Hey guys, this is Christine from VICE's Brooklyn office.
Our colleagues in China spent some time with ENBO Fight Club.
An MMA group who's founder trained and supported orphans and children
from an impoverished region in Tibet.
We followed the shy, but tough MMA fighter, Banma
as he prepares for his next competition. Stay tuned.
Fighting is more than just punching and kicking,
it's also mental.
Your opponent can outmatch your skills and your power,
but you cannot allow them to defeat you mentally.
We train ethnic minorities and Han.
A lot of kids have been orphaned due to family situations.
Their family situations are dire.
If you are 18 and have no skills, no cattle, no land,
no job, and no money, where will you go?
My team took in these kids so that, through their own sweat and blood,
they can become martial arts experts.
Beautiful! It's another barrage of the fists.
Dmitri seems to be at a disadvantage.
Beautiful!
That was the most beautiful KO I have ever seen.
That was a straight knockout!
Beautiful! That's great fighting.
Banma is pretty fierce!
He's fast.
Banma Duoji has nothing to worry about.
He can let his opponent stand right back up,
then keep hammering on him.
-Beautiful! -Stop! Stop!
The referee has called the match.
Banma Duoji has won an overwhelming victory in this match.
I think he just landed over 20 punches.
His current record is one KO and three TKOs.
He has won four of his five matches.
He doesn't have the best record at our club,
but he is our most famous member.
This is a nice room.
There are lots of handsome guys.
It's full of guys.
Zhaxi!
You startled me.
I even brought you something to eat. Take it!
I think I prefer my own dorm, honestly.
Just act naturally.
The director likes your eyes the most,
but lower your head whenever you speak.
You need to express yourself clearly because this is a drama,
and because of time constraints,
there isn't enough time to train you systematically.
When I meet the director tomorrow, I'll knock him out.
This film tells the story of a Chinese boxer,
who won a boxing championship many years ago.
His name was Xiong Chaozhong.
Duoji and Xiong Chaozhong share very similar backgrounds.
The director liked Banma Duoyi from the start because of his image
and the expression in his eyes.
The plot in the scene is that you like the girl.
If you like the girl, then you have to show it.
You can't just look at her viciously, jump up there and knock her out.
He wants to knock everyone out!
Run for one minute. Go!
Run! Hurry up!
I came here in 2010.
We were in the second grade and the tuition was only 15 RMB [$2.00].
I don't think my family paid.
So the headmaster complained about it a lot,
but my family really could not afford it at the time.
One day, one of the headmaster's friends
told us about Enbo Fight Club in Chengdu.
He explained it to me.
He said the curriculum was focused on fighting,
and that room and board were free, so I figured I could go try it out.
While training at Enbo Fight Club, I still had to attend classes.
We took a bus to school.
I didn't know the name of the place I was going to,
the name of where I was, or which bus I had to take.
I didn't know any of that because I can't read Chinese.
When the driver asked me to pay the bus fare,
I couldn't understand, so I didn't react.
He kicked me off the bus.
Later, when my friend, De Wang arrived.
They knew where my stop was and they came to pick me up.
It was incredibly difficult in the beginning.
I never thought I would learn to speak Chinese in my life.
I really wondered how long it would take for me
to live as easily and happily as they did,
knowing exactly what they were doing.
Just spar for a bit.
Shake hands.
Okay, now split up.
Ready? Fight!
Raise your elbows.
Move your feet! Move!
Pay attention to your speed.
When he first arrived, he seemed a bit introverted
because he grew up in a single parent home,
and his family wasn't very well off.
Compared to other kids his age, he felt inferior.
But in the sport of fighting he found his confidence.
Raise your hands!
Stop!
Stop it.
You need to move and bob more.
Got it?
Think about it.
Don't always aim for the head.
Hit the neck, then go for the head.
I never had a father.
Since coming to Enbo Fight Club, Mr. Enbo is like a father to me.
He is always teaching me.
He has been training me to box
since my very first day at Enbo Fight Club.
And he has taught me how to be a better person.
So I call him my godfather.
It's not just me.
Everyone here at Enbo Fight Club calls him Godfather.
I switched to an MMA model
because MMA is the only true representation of fighting.
It includes punches and kicks, elbows, knees,
grappling, and ground fighting.
It is the most complete martial art.
It's a sport for the courageous.
The third year after Banma arrived,
he said that he might become a champion fighter.
We all laughed at him.
But he actually fights pretty well.
He still needs another three to five years of training
to become a real champion.
There are a lot of kids like him here.
Ready! Go!
Quick!
I'm pretty shy about everything I do in life.
For some reason, being shy is perfectly fine.
But for other things,
being too shy means that you'll miss out on a lot.
Either way, I'm always changing.
We're going to go through the rules fairly quickly.
Banma weighs in at 58.24 kg [128 lbs].
The fighter has made weight.
At 128 pounds, the Red Fighter meets the weight requirements.
This is the sixth time
that I have fought in a professional international competition.
Tomorrow is the sixth time.
I have won five consecutive matches.
I hope that I can continue that record.
Heralding from Enbo Fight Club, today's Red Fighter is 18 years old,
1.7 meters tall [5.6 ft], and weighs in at 58 kg [128 lbs].
Let's give a round of applause for our Tibetan competitor,
the Prince of Fighters, Banma Douji!
This is a super flyweight qualifying match
between fighters, Yusuke and Banma Duoji.
That's right. Banma Douji really impressed us
during his earlier fights.
Right now, Yusuke is showing great movement with his legs.
The fighters have clinched!
Yusuke excells at grappling.
He throws a hook!
Banma Duoji needs to stay controlled right now.
He needs to use a more controlled fighting technique.
He's fallen!
A knee!
Stop!
Move along!
It's illegal to knee your opponent after they fall.
The competitor threw a knee strike, so the referee stopped the match.
We have already filed an appeal, and are waiting for the results.
Can you hear me?
I'm in Pi Township.
I wore the scarf you made for me to the match.
It looks great. It's perfect for me.
De Wang and I didn't lose our fights.
The results of this match are the same as if I hadn't fought.
Watching movies has impacted me a lot.
I wasn't prepared for this match.
My coach and the other fighters
told me that I shouldn't compete in this match.
But I said I could handle it.
This is the result.
This taught me to listen to their advice.
Of course he loves it.
But he hasn't realized yet
that fighting will play an important role
later in his life, or maybe for the rest of his life.
He hasn't thought about how this can earn him a living,
or enable him to provide for his family.
I never thought that something like this could happen,
that the Enbo Fight Club could suddenly close.
I never thought this would happen.
I've never even considered it.
If I stopped training and went back home,
there is nothing I would be capable of doing.
I grew up in a single parent home.
I have no memories of my father,
because he was never present in my life.
I don't even know what he looks like.
I grew up with my mother.
You don't have a job?
If you can, work hard.
If you can, have him open a tea shop.
How should I put this?
Fighting changed my fate.
If I hadn't come to the Enbo Fight Club,
I would definitely been herding yaks,
or maybe running a small business.
Otherwise, I would probably be stealing cows or other things.
I might even be in prison.
Whatever the case, I would be worse off than I am now.
I'm certain of that.
A lot of people think I'm arrogant or too lax with my training.
Of course people will think that.
But I'm not like that at all.
I don't care about these small scores, really.
I'm striving for greater things.
New waves push out old waves.
That will always happen.
If you rest, give up, or let your guard down mentally,
someone else will win the prize tomorrow. Not you.
That's the cruel reality of fighting.
You aren't invincible.
When it comes to fighting, no one is invincible.