UnderGround Forum >> Why MMA Has Not Flourished In Chinese Society

MdGeist -

I dispute that China is the birthplace of martial arts.

TheOtherWhiteFlu - China sucks at MMA because the government doesn't consider a UFC championship as prestigious (compared to olympic medals). Their sports system is aimed at one thing - maximizing the number of gold medals they get at the summer olympics (with any world championships a second concern).

If MMA became an olympic sport with a bunch of weight classes (read: more medal opportunities for a given training program vs team sports), they'd be a powerhouse inside one 4 year cycle.

Bisping KOd by CHRIST -

TheOtherWhiteFlu - China sucks at MMA because the government doesn't consider a UFC championship as prestigious (compared to olympic medals). Their sports system is aimed at one thing - maximizing the number of gold medals they get at the summer olympics (with any world championships a second concern).

If MMA became an olympic sport with a bunch of weight classes (read: more medal opportunities for a given training program vs team sports), they'd be a powerhouse inside one 4 year cycle.

As true as that is, it has just as much or more to do with them being a physically weak and inferior people.

Bisping KOd by CHRIST - Why did shaolin go from a martial art to whats basically a theatrical dance?

Otsuka - 

Bisping KOd by CHRIST - Why did shaolin go from a martial art to whats basically a theatrical dance?

I'm not much of a history buff but... cultural revolution?

phdinmma - 

Bisping KOd by CHRIST -

TheOtherWhiteFlu - China sucks at MMA because the government doesn't consider a UFC championship as prestigious (compared to olympic medals). Their sports system is aimed at one thing - maximizing the number of gold medals they get at the summer olympics (with any world championships a second concern).

If MMA became an olympic sport with a bunch of weight classes (read: more medal opportunities for a given training program vs team sports), they'd be a powerhouse inside one 4 year cycle.

As true as that is, it has just as much or more to do with them being a physically weak and inferior people.

Do you have any idea why they'd be "physically inferior"?

phdinmma - 

Bisping KOd by CHRIST -

TheOtherWhiteFlu - China sucks at MMA because the government doesn't consider a UFC championship as prestigious (compared to olympic medals). Their sports system is aimed at one thing - maximizing the number of gold medals they get at the summer olympics (with any world championships a second concern).

If MMA became an olympic sport with a bunch of weight classes (read: more medal opportunities for a given training program vs team sports), they'd be a powerhouse inside one 4 year cycle.

As true as that is, it has just as much or more to do with them being a physically weak and inferior people.

Do you have any idea why they'd be "physically inferior"?

Bisping KOd by CHRIST - 

TheOtherWhiteFlu - China sucks at MMA because the government doesn't consider a UFC championship as prestigious (compared to olympic medals). Their sports system is aimed at one thing - maximizing the number of gold medals they get at the summer olympics (with any world championships a second concern).

If MMA became an olympic sport with a bunch of weight classes (read: more medal opportunities for a given training program vs team sports), they'd be a powerhouse inside one 4 year cycle.

As true as that is, it has just as much or more to do with them being a physically weak and inferior people.

Mayweedz - the state of MMA in China is most likely like the state of MMA in the US in the early 90s. Except now we are comparing it against current MMA levels which are much higher and professional. You guys are too young to remember when no one thought an American could possibly beat a Brazilian, or when MMA in the US was about to disappear overnight.

Half of you guys are pretty culturally ignorant and foolish. You stereotype cultures pretty quickly when much of the polish of a society is based on the economics. Money and the education and the polish that it provides changes everything. The "Barbarian" talk really leaves me aghast. You talk as though you are in the know and are so well traveled and knowledgeable, but you sound pretty ethnocentric.

Take the North and South Koreans, they are virtually culturally identical. Difference in mannerisms is in the access in wealth and education. Even compare Korea, or Taiwan, or Singapore 20 years ago prior to their economic boom to now. When I visited Taiwan decades ago, it was pretty rough. Go there now and they are more friendly, outgoing, and polite than the average Westerner. In fact I could argue they are more friendly on a non-superficial level than the average Japanese.

Go to a really poor area in Detroit or Chicago or anywhere else for that matter where people have to really scramble to survive or have any opportunities and let's see how "civilized" your fellow neighbors are.

Dbulletproof - Alright, not a "guru" of EY standards but here are a few factors that I believe play into it (and again, I'm not a expert, just what I've picked up from the general population in HK and China)

1. Old school - one style, that's my style, no other style type thinking

2. Everytime I go to watch Legend FC the crowd laugh when they reset them in the centre in guard position, you can hear them laugh and say 'that's gay' etc. therefore, they don't have much knowledge of the ground game, as alluded to in some earlier posts, there's the 'men fight standing' idea.

3. The majority of people over here just flat aren't interested in something that does not provide them instant entertainment. In Hong Kong especially, people are obsessed with Iphones, tablets and playing video games. They work hours on end and afterwards they seem to just want to zone out on something mindless rather than participate in something that requires focused observation.

4. No marketable Chinese stars as of yet, that's a big one.

5. After showing MMA to a large number of people here, many discuss how they had a similar concept hundreds of years ago when people of different styles would fight in a sort of pre-MMA, MMA. However this only really includes various stand up forms of martial arts, with little to no groundwork.

6. Training in HK is expensive. Some of the gyms have been mentioned before, but the biggest MMA gym is Epic MMA. The lack of prices on the website tells you something about the cost. (It's located in Central, which is incredibly expensive, therefore in order to pay their rent, they have to charge the students a shitload)

local old school type gyms (boxing, Muay Thai, Karate etc.) have some good fighters in single styles (there's a thriving Muay Thai community here), but the only guys who can really afford to train legit MMA are usually expat bankers (Generalization for sure, but it's hard to be a hungry fighter when you wake up in silk pyjamas). And those guys are more there for ego, rather than legitimate competition.

7. When they had UFC Macau, the whole thing was a fucking shambles. They had one kiosk for beer, for the whole stadium and three people serving on it. The queue for beer was ridiculous and people were raging at the bar staff who just crumbled under the pressure. One dude jumped teh queue and started pouring everyone's beer in the crowd as the staff just lost their shit. (wherever that guy is on Earth right now, I salute you).

The marketing over here was utter shit and half the stadium was curtained off. A lot of the people in there were given tickets by the casinos and they didn't have a clue what was going on. There were loads of pumped up westerners there, who were loving it, but the majority of the local audience were really bemused by it, with lots leaving the stadium before the end. IMO it was a missed opportunity, if it were marketed correctly, it could have been massive... and the dude who was in charge of it needs firing. If BLAF's reading this, give me a job!

Sorry for teh FRAT, but them's the breaks.

MdGeist -

I dispute that China is the birthplace of martial arts.

ChaosOverkill - 

Hessian - Wow, lots of trashy racist in this thread.

Chinese is an ethnicity Asian is a race China doesn't do itself any favours with its own indoctrinated hate and superiority complex You don't get that with other Asian ethnicities (for the most part)

phdinmma - 

mnbvcxzchewy - 1 - sports for kids in general are shunned. kids are pushed academically (memorization) 12+ hours a day, 6 days a week. you dont see kids playing outside or smiling/laughing except on sunday afternoon.

2 - China has really only been open and semi-free about 20 years. the parents of todays youth were eating rice and tree bark 30 years ago. need another generation and more middle class before the kids have more time for things outside of work.

1. That's not true. Chinese kids play badminton, Bball, pingpong, run track, and most schools in shanghai take all the kids to a public swimming pool at least once a week.

2. You are right about the nutrition thing. 95% of Chinese kids are taller, stronger, and fatter than their parents. The revolution set them back maybe a hundred years.