Karate blackbelt vs Street fighter, Hai Lee (black shorts) vs in an MMA style match up at their dojo, RONIN BJJ, a dedicated BJJ Team in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Here’s Part 1:

Here’s part 2:

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 Southeast 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.

Karate vs Streetfighter

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. [languagefight .blogspot.com]