness Sciences founded nearly two decades ago is currently operational across seven major cities of India: with full-fledged schools in Bombay, Poona, Delhi and Ahmedabad and practical laboratories (dedicated gym floors) in Calcutta, Guwahati and Kochi. In the coming months K11 will have a presence in Bangalore and other cities. "Kaizzad’s dream for K11 was instilled as a seed in all his team members and all the heads of departments whom Kaizzad had made into stakeholders back in 2018-19,” his wife alluded to his foresight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since the majority of their students hail from middle to lower middle class groups, the National Skill Development Corporation under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has invested eight crore rupees for K11 to open schools pan India and to shoulder the responsibility of generating a 55,000 strong skilled workforce in the fitness industry in the next 10 years, according to their website keleven.com. Their schools in Bombay and Ahmedabad have seen a good number of Parsi students, some of them from Surat, who are now faring well in the industry, reported Kalyani.
Internationally accredited by Pearson Assured (a service that independently benchmarks and verifies the training provided by various organizations) since 2018, K11 has earned acclaim as India’s first globally recognized fitness education provider enabling its diploma holders to practice professionally not only in India but also in the UAE, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Poland and Ireland. Technologically savvy, during the pandemic Kaizzad introduced the Attend Class From Home module that enabled fitness education to continue. Currently, students are given the option of attending class from home or school.
Respected as "the trainers’ trainer,” Kaizzad would be frequently consulted by film personalities and business people. However, he would always advise his students not to hanker after being celebrity trainers but become celebrities in their own right. For him, a good fitness regimen, irrespective of age, needed to result in improvement of five elements: cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance, musculoskeletal strength, flexibility and ideal body composition. Setting up of gyms for third parties also being K11’s forte, Kaizzad believed, "A good gym has to allow for evolution from the beginner, to intermediate to advanced, all at the same place,” (see "The trainers’ trainer,” Parsiana, May 7, 2015). K11’s current partnership with Being Strong, India’s leading gym equipment manufacturer, has seen them expand this component of their business across the country.
"I was always testing my strength. Even when I was a kid I would always want to pick up the largest stone or arm wrestle with the biggest kid in class,” Kaizzad had related in his interview with Parsiana. Despite his average 5’4’’ structure he dreamt of being Mr Universe! His first providential entry to a gym was at age 15 to meet a friend. Within three months he was working out four hours a day, almost daily, but without supervision. By the age of 21 he had already won the body building titles of Junior Mr Bombay and Junior Mr Maharashtra. Subsequently he also won the Mr Bombay title in 2005 and 2010 and had reached the state level finals in 2008.
Born to Sheroo and Farrokh Capadia, Kaizzad had studied at Singhania School and subsequently at St Xavier’s and Ruia Colleges. He then joined Tata Steel in Jamshedpur under the sports quota but within six months opted to return to Bombay. He chose to explore personal training as a career opportunity after a meeting with Madhukar Talwalkar who owned a chain of gymnasiums. An invitation to set up Exert, a 2,500 sq ft gymnasium, for Anu and Haroun Yusuf offered another breakthrough in his fledgling career.
Pursuing his fitness dream, in mid-2002, he partnered with Devki Khimji who had the business acumen while he brought in the technical expertise to start K11, named after Kaizzad/Khimji and their group of 11 core professionals. Prior to that both passed their Certified Fitness Professional exams conducted by the American Council of Exercise.
Parsis have a "pretty good genetic pool (although there are) less and less fit people these days,” observed Kaizzad. While in sync with the Zoroastrian philosophy of good thoughts, words and deeds, Kaizzad preferred to wear the sudreh and kusti only when visiting fire temples. The couple having adopted nearly half a dozen dogs, Kalyani continues to support strays.