Search Results for 'bjj'

[Collin]

Thanks Andrew. I actually just got a message today from a friend telling me that there is a new MMA camp opening up in Chengdu. I haven’t had a chance to talk with the owner yet, but it is supposedly the largest MMA site in China, 30 acres, including basketball courts, a football field, and an indoor training center. I know it is in the beginning stages, but from what I have heard they are looking to bring in some top notch trainers (muay thai, boxing, wrestling, bjj).

I can’t post too much info now because I don’t know that much, but I am hoping to meet up with the owner next week. I will post all the details as soon as I can. It looks like Chengdu is going to have it’s first real MMA training center very soon. I can’t wait!

[AndrewD]

Hey thanks a lot for the info guys.

@Collin I wouldn’t say I take mma altogether too seriously, being primarily (pretty much entirely) a bjj guy. I used to do more standup and more wrestling when I was gung-ho and into it and really wanted to fight, but the two amateur fights (which weren’t even full-rules!) I did end up having and the kind of training I had to do just for that convinced me I wasn’t cut out to be an mma fighter 😛 Good luck in starting up your gym, I’d love to come check it out some day.

I am very excited to train in Chengdu, even if things are in the start-up phase. I have the privilege of training at an incredible gym here at home so I know it’s going to be an adjustment no matter what, but I’m just glad to know there will be some guys to roll with.

Is JerryS still instructing in Chengdu?

 

[Collin]

There are actually quite a few muay thai gyms in the area (Chengdu, Mianyang, and Wenjiang). The problem is finding a decent trainer (my favorite trainer is in wenjiang at the moment. He’s a good guy, unfortunately the gym is just too far away.) Most the of the muay thai practitioners that I have met here are good fighters, but bad trainers. There are several reasons for this; the students don’t want to spar (especially with foreigners) or don’t take sparing serious, the trainers don’t have enough experience in Thailand, The trainers are too concerned with their own notoriety and money, classes are too unstructured, etc. The key to being a good trainer is helping your clients reach their goals and keeping it interesting. You have to love what you do, not the money that it can bring you. A lot of the gyms here do the same thing day in and day out and never add any variance; it’s easier that way and most of the people have never trained with anyone else so they don’t know any better.

As for events, there are going to be more major events in the future, but for now smoker fights are limited to Mianyang.

As for MMA, there are no good MMA trainers in Chengdu. BJJ and MMA are not the same thing. You can’t possibly teach MMA with only studying BJJ. Holding pads and teaching someone how to set up wrestling takedowns is an art just like rolling. Anyone can hold pads, just like anyone can choke a guy. The key is knowing the technique and being able to teach it. It is possible that Jerry is working with Moko, but I would refer you to my statements above about local trainers and point out that Moko reffed an MMA match where a guy took an illegal headkick while down and Moko did nothing but look at the judges outside the ring. If you are seriously interested in MMA I would suggest you move to Xian and work with Vaughn Anderson. Vaughn is hands down the best foreign fighter in China and has done an amazing job helping Wang Sai become the best welterweight in the country.

I myself am an ISSA certified personal trainer. I am currently training people out of Somerset Riverview Serviced Residence and helping design the new gym at the Ascott residence at Raffles City. I would like to open my own location in a few months, but no promises. I trained in Mianyang with Li Qing for about 4 years and know a lot of the trainers and gym owners in the area. I have rolled with a few black belts, purple belts, and blue belts in Thailand, but don’t have any belts of my own because I haven’t found anyone who is qualified to award belts in Sichuan. I wrestled in high school and have also trained in Thailand with a few professioanl MMA fighters. I hope to travel to Ole Laursen’s new gym in Boracay very soon and brush up on my boxing and get a chance to roll with some top notch guys. I have talked with Vaughn in the past about coming to Chengdu for a seminar and hope to get him here in a few months to show everyone what a true MMA fighter/trainer looks like.

If you are seriously interested in MMA and would like to train you can contact me at EliteFitnessChengdu @ Outlook . com or on qq 2521960698. If there are enough people I can try to put together a class and get some top level guys to come out once a month or so to run some seminars. I know a number of fighters in Asia and would love to be able to provide them with the opportunity to come to Chengdu, but I need to get a large enough class together to make it worth their time.

[Jack66]

Hey,

Couldnt tell you the instructors names and no, there arent any mma fighters there except for myself and I’ve been focusing on standup for quite a while.

This gym is cheaper than the other muay thai gyms I’ve looked at and the instructor does train everyone in muay thai and not kung fu, which I found refreshing. The gym is large and clean and the hours more friendly for someone working afternoons.

From what I’m hearing there arent many muay thai events here in chengdu. I’m headed to mianyang sunday to check out a small smoker event which is where I’m told most of the fights are held. Mianyang is an hour north of chengdu.

There is a gym that is opening later this month that will have MMA classes west of tianfu square. Their webpage is cdbjj.org

[AndrewD]

Hey sorry to dig up an old thread but I thought it may be a better idea than starting a new one on themes already discussed on here.

How much is a membership to a decent gym in Chengdu? Any recommendations on where to train? Squat rack and barbells, etc are a must. I believe I heard mention of QSL Gym – is it a nice place to train? Are supplements (Creatine, Whey Protein, Fish Oil) fairly easy to come by in Chengdu? I’ve heard of people ordering off Taobao.

Currently in bulk mode here at home in Canada. Always been a little dude (competed regularly at 145 and 155 plbs for the longest time in bjj). Trying to put on some mass/strength. It’s been really fun so far. I want to bulk up to about 180 plbs but I realize it’s going to be a sllooooowww process, especially because I’m concerned about fat gain. Trying to put on about 2-3 plbs a month.

Really hoping I can keep up my strength training when I come to China. I hear chicken breasts and eggs are nice and cheap so that’s a real plus 🙂

Edit: typo

 

[Charlie]

Hi Andrew,

Welcome to the forum, Chengdu is becoming a better and better place to live and as you say, remains much more laid back and friendly compared to Beijing and Shanghai. I frequently have friends visit from other cities in China and want to move here (and some of them have moved here, others have plans to move this year). To answer your questions:

• I agree with Brendan, it’s easier to find work on the ground here rather than arrange it in advance. The cost of living is still pretty cheap, so with your money saved you should have plenty of time to find the kind of job you want.
• The main BJJ guy in Chengdu is JerryS, who was a forum regular until recently. He has lost internet apparently, and is preparing to go to the States very soon, but he still trains weekly. You would be a great asset to the BJJ scene here, which is definitely in its early stages.
• As long as you find a job, visas are no real issue. You might have to take a trip to Hong Kong, but employers will normally pay for that, or help you resolve the issue from Chengdu.
• I’m not sure about what season is best to find a job teaching English. The demand for English teachers is endless though, so I don’t think you’ll have much trouble.

 

[AndrewD]

Hey guys,

Firstly, I just want to say a sincere thank you, since I’ve been lurking on the forum for a while and I feel I’ve learned a lot through it. I’ve just graduated from University here in Canada and am coming to China in August to look for ESL work. I’ve been researching my move for months and have been strongly considering coming to Chengdu – it seems like a very comfortable city for my tastes, not as hectic as Beijing or Shanghai but with a strong expat community, and great food from what I hear. Just thought I’d introduce myself here on the forum.

I’m also encouraged by the notion that there seem to be a couple of guys on here who are into training martial arts, mma and bjj. I’ve done bjj for the past five or six years. It’s been a really big part of my life, so I’m happy that if I do come to Chengdu there should be some guys to roll with. I’m a four-stripe blue belt with a bunch of competition experience so I should have something to contribute to the martial arts community.

I’ve contacted a few schools in Chengdu so far but I’m wondering, would you advise one to arrange for work before coming over or to look for a job on the ground? If I come over on a tourist visa, will it be easy enough to convert it to a z-visa with a border run?

Thanks for your time, and thanks for maintaining an awesome site/forum. Looking forward to learning more about Chengdu life.

Best regards,

Andrew

[Collin]

Don’t worry ladies. I promise you won’t get beat up too bad. We would prefer to have someone with talent participate, but if you would like to stop-by and serve as a human punching bag I am sure we can use you. As you may have read, there was a competition at the East Music Park a few weeks ago. C3 will be holding more competitions in the future and a few gyms are keen on learning a little more about different styles. Training can be pretty static in China. Sanda is very useful, but a lot of the younger guys realize that no one from China has made a name for themselves on the international scene, in K-1 or MMA, and maybe it’s time to learn about and incorporate other styles. Ultimately we are trying to build the fight scene in Sichuan

I am not looking for “street fighters.” I am looking for trained martial artists who would like an opportunity to meet some people from Mianyang who share your interests. Again, we are not looking for anyone to get hurt. Our goal is to help build the sport. If you have experience with wrestling, BJJ, or Sambo you would be especially welcomed.

[JerryS]

Market yourself. Make videos on chinese youtube talking about about personal training and how to get into shape/be better at fitness. There are a few videos/pictures of me on baidu teaching bjj.

[JerryS]

If other fitness nuts are jumping in, ill do it too.

Rates are:

5 rounds of boxing mitts: 100 RMB

1 hour of BJJ: 400 RMB

30-45 min of ProBodX and other physical work outs: 150 RMB

Once i move the city and convert the rooftop into a gym, then ill do this in comfort of my own home.

My instructor use to commute 2 hours just to do 1 hour of privates.. For 60 USD! He always lowballed his prices. Did he need that money? Naww, he is a true fighter and martial artist.

[JerryS]

Link works for me, both on VPN and off. Wish i knew how to print screen to show you.

Moko does have tons of schools, his clients are there to learn Muay Thai, plus he is busy… Having tons of schools makes it hard for him to be everywhere. I know he’s at the Chunxi Lu gym twice a week (Tues and Thurs 6-8pm).

Moko is out of the country now, tried to contact him. Not sure where, but when he gets back ill talk to him. He built up from small time studio instructor (shared with other club) to having more than a few establishments… All less than 3 years!

There’s another Muay Thai place in CD, U37?, it’s fairly new (really great looking gym). A few left Moko for this place, due to price reasons. Also its quite far. Going to have BJJ seminars there, because of it’s size.

[JerryS]

Link works for me, both on VPN and off. Wish i knew how to print screen to show you.

Moko does have tons of schools, his clients are there to learn Muay Thai, plus he is busy… Having tons of schools makes it hard for him to be everywhere. I know he’s at the Chunxi Lu gym twice a week (Tues and Thurs 6-8pm).

Moko is out of the country now, tried to contact him. Not sure where, but when he gets back ill talk to him. He built up from small time studio instructor (shared with other club) to having more than a few establishments… All less than 3 years!

There’s another Muay Thai place in CD, U37?, it’s fairly new (really great looking gym). A few left Moko for this place, due to price reasons. Also its quite far. Going to have BJJ seminars there, because of it’s size.

[JerryS]

Ill try to ge more info, last time i talked to him (late last year), he said he was going to open another gym in Spring. Will he actually open one? Not sure, if he does, ill be his BJJ instructr there. Ill msg his Eng mediator soon.

[JerryS]

Moko in Tongzilin is the one ur talkin about. I believe his prices are 400 or 500 per month. Try to haggle with him. I also hear Megafit offers Tai Bo classes. Moko is als located in Chunxi lu… And opening another gym soon in Yulin, Yongfong Lu.

Me: cdbjj.org

[JerryS]

Sure ill post pix when i move in. Its kinda desolate, the garden that is. There’s a shed room with an extra shitter (western shitter!). Though the floor in that room is…. Lets just say it needs a new floor. One of the agreements is for me to water the plants twice a week. Vegetation and I never got along, guess i have to man up and spray plants with water now…

It’s just my weekend home for now, after summer it will be my perm home. Dining room will be converted into a sweet ass home gym!

Also no more getting ripped off by taxi’s.. 100 RMB to get to Longquan? Yea… But i have to teach eng priv more now… To break even in costs.. I offer BJJ priv for 400 RMB an hour, yet no takers :'(

[JerryS]

Zhang Tiequan is a good fighter, but the UFC is too much for him. If he wants to succeed, he has to leave China and train with a good team in the US.

UFC is the ONLY BRAND that matters now in MMA now. If you can make it and succeed in the UFC, then that is the gateway to success. For MMA to grow in China there has to be interest. If it were an Olympiac sport, i bet you MMA would flourish! In order to succeed in the Chinese Market, one has to go through the gov’t (many of China’s fighters comes from ‘Sports University’). UFC is trying to do that with CTT (China Top Team), but the battle looks grim in the expansion of MMA in China. There is hope if Ruff can succeed without their fighters leaving their organization.

Currently, MMA isnt really growing much in China, in the Philippines and India it’s exploding. Like Charlie wrote, Zhang was their gateway for MMA’s growth in China but he faltered. If he won all of his fights in the UFC (when he won he won with killer submissions), that would create a ripple effect in China. It will show a Chinese fighter, born and raised defeating a foreign foe, type of Nationalistic nostalgia. He was being regarded as the next big thing when he entered the UFC (hell i was excited when he fought). Yet he was one dimensional in his approach. His last fight, he lost to a dude from Guam (BJJ champ as well). Is he still a great fighter? Of course, he just needs better coaching.

Tuerxun is a beast but his best accomplishment was beating Irshaad Sayed via split decision. Will he do well in the UFC, i hope so, but i doubt it. His best opponent was Irshaad at 135 lbs.

Being successful in the UFC does not mean you are just a great fighter, one also has to be a personality! UFC is a business and being a business, they need to generate revenue. This past weekend, they had two women headlining the main event. Their PPV buys were 400k, damn good for a shitty card. Chael is fighting Jon Jones because he just talked junk infront of the media to garner interests in the fight. If a fighter has a personality and can back up his claim, then he will make tons of money and be remembered; Tyson, Clay/Ali, Brock Lesner,and Old Wanderlei Silva in Pride.

So to sum up, MMA isnt really growing in China, it’s slowly moving along. If this is China’s best example in a championship fight, they i see a gloomy future for MMA here.. The last thing i want to see (or pay to watch for that matter) is some dude flop on his ass while getting hit. Oww, Royce Gracie never flopped on his but when getting punched, he took dudes down and dominated (when no one know ground fighting).. This dude in the video.. Flopped and went for half ass submission attempts when he did took Ishaad down. Another championship fight from Ruff, here the Chinese fighter low kicked a BJJ champ… Never try to kick a BJJ champ, you are asking to be taken down! Also these two Chinese fighters does not hold a candle to Zhang.. Zhang is a great fighter and on a different level compared when comparing.

There was an event last year in Sichuan Sports Stadium.. 10 fights, 9 fights were Sand Da while the 10th fight was half San Da and half MMA? What do i mean half? First round San Da and 2nd Round MMA….. In a sense, that’s not really growing. They had music blasting in the background while fights were occuring. Also the event was something like ‘China vs the world’ or some retarded shit. Of course China won all of their fights… They specifically put up a Chinese fighter vs a Brazilian in their main event half MMA fight. Why? They wanted to show that China can beat ‘Brazilian Jiu Jitsu’ on the ground and show their supremacy (Chinese dude won via forearm to the Braz’s throat). These type of events happen all the time, i hardly call this ‘Growing’ in China, more like regression.

[Charlie]

Quote:

MMA _is_ taking off here.

Where are the signs of it taking off? To my knowledge there has never been an MMA event in Chengdu. Have you ever heard of one? An event in Xichang (the middle of nowhere) doesn’t really signal explosive growth in my opinion.

Quote:

There is another larger competition coming up (I don’t know the date, I can get it if people are interested in going)

I’m interested – post that info if you got it.

Quote:

The key to MMA’s growth here will be an iconic athlete, a superstar (as in Messi, or Tiger Woods or Bryant/Jordan). You get a major sports brand, like Nike to promote the shit out of this guy here. He comes and does promos. You film him holding a panda and saying “ni hao”. You put his name on shoes/t-shirts/bags etc. etc.

I think you’re absolutely right, Ray. There are certain necessary components to creating conditions under which MMA can “take off”, and several of them are not currently present in China. One is emerging stars of the sport (like Chuck Liddell) and another is a stable institution that can be a vehicle for the spread of the sport (like UFC is, or Pride was). Another, I would argue, is training infrastructure which produces enough fighters to have high level people emerge, which is also not present (eg. JerryS runs the most recognized BJJ outfit in Chengdu with a dozen or so students currently, in a city of 10+ million people).

Quote:

For the record, my favorite fighter of all time is Bas Rutten.

Ever seen his self defense videos where he’s teaching you how to attack people with beer mugs and pool cues? The comedic factor is off the charts.

Quote:

MMA in China, it has NOTHING to do with competing with the UFC. I think it’s ridiculous to say MMA can’t grow in China because the level of fighters isn’t that of Alda, Jones, or St. Pierre or whomever, that’s not the point. As a sport it’s growing. Even if it’s a bunch of (b, to the world) level fighters against themselves, the point is it’s growing rapidly and there IS a culture growing around it. It’s not a competition with UFC or anything going on in the USA, it’s a sport and, eventually, like basketball or any other recently rapidly growing sport in China, will result in world-class fighters eventually. Again, growth here has nothing to do with the top quality fighter vs. UFC’s top fighter.

I disagree Rick, I think that UFC plays a large role in the expansion of MMA in any country because it is the standard bearer. Making the argument that UFC is irrelevant in China is like saying that the NBA is irrelevant in China. People on the court are wearing NBA gear and looking up to NBA players, just as MMA practitioners in China are watching UFC. It plays a big role and UFC knows that, which is why it’s been actively targeting expansion in China since 2010.

Also, you keep saying it’s growing, please point out the signs of that because I have not seen many at all. A few years ago there was the prospect of a world class fighter emerging from China, Tiequan Zhang who was undefeated, but that hope seems to have dried up since he’s lost 4/5 of his last matches. As we all know, fighters who lose like that tend to not stick around.

A year ago Mark Fisher, managing director of UFC in China said “It’s very important to build local heroes in each market. China is a market where we have such tremendous potential. Once we have local heroes who are successful in the UFC, it will make a world of difference. Hence these programs.”

He was talking about Zhang, who hasn’t won a match since then. He’s right though, China needs a star to propel this to the next level and put more people through the system which develops competitive fighters who win. Otherwise this will be just like soccer, with hundreds of millions of Chinese watching foreigners do it right while the domestic system perpetually produces losers.

[Brendan]

Quote:

RE: MMA in China, it has NOTHING to do with competing with the UFC

Word to that. I neither follow nor care for UFC as a sport to begin with. Too many memories of Tribal tat covered baseball cap wearing homies weighed down by inflated egos and oversize jewellery! Used to love those guys in the gyms. Not!! Total respect for the guys dedicated to it, I know how brutal their training regimes are. Absolute machines some of those guys.

MMA will I think eventually gain a foothold in China (sorry to repeat myself), defiant in the face of 100 million Korean Pop loving lady boys. It will just take some time and money, and eventually, at least some degree of regulation. I do see (and know) a number of guys training very seriously, some of them having even given up lifting to pursue BJJ, Muah Thai, etc. It’s my observation that guys training in ‘MMA’ here tend to be very reserved about it, and unless you know them personally you’d never know anything of their dedication. This of course isn’t dissimilar to back home. It stands to reason that the depth of China’s Martial Arts heritage will find it’s feet in the current (albeit slow) rising popularity of MMA as a pursuit and sport. Top tier sponsorship would be a huge bump, and something I imagine isn’t likely too far off.

[Rick in China]

RE: Kata…jerry, dude, you’re not getting it – it’s a systematic performance. That’s where the ART is martial arts comes from. It’s almost like a form of meditation, it’s a focused performance – and while performing, after serious repetition and perfection of form, it becomes just that. It’s like a ballet, except with fighting moves….that’s it. It’s NOT meant to be something to train fighters, it’s not meant to use against fighters……. it’s ART. The fighting comes in a completely different form, sparring – and some people who train Karate or whatever don’t take part in sparring at all, and simply like the exercise and art side of things. BJJ is not art, it has no art, it’s purely practical submission and body manipulation. You can’t compare the two, and it’s as silly to comment on kata a as a fight-training method as it is to say bar fights are won by triangles. The reality is while training in fighting is great for self-defense, it often buffs up the trainee’s (over)self-confidence through a sport with rules, when in real life….there are no rules, and there are weapons, and unfortunately bjj doesn’t train against having a jagged edge shoved in your throat when you’re trying to work your kimura.

RE: MMA in China, it has NOTHING to do with competing with the UFC. I think it’s ridiculous to say MMA can’t grow in China because the level of fighters isn’t that of Alda, Jones, or St. Pierre or whomever, that’s not the point. As a sport it’s growing. Even if it’s a bunch of (b, to the world) level fighters against themselves, the point is it’s growing rapidly and there IS a culture growing around it. It’s not a competition with UFC or anything going on in the USA, it’s a sport and, eventually, like basketball or any other recently rapidly growing sport in China, will result in world-class fighters eventually. Again, growth here has nothing to do with the top quality fighter vs. UFC’s top fighter.

Oh..and re: the “fall on ass” comment bit, just caught that. Did you watch any early Royce Gracie in UFC fights? He often fought from a ground position. Falling on his ass was one of his major stragegies against bigger fighters – waiting for them to go in for the pounce, then latching on like a m’fer and working his way in. On that note, anyone who thinks “true” MMA is UFC, hasn’t seen original UFC when the Gracies put out their call for straight up brawls from any style. There weren’t rounds, pads, and strict rules….m’fers headbutt straight up knuckles on skull and grab what they can grab…minus things like thumbing eyes and other dirty shit of course. The point is, MMA is now a sport like any other, and a lot less like Blood Sport (which original UFC was closest to out of anything I’ve seen yet/since :D)

[JerryS]

China had a chance with the Mongolian Were Wolf guy from China Top Team! The very first Chinese fighter to ever be in UFC. The sad thing is that he was too one dimensional. He can gather wins in smaller venues, but the big stage.. I.E.. UFC, one can not be too predictable. Also he wasnt too pretty to take pictures with Pandas. I guess his ears were too grotesque for the general public. To me those ears show respect and hours on the mats!

Fighters that China is currently producing really isn’t ‘B’ level, let along A quality as in Bellator or UFC. Watching Sanda or Sanshou fighters transition to MMA is kinda rough for the eyes… A majority of those fighters when fighting (see RUFF fights for example) are always looking for the Hail Mary knock out punch (also with the crowd screaming ‘go 110% isnt really helping the fighter’s IQ in the cage). A simple jab cross combo can really do damage to fighters winging their offense.

Those who won the RUFF One million RMB tournaments were very accomplished in their rightful arts prior to entering MMA. Examples are: Irshaad Sayed and Rodrigo Caporal. Irshaad is a great stand up fighter. Watching him fight in Ruff, he picks apart his opponents with basic boxing, his wrestling is questionable, but he is able to stand the fight up to where he can do his damage. Rodrigo is a BJJ Champ, really good BJJ base. Since China lack good and sound grappling, he just dominates all of his fights here. Why bring these 2 up? Well they are very good fighters who has a good foundation and understanding for MMA dynamics.

As for Kata.. Kata can be originated back to Karate, but in this sense, the way i used it, it’s just mimicking fighting movements with no partners around. All of those movements can be traced to fighting origins. Yet using it to fight trained fighters/athletes, it might not work. Something we both agree on :).

Machida transitioned his style of Karate and made it work for him in the cage. That’s why i would love to see Krav Maga, Kung Fu, JKD, Aikido or any other martial arts to be used in the cage. But the fallacy of many martial arts is that it creates the ‘my shit is better than yours’ type of mentality. With this backwards mindset, there can be no progression (in the MMA sense of the word). I trained with tons of US marines in the states (more than a few are my teammates, ex-marines).. Their stuff is legit, but really isnt that deadly against a trained martial artist (their words as well). I highly doubt anything comes close to their hand to hand combat, in any military groups around the world! Respect US Marines!!! 🙂

Bones BOO!

Irshaad Sayed fighting in Ruff recently. His opponent’s strategy, when getting hit, fall on his ass…