The end of World War II signaled a chain of events that led to the political division of Vietnam into north and south. The north were commies, and the south were capitalists... the US enters to back the south, Forest Gump gets shot in the buttocks, the US leaves, and the country is reunited as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Though the political divide was bridged in 1971, a cultural divide continues to exist in 2013. And while the war wasn't the cataclysmic event that sent Vietnam on two different cultural projections, it did widen the already existing cultural gap between north and south. This cultural difference is especially visible in how each side views foreigners and foreign influence; which in turn affects the development of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in each region.
As a whole, jiu jitsu in Vietnam remains in its infantile stage. The sport was first introduced in the south about six years ago, and few Vietnamese people know of jiu jitsu.The only places to train are either in Ho Chi Minh City in the south or Hanoi in the north. Though both cities share significant similarities in in how new BJJ is, one can't help but notice the differences in the availability of training and technical level between the BJJ scenes in Hanoi and HCMC.
To me, visiting such a raw jiu jitsu environment felt exciting. It reminded me of the stories I’ve heard about the rough and tough early days of jiu jitsu in America. Back when people trained in garages, YMCA gyms, on grass lawns and carpet, or even hardwood floors. In a sense, it felt like I was witnessing the growth of Vietnam's own dirty dozen. Because Jiu Jitsu is still so new, few Vietnamese people know of the sport, and unlike other South East Asian countries, Vietnam does not have a rich history of martial arts. Some traditional martial arts do exist, but for the most part people don't train in them. Even boxing and Muay Thai were outlawed for years for being too brutal and "anti-socialist." As a result, Vietnamese people don't show as much interest in training in martial arts like BJJ. Hence why the BJJ scene in Vietnam is vastly made up of expats. The high cost of gym dues in proportion to the average Vietnamese wage also hurts Vietnamese sign ups. One gym, Hanoi BJJ, focuses on spreading BJJ among local Vietnamese, and keeps the price at 10 dollars a month to attract local natives. This price covers the facility rent but doesn't turn out a profit.
All of the advanced practitioners living in Vietnam developed their BJJ skills outside of Vietnam. Some are ethnic Vietnamese who lived abroad and returned home, but most are expats coming to work in Vietnam. This makes it difficult for gyms to hold down advanced trainers and sparring partners since they tend to leave after completing their employment obligations. BJJ Hanoi member, Da Nwang says,"the problem with foreigners in Hanoi is [that] people don’t stick here.” This gym started out with a purple belt instructor from Australia about 3 years ago. Unfortunately, the gym has been without a trainer for the last year and a half. In the south, Snake Pit Jiu Jitsu was without an instructor for one year while its founder returned to the US to develop his own game.
Another thing both the north and south have in common is the lack of female practitioners. Even though the first ever homegrown Vietnamese fighter to earn a medal in a big international tournament was a lady, women practitioners are rare. Almost every gym has a story of a few female students joining up and then leaving, and the only female practitioner I was able to meet was an expat. However, I did hear of a few places that had Vietnamese women practicing. The general consensus is that Vietnamese women find the close quarters nature of jiu jitsu unsettling. House of Laughter gym owner, Aaron Gardiner says, "When women come in and see a bunch of big dudes lying on each other, they are never keen." Vietnamese people in general tend to feel uncomfortable with the physical contact of grappling, and it can be even harder for a woman to get over. However, everyone I talked to said they would welcome any female fighter. Though there was a tone of "We respect female practitioners and we welcome them, but we have to take it easy on them since they're weaker and smaller than men." But it would be unfair to single out Vietnam when this sentiment is heard all around the world.
While it's true that BJJ is new throughout all of Vietnam, it should be noted that Hanoi jiu jitsu and HCMC jiu jitsu are on two different stages in development. This contrast due to cultural differences between north and south, but also The Vietnam War intensifying a deeply seeded distrust of foreigners, especially westerners, in the north. Throughout the nation's history, the north and south have always been culturally different in fashion, architecture, and food. Traditionally, southerners think of themselves as being more multicultural, more open minded, and more spontaneous. All qualities that would convince someone to try BJJ. While in the north people see themselves as more tranquil, more traditional, and less trusting of foreigners. Qualities that may inhibit someone from trying a foreign martial art.
The north and south have had two very different histories of dealing with foreigners, especially westerners. Northern distrust of foreigners stems from fighting back the Chinese in the early years of Vietnamese history. Southern multiculturalism stems from the fact that the region has always been an ethnically diverse area. Even after the French took over in the late 1800's, Saigon (modern day Ho Chi Minh) was remade in French fashion, and the aristocratic classes happily accepted their city's title of "The Paris of Asia." Then in 1954 Ho Chi Minh rode a nationalist tide (in combination with terror tactics) to drive out the French and established a Communist state in the north. Soon the nation was in full blown Civil War with the Americans taking over for the French in backing the South both economically and militarily. Many southerners, mainly Catholics and political elites, were happy to accept the foreign aid and protection, thus fueling the north's distrust of foreigners and the south's bond with the west.
The Vietnam War built on an already established mistrust of foreigners in the north; thus making the north less accepting of foreign culture. Throughout Vietnam, but especially in the north, there exists a resentment of Americans and westerners for the war. While in the south, people are used to seeing different faces and incorporating foreign ideas. Hence, it is no wonder that the south has a more developed Brazilian Jiu Jitsu scene than the north; especially since most of the people bringing jiu jitsu over are either Australian, North American, or Japanese.
Today, South Vietnam is home to multiple gyms that offer grappling. These gyms are generally more established than those in the north, and generally have higher level instruction. Northerners tend to believe that the south is more appealing to foreign trainers because of the ample tourist traps, bars, and an all around more multicultural atmosphere available in HCMC. For example, Long Ngyuen's gym, VietFighter, is the longest established gym in Hanoi (3 years old). It is a top notch training facility with exercise machines, two floors of mat space, and a big reception lobby, but even VietFighter's excellent facilities are out done by Saigon Sports Club's full fight gear store, swimming pool, ample mat space, and air conditioning!
Ho Chi Minh City is home to lots of purple, brown, and black belts; making it easy to find good sparing partners and coaches. Snake Pitt Jiu Jitsu's instructor, Son "Snake" Duong (purple belt) had to return to the US to develop his skills with other high level sparing partners. So obviously HCMC isn't exactly a Mecca for top level grapplers, but compared to the north, HCMC is definitely further along in terms of experienced instruction. HCMC not only offers experienced jiu jitsu instructors, but experienced instructors from all sorts of grappling arts. Everything from MMA based Jiu Jitsu to Lucha Libre (could we one day have a Vietnamese Saku?) can be found in HCMC. Just the wide variety in grappling arts alone serves as another example of HCMC's multiculturalism, and even though these other grappling arts aren't BJJ, the grappling community as a whole is very tightly knit.
BJJ practitioners in Hanoi don't generally work or train together. The ability to lay down the foundation for the future BJJ scene in Hanoi perhaps proved too tempting for the first gym owners to pass up. In a wide open field like Hanoi, it seems easier for trainers to just start up their own gyms rather than compromise with another trainer's vision. But in the south, jiu jitsu gyms and other grappling gyms all seem to work closely together.
Saigon Sports Center started an open mat available to grappling gyms within the city. One of the gyms present there was Johnny Ngyuen’s Martial Arts Academy. Ngyuen, a Vietnamese national who learned jiu jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts while living in the United States, is an action movie star using his fame to spread MMA and grappling in Vietnam. The majority of his students are Vietnamese, and he tells me the grappling class gets the most attention. He explains, "they don't know what [MMA] is and they don't know what grappling is... but the fastest thing that they catch on is not striking, it's grappling... I think it's just a basic instinct. Everybody knows how to wrestle. As little kids [they did] it." And even though Ngyuen's main focus is MMA, he still takes time to grow the grappling community by bringing his students to open mats to roll.
Johnny Ngyuen is not alone; every gym owner I spoke to told me that passion for the sport rather than money was the motivation behind opening their business. Most of the gym owners I spoke to supplemented their incomes with a day job, and wanted nothing more than to see the sport of BJJ grow. Though at first glance growing the sport of jiu jitsu in Vietnam seems daunting, but I like to think of the guys at BJJ Hanoi who find the time to train with each other despite the lack of an instructor, and follow online BJJ courses and instructionals to keep themselves sharp. Or the guys from Snake Pitt who waited patiently for a year for their instructor to return, and happily welcomed any high level guys to come by and teach moves.
Should the sport grow in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh, jiu jitsu may act as a cultural bridge between practitioners in the north and in the south. Because at the end of the day, jiu jitsu penetrates through any cultural differences we may have. When I showed up to train with these guys I wasn't an American, I wasn't a Mexican, I was another Jiu Jitsu practitioner. Any language or cultural barrier gets thrown out after a roll. We went from simple getting-to-know-you conversations to "let me show you a good way to strangle motherfuckers." We bounced ideas off each other, I helped them with issues they had rolling, and a good roll was recognized with a big smile and a handshake. It didn't matter what language we spoke, what food we ate, or what religion we practiced, all that mattered was the roll. When training, it doesn't matter if you're a northerner or southerner, or an expat or national; at that moment you're just a guy on the mat.
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