{{Short description|Martial arts gym based in Chengdu, China}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}} {{MMA Training Associations|teamname=Enbo Fight Club |image = Enbo Fight Club.png |founder = En Bo |dateestablished = {{Start date and age|2001}} |schoollocations = Chengdu, Sichuan, China |website= }} '''Enbo Fight Club''' ({{zh|s=恩波格斗|p=Ēnbō Gédòu}}) is a mixed martial arts (MMA) gym based in Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
== Overview == Enbo Fight Club (originally named Aba Prefecture Sanda Club) was founded in 2001 by En Bo, a Chinese MMA coach and former police officer. He stated that during his time in the police, he encountered orphaned children wandering in the mountains or on the streets. As a result, after retiring from the police, he wanted to work on helping orphans. By creating a martial arts gym, they wouldn't need to turn towards crime.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |date=24 July 2017 |title=Chinese MMA fight club for orphans under investigation |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2103919/chinese-police-probe-mixed-martial-arts-fight-club-poor-children |access-date=24 September 2021 |website=South China Morning Post |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Controversial MMA club trains hundreds of orphans |url=http://www.ecns.cn/cns-wire/2017/07-21/266262.shtml |access-date=24 September 2021 |website=www.ecns.cn}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=30 July 2017 |title='Fighting for their fate': Chinese kids adopted by MMA club |url=https://www.france24.com/en/20170730-fighting-fate-chinese-kids-adopted-mma-club |access-date=24 September 2021 |website=France 24 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=10 August 2017 |title=Fight club children beg to be allowed to stay at MMA club |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2106238/chinas-fight-club-children-beg-be-allowed-stay-controversial-mma |access-date=24 September 2021 |website=South China Morning Post |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite web |title=Enbo Fight Club is Molding China's Future MMA Stars — RADII |url=https://radii.co/article/enbo-fight-club-mma-gym |access-date=2024-02-10 |website=Stories from the center of China’s youth culture |language=en}}</ref>
The gym is known to take in orphans and children from impoverished families as there are many regions in the province that have high poverty rates. Due to the gym's location, there are many members of the gym that belong to China's ethnic minority groups such as Tibetans, Hui, Yi and Qiang.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":7" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Voices |first=Global |date=8 September 2017 |title=The complicated morality of a mixed martial arts fight club for impoverished Chinese boys |url=https://hongkongfp.com/2017/09/08/complicated-morality-mixed-martial-arts-fight-club-impoverished-chinese-boys/ |access-date=24 September 2021 |website=Hong Kong Free Press HKFP |language=en-GB}}</ref>
Due to popular demand of many children applying to be members of the gym, there is a screening process for them. They will be checked for contagious diseases and if they are able to perform satisfactory in a three-month trial period.<ref name=":2" />
In 2015, the gym introduced MMA in its offerings and hired MMA coaches.<ref name=":11">{{Cite web |last=闫威 |title=How a martial arts club helps youngsters see the bigger world-- Beijing Review |url=https://www.bjreview.com/Lifestyle/202307/t20230714_800336854.html |access-date=20 December 2023 |website=www.bjreview.com}}</ref>
As of 2017, the gym has over 200 members where children only comprise a small portion of its membership. The gym facilities now encompass almost 4,000 square meters. The gym claims it has 100 professional athletes while some of its others members have gone on to become members of police or armed forces.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":8">{{Cite web |date=2 January 2018 |title=Asia's Top Martial Arts Gyms |url=https://www.onefc.com/features/asias-top-martial-arts-gyms/ |access-date=24 September 2021 |website=ONE Championship – The Home Of Martial Arts |language=en-US}}</ref>
In 2017, Vice Media did a documentary on the Enbo Fight Club which featured Tibetan fighter, Banma Duoji who now fights at ONE FC.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Inside China's MMA Club for Poor and Orphaned Boys |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/inside-chinas-mma-club-for-poor-and-orphaned-boys/|access-date=24 September 2021 |website=Vice.com |date=November 2017 |language=en}}</ref>
In July 2023, a Chinese MMA movie named ''Never Say Never'' was released. The setting was based on the Enbo Fight Club.<ref name=":11" />
== Controversies ==
=== MMA fights featuring underaged children === In 2017, a video surfaced of two 12-14-year-old boys competing in a commercial MMA bout which gained 12 million views and caused outrage in China. Shortly after the video surfaced, the police in China opened an investigation into the Enbo Fight Club. There was debate on Weibo about the fight and the gym itself. Some argue that the children in the gym were being exploited in hard conditions and dangerous fights which was done solely to earn money for the gym. Others argue that due to circumstances, the children in the gym would have been deprived of a potential future in fighting and would end up on the streets turning to a life of crime. It was noted that one of the fighters in the video said he wished to remain in the gym to pursue his dream of becoming UFC champion. Other young members of the gym shared his sentiments claiming that there was no future in going back to their hometowns.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":10">{{Cite web |last=Bissell |first=Tim |date=25 July 2017 |title=Video: Chinese MMA club promoting orphan fights |url=https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2017/7/25/16023728/china-mma-club-accused-adopting-hundreds-orphan-training-them-ufc-fighters-mma-news |access-date=24 September 2021 |website=Bloody Elbow |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180212184150/https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2017/7/25/16023728/china-mma-club-accused-adopting-hundreds-orphan-training-them-ufc-fighters-mma-news |archive-date=12 February 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=AFP |date=22 July 2017 |title=Video of young orphans fighting in MMA cage sparks outrage in China {{!}} New Straits Times |url=https://www.nst.com.my/world/2017/07/259604/video-young-orphans-fighting-mma-cage-sparks-outrage-china |access-date=24 September 2021 |website=NST Online |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":9">{{Cite news |date=24 July 2017 |title=Enbo, the orphan 'Fight Club,' divides China online |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-40705752 |access-date=24 September 2021 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>
=== Involvement with the People's Liberation Army === It was noted that 20 fighters from the Enbo Fight Club have been enlisted by the People's Liberation Army to form the "Plateau Resistance Tibetan Mastiffs" unit and would be stationed in Lhasa, Tibet. Their role would be helping provide hand-to-hand combat training to soldiers in the area. This happened shortly after the 2020–2021 China–India skirmishes at the Sino-Indian border.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=27 June 2020 |title=China recruits MMA fighters for Tibet border militia |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3090840/china-recruits-mma-fighters-tibet-border-militia |access-date=24 September 2021 |website=South China Morning Post |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite news |date=27 June 2020 |title=Galwan Valley: China to use martial art trainers after India border clash |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-53204953 |access-date=24 September 2021 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=KHAN |first=FATIMA |date=28 June 2020 |title=China has now recruited mixed martial arts fighters into its army in Tibet: State broadcaster |url=https://theprint.in/defence/china-has-recruited-mixed-martial-arts-fighters-into-its-army-in-tibet-state-broadcaster/450406/ |website=ThePrint}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=我州恩波格斗俱乐部被西藏军区授予"雪獒高原抗击队"称号并授旗 - 四川省体育局 |url=http://tyj.sc.gov.cn/sctyj/szxw/2020/6/20/f69aff5520d3461ebff134104ee84e37.shtml |access-date=24 September 2021 |website=tyj.sc.gov.cn}}</ref>
== Notable fighters affiliated ==
* Song Yadong (UFC fighter, peak ranking 5th in Bantamweight division)<ref name=":7" /> * Su Mudaerji (UFC fighter, peak ranking 11th in Flyweight Division)<ref name=":7" /> *Liu Pingyuan (UFC fighter)<ref>{{Cite web |title=【成都恩波格斗】刘平原四战全胜拔得头筹_武林 |url=https://www.sohu.com/a/www.sohu.com/a/256331728_645533 |access-date=2024-02-10 |website=www.sohu.com }}{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> * Rong Zhu (UFC fighter, Road to UFC Season 2 Lightweight tournament winner)<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |last=Tabuena |first=Anton |date=2024-02-04 |title=Top prospect Rei Tsuruya shines in tournament win: Road to UFC Season 2 finals - Full results, video highlights |url=https://bloodyelbow.com/2024/02/04/road-to-ufc-season-2-final-live-results/ |access-date=2024-02-04 |language=en-US |archive-date=4 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240204085848/https://bloodyelbow.com/2024/02/04/road-to-ufc-season-2-final-live-results/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> *Maheshate (UFC fighter, first fighter from China to win a UFC contract on Dana White's Contender Series)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Taylor |first=Tom |date=2021-11-03 |title=UFC: Maheshate first Chinese fighter to win contract on Contender Series |url=https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3154666/ufc-maheshate-becomes-first-chinese-fighter |access-date=2024-02-04 |website=South China Morning Post |language=en}}</ref> *Yi Zha (UFC fighter, Road to UFC Season 2 Featherweight tournament winner)<ref name=":12" />
== See also == * List of professional MMA training camps
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{MMA Team List}}
Category:Mixed martial arts training facilities Category:Kickboxing training facilities Category:Wushu organizations Category:Organizations based in Chengdu Category:2001 establishments in China