This is kind of an odd question but a writer back in the U.S. was asking me about the MMA situation here in Taiwan. Basically, up in northern Taiwan the major foreigner clubs are Gordon’s (Evolution of Combat), Godfreys (out in Tien Mu), Dave Sinclair/Warren Wang’s club on Keelung Road and Antoine Fares (in San Chung and American Club). Plus there is a guy named Anders (not Gordon’s student, another guy) who teaches at Chiang Kai Shek, plus there is some club out in Hsin Chu that has been hosting MMA events (where you got to pay to be a spectator).
Is that basically the list for foreigners? Or am I missing somebody?
On the local side, Firebird Liu is out of the MMA business? What about his teacher, who ran Sanda events for awhile and was apparently a kind of mover and shaker both in Taiwan Sanda and in Taiwanese police and military hand to hand combat training. .
And to finish my list of questions, is there going to be some MMA event sometime over the next few weeks? If so does anyone know when and where? The reason I am asking is I may try and go shoot some photos.
Take care and thanks for whatever help people can be on this.
Brian
(I know too that there are guys down island, for example Ben Price with The Forge)
Also too, are the rules going to be set up to encourage or discourage groundfighting. The reason I ask is sometimes they say its MMA but it turns out to be more San Da where if the guys go to the ground the ref only lets them stay there for about ten seconds then stands them up again.
On a legal note, I should mention that there is no such a thing as a “sanctioned” MMA fight in Taiwan. I am not saying that from a sports standpoint but rather from a legal standpoint. I realize too that one could say with almost equal accuracy; there is no such thing as the “law” in Taiwan!
About the MMA clubs…there’s only one club that specializes in MMA - the sport and that is Evolution Combat. Our clubs- Taiwan BJJ and Taiwan Muay Thai practice the respective disciplines seperately and effectively operate as 2 separate clubs- we do have a small group of 6 guys who have done, or want to compete in MMA. They train MMA together on our premises and they do so privately, which is to say its not open to the public. Just had coffee- rambling…
The MMA event is being run by the Ming Wu guys in Xin Zhu, it will be held on July 4th but I’ve forget the name of the venue. Spectators will need to pay to see the event- I think its a positive step up from shopping malls. I went to their even in xin zhu last month and was impressed- a full house.
About the rules- the organisers are very open minded and came to us for advice on how to run the event so as to look something like it would overseas. We have 3x5 minute rounds in a ring, no limit on the groundwork except for cases when no one is doing anything improve their position, elbows allowed, but not to the head while on the ground…referees are guys who know mma well like warren… and matt from taichung- the best part is this:they are using the same judging system as the Art of War event in China- wins come from KO, submission, or the towel only- no judges scoring- fights that last the distance are automatically declared a draw. Some people might think this is odd- but if you know how the way things work in Taiwan martial arts re politics and bias- this system removes all of that.
a bit rushed and disjointed…but i have something else to do
Good Morning Dave,
I appreciate you taking the time to reply and get things straightened out both in terms of what the clubs are doing and about the rules at the Ming Wu event. It is super that those events are doing well with a paying audience. And yeah…taking judges out of the formula is a smart move.
Just to make sure I got it straight, these are the Ming Wu guys you are talking about?
I have a product that I want to sell to the MMA community and gyms in general. It is an essential oil spray called FunghiClear and it is marketed in other countries for onychomycosis 灰指甲. For the MMA community, apparently this product is very effective for ring worm, tinea, equipment care (gloves), and toenail fungus 灰指甲. Currently, different products are needed, so this is another benefit for MMA fighters, they only need this one product.
Are these still the biggest groups to approach? Or are there other gyms or clubs that I should consider
Right now, it is only sold online - we have a Shopee store and we are approaching group chats (group purchases). We hope to sell it through dermatologists soon (there are no podiatrists in Taiwan).
Eventually, it may be available in drugstores, but only after we have established a solid business in the clinics. But selling it in drugstore chains is expensive for the brand. Since MMA fighters apparently have several needs that this could help, we would probably try to sell it in gyms before drugstores.