The Emergance of Vietnamese MMA

A former doctor, a movie star, and a former UFC Middleweight Champion make up the 3 lone Mixed Martial Arts instructors in the country of Vietnam. Long Nguyen (doctor) runs the Vietfighter gym in Hanoi, while Johnny Nguyen (movie star) and Dave-muthafuckin-Menne (UFC veteran) run MMA programs in Ho Chi Minh City. The sport's popularity mostly resides among young males living in urban areas, with the majority of the people training, at least while I was there, being expats, because only a few Vietnamese people have any interest in Mixed Martial Arts training. Vietnamese UFC fighters: Cung Le and Nam Phan are fairly popular among young Vietnamese, and with the UFC's recent dip into the Asian market, the popularity of MMA grows everyday. However, since Vietnam doesn't have a history of combat sports it makes it difficult for Vietnamese people to accept MMA. Boxing for example, only recently became re-legalized by the government, and traditional Vietnamese martial arts are practiced for their cultural significance rather than their real life effectiveness. Though there are signs that awareness is growing, the MMA community in Vietnam is very small and is only beginning to plant its roots in the country.

Like Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts is very much a foreign concept. Long and Johnny both learned the sport while living abroad, Long in Australia and Johnny in the United States. The UFC only recently started broadcasting events in Vietnam, and the Cung Le vs Rich Franklin fight was the first event to get a big push in country. Le even visited the Vietnam and gave some seminars to help promote the sport. Most locals don't know much about the sport and few understand how it works. The only advertisement for MMA that I saw was at a foreigner bar in Nah Trang, one of Vietnam's biggest tourists towns.

Though the numbers are small, some Vietnamese people do follow MMA. According to Johnny, "The younger crowd that [is] in touch with the Internet" make up the majority of MMA fans among Vietnamese. In HCMC, Vietnamese locals make up most of Johnny Nguyen's students at the Lien Phong Training Centre. Johnny's celebrity status and notoriety brings in Vietnamese locals that want to learn under the action star. Students at Lien Phong are thrown into MMA off the bat. Students are taught to look for striking opportunities on the ground, and takedowns on the feet. Johnny teaches a pure MMA style. Much like Dave Menne's MMA class at the Saigon Sports Center. On the other hand, Long Nguyen rather develop his students' basic skill sets in both striking and grappling before mixing them together.

The fact that Veitnam doesn't have a long history of martial arts is a tough obstacle to overcome when introducing MMA. There is some interest in the sport, but it's only recently begun to grow. Long Nguyen explains that though people aren't necessarily training in MMA, there is a niche that is drawn to MMA. "There's a big fitness gym... nobody does MMA there, but they have a cage... [it's for] the image." Unfortunately for Long, Vietfighter doesn't have a cage and some potential students are turned off by not getting to live out their idea of MMA training.

The fact that a fitness gym uses the cage as gimmick to attract potential clients can only be good news for the future of MMA in Vietnam. Furthermore, with TUF: China wrapping up its inaugural season, and the UFC doing more and more shows in Asia, MMA in Vietnam can only become more popular; whether or not it will ever be mainstream is another question. "I'd be really happy if it gets really really popular... [but] honestly I just don't know," says Long. The future of the sport lies in the younger generation. Through online media and Johnny Nguyen's action movies, anyone can be introduced to MMA. Potential fans can follow their favorite fighters on twitter, learn about future bouts on MMA news-sites, and watch fight videos. Should these guys and gals feel curious enough to try the sport out, Long Nguyen, Johnny Nguyen, and Dave Menne are there to help them explore this emerging sport. But before anyone gets on the mat to train, interest in the sport has to take root. Hopefully with the UFC's expansion into Asia, Vietnamese folk can learn to appreciate the excitement of MMA as either fans or future fighters.

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Behold the Superfluous: The Great Gi vs No-Gi Debate

One of the best things about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is how unique everyone's experience can be. Because everyone has such an individualized perspective on the sport, arguing and debates have spurred up about all sorts of silly things including what one should wear while practicing. The founders of BJJ all started training wearing a Judo kimono, or commonly referred to as a "gi." Over the years people began questioning the usefulness of the gi. (If you are new to BJJ and have no clue what I’m talking about, please read this cleverly titled article written by one of the baddest BJJ practitioners I've ever met: Valerie Worthington.) Traditionalists insist that training Gi is the only measure of one’s true technical ability; while No-Gi only proponents see the Gi game as outdated or boring. In all honesty, both sides make good points, and in my personal experience, I found that Gi helps my No-Gi game. However, that’s my personal experience. If traveling around and training with a bunch of people has taught me anything, it’s that Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a unique experience that develops from each individual’s body type, goals, priorities, environment, culture, background, and all sorts of contextual variables that surround the practitioner. Thus, Whether or not the gi is better comes down to a matter of opinion. Each style offers different puzzles for the practitioner to try and solve, and in the end, those who pick a single side are choosing to ignore a whole different look at BJJ. Furthermore, being shut off about either style kinda goes against the open-minded nature of BJJ in the first place.

To truly understand the benefits of either style, one must understand what is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The whole idea behind martial arts in general comes down to the fact that technical awareness of leverage, timing, and positioning maximize the chances of a smaller/weaker person being able to defend themselves and even beat a bigger, stronger, and all around scarier opponent. What sets BJJ apart is that we get to try this out at full speed every time we practice. Without going into the rich history of the sport, BJJ comes down to being able to subdue an opponent in a way in which one can minimize the benefits of strength, size, and athleticism. If we accept this as one of the fundamental truths of jiu jitsu, we find that both Gi and No-Gi are just two different roads to Rome. The goal is to submit, the goal is to control, the goal is to defend. To achieve these goals, students of BJJ need to develop the technical skills to minimize the benefits of an opponent’s athleticism, but athleticism helps a lot… A LOT.

I’ve heard both sides stake the claim that the other style gives athletic opponents an unfair advantage. I can personally say I’ve been tossed around and beaten up by stronger/faster guys in both styles; I’ve had guys grab me by the gi and rag doll me, and I’ve had guys explode out of positions without a gi. To argue that whether or not one wears a gi is the reason athletic people beat you up sounds hollow to me. Wouldn't a better approach be to become so technically sound that one could out maneuvering a stronger guy or gal regardless of what he or she wears? In my opinion, each style can teach us different ways to out-wit athletically gifted opponents.

While the gi does give strong guys grips to help control weaker opponents, it also gives weaker guys more leverage to help escape disadvantageous positions. Everyone that rolls with a gi has experienced the difficulty in trying to get a big hulking brute to break their hold on you. It’s not easy, and at times it is just plain impossible. This reality forces the weaker practitioner to rely on proper technique and leverage to out maneuver a big gorilla. Those same grips that keep smaller guys from advancing can be used against the bigger guys, and the gi can be used to give a weaker but more skilled practitioner the extra control or torque he or she needs to advance position.

In the gi, one has to learn to be patient and use their core and limbs in harmony to wear down monsters, create space, or attack. Being explosive will always be beneficial in jiu jitsu, however it is far more difficult to explode through an opponent's guard or out from under a guy when they are strong and grab your gi. Without being able to rely on one’s explosiveness, one must be able to use proper technique to win; for these reasons Gi matches are much slower than No-Gi, which a lot of people find boring. Here we find ourselves at a juncture of opinion, people who like to roll at a fast pace rather train No-Gi. Those who like a methodical game of "body-chess" generally prefer Gi.

It is important to note that patience and leverage are HIGHLY important in No-Gi; moreover, using the gi as a tool to zone in on that aspect of the game is a smart way to train. Thus it’s understandable why some people argue that the gi is a good tool to better one’s all around grappling; just how good of a tool it is, is again a matter of opinion. Of course the best way to improve your No-Gi game is to practice No-Gi, but throwing in a little Gi from time to time may help.

In No-Gi, it is much easier for fast/explosive people to slip out of disadvantageous positions and into dominant positions, making it much harder to control explosive athletes. Furthermore, while strong guys won't have the gi to anchor down on, strength and size are still tough obstacles to overcome in No-Gi. All that changes is the approach one has to take to beat bigger opponents. Without the cloth to create more friction and without the grips to slow guys down, explosive dudes and dudettes are difficult to beat. It is even tougher when the gi isn’t there to soak up sweat, thereby making an opponent more slippery and harder to control. A BJJ practitioner who isn’t athletic or fast will have trouble utilizing his or her offense against someone who is, here the emphasis in No-Gi turns to timing and again to proper technique. When you know your opponent is explosive, it is easier to time their explosion than to try and stop it. Once you get the timing down, one uses proper positioning and leverage to use the opponent’s own momentum against them, laying traps and securing a position or submission. The gi gives the weaker person more torque and leverage to push back against a stronger person's push, but without the gi it's better to deflect  that energy using good timing. Thus, just like the gi helps hone patience and leverage, No-Gi helps a grappler focus on their timing, and timing an opponent is a crucial part of grappling in general (including Gi Jiu Jitsu).

Training in both can absolutely help one’s all around grappling game, but in the end, which style one prefers should be focused on. Though Gi training helps No-Gi, and vice versa, the only way to get better at a specific style of BJJ is to train in that style often and consistently; however it is beneficial to throw in a new look from time to time. But all these points are moot when someone just plain doesn’t like training in the other style, and that’s fine. Gi does get slow, and No-Gi doesn’t have as many attacks like gi chokes and lapel sweeps. In the end it comes down to a matter of opinion, if you like Gi: great, if you like No-Gi: great, if you like both: great. I would encourage people to give both a try to make up their minds. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at its core is about being open minded, trying new things, failing and trying again, picking up tools and letting some go. To look down at someone for having a different view of the game doesn’t promote the sport nor does it grow the community; after all we are all students of the game, some just wear a different uniform to class.

Thus Spoke Language Fight

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Gym Spotlight: K-1 Fitness and Fight Factory (Phnom Penh, Cambodia)

Cambodia’s capital city Phnom Penh has a lot to offer travelers: happy pizza, beautiful palaces and temples, 2 dollar jugs of beer, and just south of the big soccer stadium, a world class martial arts and fitness academy. K-1 Fight Factory is home to some of South East Asia’s top kick boxers and Mixed Martial Artists. The gym opened in 2010 and is owned and operated by David Minetti. Minetti’s accolades include: Black Belt 1^st Dan in Tae Kwon Do, 2^nd Dan in Kick Boxing and Mauy Thai, European MMA champion, and French Kick Boxing and Mauy Thai champion from 1993 to 1999. He’s also an experienced gym owner and coach having a successful gym in Vietnam. The success of his Vietnamese gym inspired him to expand into neighboring Cambodia.

Minetti’s hopes to spread the sport of MMA among the local Khmer population, but for now expats make up the majority of the students at K-1. The gym offers free classes to Khmer boxers in the area, and though it varies from week to week, a handful do make it to the MMA class. The striking classes are the most popular, but crossfit training is also very popular. In regards to grappling, when I was there visiting the students were all beginners. Multiple guys said it was their first day training, and most had little to no experience on the ground. I didn't see any women in the MMA class, but there are plenty of female students training striking and working on their cardio.  When I visited the gym, Ben Pepper ran the MMA and grappling class, but since then he’s returned to his native Australia, leaving Minetti to run the class.

The gym is located on 199^th street just south-west of the soccer stadium. It’s a bit tough to find since most tuk-tuk drivers have never heard of it. If you’re staying near the riverside hostel area, you’re looking at about 3.00-5.00 bucks to get down there. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time cause the tuk-tuk guys are gonna have to stop and ask for directions. The gym has two floors of training space. there is a lot of mat space but there are two pillars going down the middle which can get in the way if you like to move around a lot. Like any good striking gym, there are long mirrors along the wall to help you keep an eye on your form. Gym equipment and machines sit by the front door along with sport drinks and water for sale.

The gym was very visitor friendly, everyone says hi to you when you first walk in and people are excited to have new guys show up and train. Whether you’re a black belt or a newbie, K-1 has an open door. The gym prides itself on having a positive and layback training environment, and even though I only visited for a few days, I could see that vibe immediately. At the end of class people stuck around to chat and hang out, and when the kick boxers came down stairs it was all smiles and hugs. The coaching staff is very involved and it is clear that they care about the student’s progress and development. All around I’d highly suggest anyone traveling through or living in Phnom Penh to train here. It’s a fantastic school with great coaches and awesome people. Whether you’re an experienced fighter or a green tomato, K-1 has what you need to reach your goals and sharpen your skills.

Address: 131, street 199 12000 Phnom Penh

Website: www.k1-factory.com

E-mail: david@teamminetti.com

Tel: 067 519 698

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A Tale of Two Cities: Jiu Jitsu in Vietnam

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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Hwaighting! Pt. 4: A People’s History of South Korean MMA

Today, Korea is flourishing with talented Mixed Martial Artists. The most famous being “The Korean Zombie,” Chan Sung Jung. Fans like him because of his aggressive, wild fighting style, and his awesome nick name doesn't hurt either. Jung holds a special place in MMA history; he was the number 1 contender for Jose Aldo’s Featherweight Strap, the first Korean fighter to ever compete for a UFC title. Jung represents the best that Korean MMA has to offer right now, but he isn't the only world class Korean fighter. Dong Hyun Kim, Kyung Ho Kang, and Hyung Gyu Lim also compete in the UFC, and Korean talent fills the ranks of One FC, Asia’s top MMA promotion. As a matter of fact, Soo Chul Kim will unify the One FC Bantamweight title when he fights interim champ Bibiano Fernandes. Clearly Korean MMA is making big waves on the global circuit.

But before cracking the international scene, most Korean fighters fight their way up in the local shows. At home, Road FC is the dominant MMA league (the only other league right now is TOP FC, which just hosted its first show). The structure set up by CEO Moonhong Jung not only showcases top Korean fighters, but also helps build the national talent by giving amateur and rookie Mixed Martial Artists a platform to compete. He originally set up Road FC as a way for Korean fighters to be able to earn a living and build experience. Today his vision has extended beyond just MMA. “Cage Grappling” matches, held in the Road FC Central League (a league for fighters to compete in grappling and striking matches but not MMA), are jiu jitsu matches that take place in the cage. Though there is no striking, cage grappling allows aspiring fighters to get comfortable maneuvering and wrestling inside a cage. After gaining experience competing in a cage, a novice fighter can compete in the Road FC Amateur League. This league gives new fighters a chance to showcase their skills before entering the professional circuit. Moonhong Jung not only helps promote the top Korean athletes, but also gives new fighters the chance to blossom slowly and develop their skills.

Production wise, Road FC looks a lot like Pride, but on a smaller scale and with a cage. Lazers shine on a big stage where the fighters emerge, and a long ramp brings them to the cage. Pyrotechnics along the ramp are used as the fighter’s names are announced, blowing flames 6 feet high that follow both sides of the ramp. Before the start of the main card, K-pop singers and dancers perform to warm up the crowd. It’s a giant spectacle that includes some of Korea’s biggest stars.

Once the fights start, it is again similar to Pride. Like Japanese fight fans, Koreans sit quietly while the fights go on, and only occasionally break into chants or yells. One can easily hear the corner-men shout instructions, and every big punch pierces the silence that surrounds the cage. Only after a big exchange on the feet or a transition on the ground do the fans slip into a burst of applause.

The fighters on the card are mostly Korean, but the promoters bring in some big name international fighters to build interest. Melvin Manhoef, Ikuhisa Minowa, Thierry Sokoudjou all competed against Korean Fighters under the Road FC banner. Though there are Korean on Korean fights, the shows are generally lined up to showcase Korean fighters against foreigners. This plays to the strong nationalism of Korea. Shouts of “Korea Fighting!” are heard throughout the night, and a Korean win is celebrated with roaring applause. Even so, the crowd behaves very respectful of foreign fighters; especially big names coming from overseas. Despite fighting a local guy, Sokoudjou got a big round of applause when he beat Team Posse coach, Seung Bae Whi. Sometimes being a fight fan is more important than sharing a national identity.

I was lucky enough to watch the finals match of the Road FC Lightweight  tournament; pitting South Korea’s Yui Chul Nam against Japan’s Takasuke Kume. Kume was rumored to have been scouted by the UFC, and a win that night would bring him up to the big leagues, while Nam was relatively unknown outside the Korean fight scene. The fight lived up to its main event status. The two put on a thrilling back and forth battle that after 15 grueling minutes was called a draw, which then required a final 4th round to decide the victor. Kume took the first advantage in the overtime round by getting a takedown, but Nam got back up and got a takedown of his own where he tried to advance position. Kume blocked his opponent’s offense and was able to get back to his feet. They exchanged strikes on the feet and in the clinch, and Suddenly with only seconds left, Nam shot in for a takedown and stole the round. The horn sounded and Nam raised his arms in victory while the crowd went wild. The judges announced him the victor and confetti poured down into the cage while fireworks erupted along the ramp, and then lazers brought the crowd into even more of a craze. It was pretty freakin cool.

In its short history, Korean MMA already produced a strong stable of world class fighters. In a country where MMA is still looked down on by a significant portion of the population, Korean Mixed Martial Artists continue to fight on. In only ten years Korea produced a worthy challenger for a UFC world title. “The Korean Zombie” will forever be the first Korean national to earn a shot to be the best. And his fight with Aldo follows a similar narrative to the fight his fellow Korean fighters are currently waging. Few people gave Jung a shot at beating Aldo, and for a while he seemed content just being there. But after his ring rust was shaken off, he attacked the champion with every weapon in his arsenal, and I bet you the whole Korean MMA community went ape shit when he landed that flying knee in the 3^rd round. In the end, Zombie was too tough for his own good. Even after having his shoulder dislocated, he tried to pop it back in and continue fighting, and the ref mercifully stopped the fight.

The bar has been set by “The Korea Zombie,” and it is now up to the next generation of fighters to surpass it. Given the growing social acceptance of MMA, the fantastic training environments available, and the well structured local circuits for fighters to build their careers, I have to believe that Korean MMA will only get better. I’m sure there were plenty of young Korean fighters inspired by Jung’s heart and determination in that fight. These new fighters can look up to Jung's toughness, and they can look up to their parent's hard work ethic. From a war torn nation to an emerging global power, and from MMA obscurity to producing title challengers, Koreans know how to fight.

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Hwaighting! Pt. 3: A People’s History of South Korean MMA

With the increasing popularity of Mixed Martial Arts, gyms/academies are springing up across South Korea. Like most martial arts gyms, the members generally look for a fun way to get some exercise while learning self defense. Very few people have any aspirations of ever fighting; much less of being a world champion. They may not get magazine covers but regular Joes learning how to hip escape correctly and to pass a guard  make up the richest part of the global MMA community. Friendships develop from sweating with each other. They pay the dues that help support a coach and his/her family. They train hard and eventually develop as partners for the more advanced members. For big fights they split a case of beer and order Pay Per View. They buy tickets to watch their classmates or coaches fight in a local show. And they also introduce the sport to their coworkers and friends; thereby growing the community even more.

Such is the case in South Korea; where MMA is practiced by people from all walks of life. Because every gym in the world has its own unique training style and atmosphere, no one can sum up the training environment of a whole country. But there certainly are trends that Korean MMA gyms follow, and put against a cultural and historical context, we see how training Mixed Martial Arts is a unique experience in South Korea due to its history of martial arts, the nationalistic emphasis on Olympic sports, and the youth of the sport.

Korean Top Team, P.O.M.A. (Power of Martial Arts), Team MAD, and Team Posse are some of the more established gyms in the country. For example, Korean Top Team in Seoul started around 2003, and is home to some of the top fighters in the country. fighters looking for top level sparring partners and coaches tend to go here. But as fighters continue to grow and develop their own unique style, they often branch out and start their own schools. Some of Korea’s most popular fighters capitalize on their name value to draw in students. Unfortunately, the challenge of juggling a gym and a career can be overwhelming for most fighters; especially if they have a family and children. Thus, most gyms have a supporting cast of capable coaches to help run things.

As I've explained earlier, Korean MMA is still pretty new, but Korea has a long history of martial arts that produced expert strikers, judokas, and wrestlers. Good stand up coaches are easy to find. Champion boxers and K-1 level kickboxers have emerged from this country. After all, one should expect plenty of proficient strikers given that Tae Kwon Do is the national sport. And in MMA, traditional martial arts like TKD continue to prove more and more relevant in the current era of MMA. Anthony Pettis attributes his striking style to Tae Kwon Do directly, and Lyoto Machida gave us MMA fans  “Karate Kid” nostalgia with his knock out of Randy Couture.

Furthermore, the benefit of training TKD doesn't stop on the feet. The incredible leg dexterity and flexibility required to be a good TKD fighter transitions easily into the grapplling world. After spending your childhood learning how to kick people in every way possible from both a south paw and orthodox stance, throwing your legs up for a triangle choke is no issue. UFC Lightweight Champion Ben Henderson, a Korean/American himself, exemplifies this point. Though today he is more known as a wrestler/grappler, Henderson’s journey as a martial artist began in a TKD academy. His flexibility was on full display in his fight with Nate Diaz, when Diaz attacked a leg lock and had Henderson doing the full splits without a hint of agony or discomfort from the champion. And his powerful kicking game was on display when he found it easier to kick Frankie Edgar’s leg out from under him than to try and take him down through his wrestling.

The nationalism that exists in Korea puts a big emphasis on Olympic sports like Judo and wrestling, two sports where South Koreans excel at. South Korean judokas brought home a combined 40 Olympic medals with 11 golds. In wrestling, South Korea holds 35 Olympic medals, 11 of them gold. I've had the pleasure of being tossed on my head plenty of times by former members of both the Judo and wrestling national teams. These guys and ladies, that have seen the highest levels of their sport, are being hired by MMA gyms around the country to coach the next wave of Korean fighters. Not only that, but interest in fighting is growing among these Olympic level athletes. Don't be surprised if South Korea started pumping out world class killers in a few years.

The fact that MMA is still very new in South Korea acts as a benefit for aspiring fighters. It may sound counterproductive, but because MMA was already starting to enter the modern hybrid era, Korean fighters know the importance of a well rounded game (being able to fight well both on the feet and on the ground). Rory Mcdonald is the poster boy for the next wave of MMA fighters; the fighters that learned to fight MMA by training for MMA. This approach differs from the past where fighters learned different individual styles and then mixed them to the best of their ability. Contrast that to the modern way that Koreans train. They learn wrestling for MMA, striking for MMA, jiu jitsu for MMA, and ground striking for MMA. It therefore benefits aspiring MMA fighters in Korea to have started late since they didn't have to go through a period of trial and error. Today’s cutting edge training methods arose from the trial and error of the sport’s pioneers. By the time MMA was introduced in South Korea, all the work was done. From day 1 Koreans learn the best stance that allows for both striking and wrestling, and after running through the basics of both ground work and stand up, you begin training “pure” Mixed Martial Arts. So essentially, Korea is developing a nation of Rory Mcdonalds... scary.

All and all, Korean MMA will quickly develop into a hotbed for future talent. World class training is available in gyms all around big cities like Seoul, Busan, and Deajon. These gyms hold fantastic coaching staffs that attribute cutting edge training knowledge to the growing MMA scene. Even casual students looking for a fun way to exercise get to practice all different parts of the game. Thus, never letting training run stale or become mundane since everyday there is something new to explore; be it on the feet or on the ground. And perhaps after training for a while, a casual practitioner may find him or herself willing to test their skills in a real fight. Should a person choose that route, Korea offers a great fighting circuit to build their careers and gradually move up the ranks. To be continued...

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Hwaighting! Pt. 2: A People’s History of South Korean MMA

Previously on “Language Fight:” South Koreans work hard, they’re tough, mentally strong, and they are starting to fuck people up with their jiu jitsu. And like jiu jitsu, Korean MMA is still relatively new; in terms of producing talent in MMA, Korea does very well. There are Korean fighters competing in local organizations like Road FC, international organizations like One FC, and even in the UFC. Korean fighters are representing their country abroad and at home, but how are Korean sport fans receiving their athletes? How closely do Koreans follow the sport of MMA? And how many Koreans are joining MMA gyms to train as a hobby? What of Woman’s MMA? And What is the experience of training and fighting in South Korea like?

Just like BJJ, Mixed Martial Arts has a rich but short history in South Korea. MMA communities around the world are a complex ecosystem made up of fighters, fans, promoters, managers, trainers, students, and their families. An athlete could compete on TV one day, go home the next morning, do an interview for a magazine, pick up the kids from school, take them to the gym, teach a boxing class, take the kids back home, finish their own training session, and then talk to his or her manager about the next fight. To truly analyze the global expansion of MMA, I have to present it through the eyes of not only the fighters, but also the newbies in the gym, the fans, training partners, family members, and coaches that make up the MMA scene. This being my 3^rd post, I’ve learned to narrow my topics a little better. This post deals with how well the Korean public socially accepts the sport of Mixed Martial Arts, and the potential of South Korea as a future market for MMA.

Interest in MMA grew when the Action Channel began broadcasting King of the Cage and Pride FC events in 2002. A year later Daehwan Kim was hired on as an announcer for free televised live events. "There weren't many people that could commentate this kind of shit... at the time the sport itself was really new. And before I went [into] the army i ran a website dealing with MMA... While I [was in] the army, the broadcast station [SBS] started showing MMA... They wanted to find a commentator and they found my website... I [had] and audition and they liked me" says Kim. Since then, MMA fights have drawn good ratings; especially among young males.

“I was thirteen [the first time I] watched King of the Cage,” says Korean MMA coach Taemin Kwak. King of the Cage was a mid level organization at that time, and the UFC was in its dark ages while the Japanese organization, Pride FC, ruled the MMA world. At the time most Korean fans looked up to Pride stars like Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Fedor Emelianenko, and Kazushi Sakuraba, from Brazil, Russia, and Japan respectively. When asked what made him want to start training, Kwak answered, “Sakuraba [made] me [start] training.” It is interesting that a Japanese fighter inspired a teenage Korean kid considering that Korea and Japan have an uneasy history of war, colonization, and oppression.

It is also interesting that, one of the biggest MMA stars in Korea is Sung Hoon Choo, better known by his Japanese name, Yoshihiro Akiyama. Born and raised in Japan, but of Korean decent, Akiyama had a difficult upbringing. He was bullied in school, and even after starting his MMA career, he was initially boo’ed by both Japanese and Korean fans for never being quite Japanese enough or being Korean enough to be accepted. Despite all this, Akiyama is now a household name in both countries. Through the sport of MMA, Akiyama was able to bridge cultural and political differences between two peoples. His exciting fights helped both Korean and Japanese fans look past their personal issues with his ethnicity or nationality and embrace him as their own. Today, Akiyama not only fights for the UFC, but also models designer clothes, holds sold out concerts in sport stadiums, is an actor in TV and films, and promotes everything from hand soap to chewing gum in both countries.

At first, it may seem that MMA and its athletes are widely liked by the Korean mainstream, but MMA is just another part of Korea’s wide generational gap. Only 60 years ago, Korea was a nation in ashes. Thus, the Korea experienced by the older generations was very different from Korea today. One older Korean man told me he worries about the youth today. To him, young people are lazy, overly sexual, and disrespectful. He can’t relate to Korea’s youth culture, and MMA is just another part of something he sees strange. “Many people think it’s not a sport, [they think] it is just a fight,” says Hyungsu Kim. Almost every MMA coach I talked to expressed an initial tension between them and their parents over their chosen profession.

Gender also plays a big role in the acceptance of MMA. From a young age girls are taught to be gentle, cute, and submissive. While women who train are usually fans of the sport, generally speaking cagefighting and Korean femininity don’t go together. For example, Taemin Kwak had to break up with his a girlfriend over MMA. She couldn’t get into the sport, and believed he cared more about training than his relationship. Turns out she was right, but there are Korean girls out there for Taemin. I brought some female Korean friends to watch the UFC, and a lot of them enjoyed the action. And when a big Korean name fights in the UFC, it is common to see at least a few female fans watching at the local bar. Still, most Korean girls I’ve met aren’t fans of the sport.

But in spite of the generational and gender gap, the Korean public is embracing MMA. Like I said before, BJJ is growing fast and with it generally comes an interest in MMA. With every jiu jitsu gym that opens, the market for MMA grows. And with young people continuing to follow the sport, South Korea can become a big market for the UFC.

As it stands right now, Koreans are not laying down their money to buy MMA merchandise and media. Furthermore, the largest Korean organization, Road FC, still has trouble selling out tickets. But, a look deeper into who is attending the fights proves the audience is made up of people who train MMA. The potential market for MMA grows as the number of people who train grows. If there is any indication as to how far MMA can go in South Korea, it’s the fact that MMA gyms are opening all around the country. Dong Hyun Kim just opened a very successful gym in the city of Daejeon. And “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung is now the proud owner of the newest MMA gym in Gangnam. A gym that had over 250 enrollments within the first few weeks of its opening. That makes 250 new people who will buy tickets to events, 250 people that will buy mouth guards, rashguards, gloves, and fight shorts, and 250 new people who will introduce the sport to their friends and families. Even K-Pop singers, TV actors, and film stars all took advantage of the one-on-one private lessons offered by Jung; bringing further mainstream attention to MMA.

But it’s the regular people who are training that will make up the first markets for MMA. Those gym newbies still falling over when throwing a jab are the ambassadors for the sport. They will be the ones who will wake up Sunday mornings (because of the time difference) to watch live UFC events. They are the ones who will talk their friends and family into watching the fights together. They will be the ones explaining the action to their coworkers, boyfriends, and girlfriends, and it is exactly those people that I will discuss in my next segment.

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