Ningbo to hold second ultimate tournament in April
Tuesday, 9th March 2010 ~ Chris ~ Link ~ Comments (5)
by Dan Siekman
The second annual Ningbo Hat ultimate tournament will be held on the weekend of April 3-4 at the University of Nottingham Ningbo.
Ultimate, aka ultimate Frisbee, is a fast-paced and limited-contact sport that came out of the US in the 1970s and is growing in popularity worldwide. Only requiring a flying disc and an open field, the sport is beginning to take a hold in new parts of China.
Ningbo is one of three Chinese cities with two year old tournaments, the others being Kunming and Shenzhen. In China's more international cities of Shanghai, Hong Kong, Beijing and Tianjin, some ultimate clubs have been in existence since the late 1990s.
"Frisbee" is the original brand name of the plastic flying disc that is thrown between players in the sport. Most players now use discs that are manufactured by its competitor Discraft and in an attempt to cleanse their sport's name of the trademarked Frisbee name, they have taken to calling their sport "ultimate" and saying "disc" instead of Frisbee.
The object of the sport is to move the disc downfield by passing from teammate to teammate. The player in possession of the disc must pass within a ten-count. While in possession of the disc, the player cannot walk but is allowed to pivot on one foot. A point is scored when a player catches a pass in his/her opponent's end zone.
The word "hat" refers to a style of tournament in which players enter as individuals rather than teams and rank their own ability levels. Organizers then attempt to create a set of equally matched mixed gender teams that vie for the championship.
The term derives from formulating teams by choosing players' names at random out of a hat.
As is traditional for ultimate tournaments, the Ningbo tournament will have a themed party on Saturday night, with plenty of complimentary beer included in the tournament registration fee: the theme this year is "Star Wars." Players of both sexes and all ability levels are welcome to join.
For more information email: liyanguan (dot) forrest ( a t ) gmail (dot) com.
Image: Ningbo Ultimate
Tags: Beijing, Hong Kong, Ningbo, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tianjin, ultimate, ultimate frisbee
Art of War 15 in Beijing Saturday
Friday, 27th November 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (1)
Art of War, China's most established mixed martial arts brand, puts on its fifth event of the year this weekend at the Olympic Sports Center Stadium in Beijing (the Olympic handball venue, across the Fifth Ring Road from the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube. For Saturday's fight card, check out the Art of War Web site.The main event pits Ao Hailin (China) against Ueyama Ryuki (Japan). Ueyama's international resume includes appearances in Pride Bushido and K-1 Heros. Ao is 8-0 as an MMA fighter with Art of War. His last fight was a win in Art of War 11.
Ueyama says of his opponent: "Ao Hailin has never faced an opponent of my caliber. I have competed against the best fighters in the world and I am looking forward to putting on a great show for the Chinese audience. They will remember Ueyama Ryuki."
Ao, in an interview posted on the Art of War Web site, says that "The Mongolian blood flowing in my bones makes me a born fighter," and adds that "This will be a harsh battle. Whoever has the most energy and who can take advantage of openings will win the fight."
Other fights of interest include:
Wu Haotian (China) vs. Arthit Hanchana (Thailand)
Wu has something to prove after losing his main event fight in Art of War 13--Shukrat Minavarov of Uzbekistan knocked him out just 21 seconds into the first round. And Hanchana will be looking for his own revenge, as he lost to Wu the last time the two fought.
Vaughn Anderson (Canada) vs. Ivan Ivanov (Bulgaria)
Anderson is still looking for his first win since making his return to the ring after breaking his arm in Art of War 11 last March. The Mandarin-speaking Canadian fought Korean Kim Dong Hyun to a draw in Art of War 14. He faces a younger opponent in Ivanov, who has a record of 5-3 according to Sherdog.com.
Tickets range from 30 to 100 RMB and are available from Piao.com. Fights start at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 28.
Related:
Art of War 13: Results
Art of War 12, Beijing
Tags: Ao Hailin, Art of War, Arthit Hanchana, Beijing, Ivan Ivanov, martial arts, MMA, Olympic Sports Center Stadium, Ueyama Ryuki, Vaughn Anderson, Wu Haotian
Black Tiger Hero Club brings black tie bouts to Beijing
Thursday, 12th November 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Part of a minority that adhered to the dress code, this group from the U.S. Embassy enjoyed a photo op with the requisite barely dressed xiaojie.
The night featured 11 five-round, two-minute fights, with all but two going the distance. Nations represented included China, the Philippines, France, Thailand and Germany. Guests chose between a beef tenderloin, roast chicken breast and pan-fried sea bass for the entrée to go with their high kicks, leg sweeps and elbows to the head.
The Battlefield X series is put on by Black Tiger Hero Club, a martial arts club in Beijing's Central Business District. Their future plans include more black tie events, as well as some more casual shows. Like their major Beijing competitor, Art of War, Black Tiger uses a training facility and highly respected trainers to grow grass roots support between events.
Here are some more photos from the night:
One of the 11 fights was a mixed martial arts bout
Some sweat and blood with your cheesecake?
The winner of the night's one female fight observing the pre-fight Muay Thai ritual
A silent auction also benefited charity.
Tags: Beijing, Black Tiger Hero Club, mixed martial arts, MMA, Muay Thai
China Open Starts Friday in Beijing
Wednesday, 30th September 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
World No. 1 player Dinara Safina arrives at the Beijing airport
International players coming to the IMG-produced event include Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick in the men's tournament, and Jelena Jankovic (who has a sponsorship deal with Chinese sports apparel maker Anta), Maria Sharapova and the Williams sisters on the women's side. China's top players—Zheng Jie, Li Na and Yan Zi--will be making a rare professional appearance in their home country.
Tickets are available through Emma Ticketmaster (book online here, or you could probably just go to the venue and get tickets for face value or less from the scalpers who always swarm events like this. Play begins Friday at the National Tennis Center, the same 17-court venue that hosted tennis at the 2008 Olympics.
The event's biggest sponsor is Mercedes-Benz, which also puts its name on a nation-wide youth development program called Swing for the Stars. There will be $4.5 million in prize money at stake for the women, $2.1 million for the men, for a total of $6.6 million, which tournament organizers declare a record purse for a tournament in Asia. A schedule (without actual game times, only days) is available here. The qualifying rounds will be held Friday, with the main draw kicking off the following day. The finals take place Saturday, October 10 and Sunday, October 11. Ticket prices range from 60 yuan for cheap seats in the early rounds, to 2,000 yuan for the finals.
China Open 2009 (English Web site)
Related:
Mercedes Hooking Its Star to Tennis
Dinara Safina image: ChinaOpen.com
Tags: Beijing, IMG, tennis
Art of War 13, Beijing
Friday, 17th July 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
China's top MMA show comes back to Beijing this weekend. Art of War 13: Rising Force, starts at 4 p.m. at Beijing Olympic Sports Center Auditorium. This is the third Art of War event this year, and the main event pits China's Wang Sai against Claes Beverlov of Sweden. Wu Hao Tian and Dai Shuang Hai, the Chinese fighters featured in the main event of the last two shows, will also be stepping into the ring. Other countries represented in this international event will include Poland, France, South Korea and Uzbekistan (to name a few). See the complete fight card here.Tickets are available online here and venue information can be found here.
Related:
Art of War 12, Beijing (report)
MMA in Beijing: Art of War 12 (preview)
Tags: Art of War, Beijing, martial arts, MMA
Art of War 12, Beijing
Monday, 25th May 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (1)
Michael Buffer, getting the crowd ready for the rumble
UPDATE: The next Art of War event takes place July 18, not July 11 as it says below.
Events in China often suffer from a bit of a disbelief syndrome, especially if they claim that some international VIP is going to attend. So I wasn't really surprised when friends of mine who follow mixed martial arts were skeptical about the promotion of this past weekend's Art of War Championship in Beijing. Were all of these legends of the sport really going to show up? Would Michael Buffer be there, or would it be his little brother Bruce, who isn't even licensed to say "Let's get ready to rumble"?
As it turned out, Art of War 12: Invincible, was the real deal. It was the second fully licensed event for the organizers, brothers Andrew and Konrad Pi. After working out the kinks with a show at the 3,500-seat Chaoyang Stadium two months ago, Saturday's event at the 6,000-seat Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium was a coming out party. MMA legends including Bas Rutten, referee "Big John" McCarthy and several members of Brazil's Gracie family were in attendance.
UAE citizens flown in for the fights
Art of War is backed by Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, and he footed the bill for journalists from all over the world to fly in to cover the event, as well as hosting a cheering section from the United Arab Emirates, outfitted in matching gear for the occasion. The sheik himself didn't show up, but a couple of young members of the royal family were there to hand out the award after the main event.
The night had pretty much everything you can expect from a full card of bouts--a boxing-style knockout punch (Ole Baguio Larson over Shawn David), that crazy young guy who just comes out with a flurry of crazy video game punches (19-year old Yao Qiang over 29-year-old Nemat Bobomukhamedov), a promising fight stopped by the doctors in the first round (Fransino Tirta over Malik Arash Mawlayi), and a referee jumping on a fighter who takes a cheap shot after the knockout bell (Ning Guangyou of China).
Wu Haotian accepts his check
Wu Haotian of China won the main event in less than two minutes, beating Yutaka Kobayashi of Japan in a knockout. But the best fight of the night was between Rolles Gracie (Brazil, making his Asian MMA debut) and Baga Agaev (Russia), a pair of impressively fit and skilled super heavyweights. Gracie, weighing in at 110 kilograms (242 pounds) won with a rear naked choke after five minutes.
Oh, and what about Buffer? He emceed the last six fights of the night, delivering the trademarked catch phrase for the main event and nailing the fighters' Chinese, Japanese, Uzbeki and Indonesian names.
As an aside, ticketing seems to be an area in need of major improvement. Tickets available online through Emma Ticketmaster were sold out early. Sponsors that run Beijing businesses were said to have tickets for sale, but they were hard to track down. Perhaps the large contingent of special guests had something to do with it.
For an interesting look at Art of War's business position, from inside the MMA world, check out the podcast at the bottom of this entry on NoHoldsBarred.com. Once you get past (skip) the six minutes of really annoying ads, the show is interesting.
The remaining Art of War events this year take place July 11, September 5, October 31 and December 26. For more information, check out Artofwarfc.cn.
Related: MMA in Beijing: Art of War 12
Tags: Art of War, Beijing, martial arts, mixed martial arts, MMA, National Sports Center Gymnasium
MMA in Beijing: Art of War 12
Friday, 22nd May 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (1)
Wu Haotian (right) stares down his opponent before Art of War 11.
The main event features China's Wu Hao Tian against Japanese fighter Yutaka Kobayashi. VIPs in attendance will include the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi
(His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan), who is a major investor in Art of War; Michael Buffer ("Let's get ready to rumble!"); and several members of Brazilian jiu jitsu's first family, the Gracies. The fighters come from China, South Korea, Brazil, the United States, Korea, Finland, Uzbekistan, Sweden, Denmark and Russia.
This is the 12th time that Art of War is putting on fights in Beijing, but only the second time the competition is completely government-sanctioned and publicized. The first official show took place about two months ago at Chaoyang Stadium. A dozen pairs of fighters squared off in a boxing-style ring in front of a packed 3,500-seat house. Not only were the fights at Art of War 11 good, but the event was one of the best-produced athletic competitions China has seen outside of the Olympics, complete with drama, hype, smoke and jumbotron instant replay. These guys know how to put on a show.
Mixed martial arts pits fighters against each other in hand-to-hand combat, using whatever fighting styles they want (certain strikes, of course, are off-limits). Also known as MMA, it has surged in popularity in the United States lately--Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC, being the most popular organization.
The Art of War crew is looking to hold onto its position as the number one producer of these events in China. The company also operates the Art of War martial arts studio in Beijing, and airs fights via Inner Mongolia satellite TV every Sunday afternoon. It will produce four more competitions in China this year.
Emma Ticketmaster lists the event as sold out, but tickets can still be bought at The Rickshaw sports bar in Beijing (map and info available here).
Keep scrolling for pictures of Art of War 11.
The ring at Chaoyang Stadium, Art of War 11
Instant replay while the crowd awaits the judges' decision
Mongolia, with its wrestling tradition, produces some of China's best fighters (Dai Shuanghai at AOW 11)
Wu Haotian vs. Andreas Hesselback, AOW 11
Shanzhai pyrotechnics
Bernueng Sakhomsin (Thailand, left) fought Dai Shuanghai (China) to a draw in the main event. "Bring me back and I'll kill him," Sakhomsin said after the fight.
Tags: Beijing, Chaoyang Stadium, events, martial arts, mixed martial arts, Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium
Beijing barstools
Friday, 3rd April 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
The NCAA has finally gotten its act together, so you can now watch March Madness games online at mmod.ncaa.com. Unlike previous years, there's no waiting list and the quality is pretty good. This is good news if you are a college basketball fan in China, where the games don't air on TV. But there's something sort of sad about watching any major sporting competition at home alone in your pajamas, so we recommend getting up bright and early Tuesday morning to watch the finals somewhere like the Goose and Duck or Tim's Texas Barbeque (to be safe, call to confirm they'll be showing the game, as this is one of the harder events to get here).To get ready for Final Four weekend, China Sports Today caught up with nightlife blogger Jim Boyce, of Beijing Boyce. Boyce is more of an NBA fan--he's hoping against hope that his Toronto Raptors make the NBA playoffs this year--but he takes the job of keeping up with Beijing's watering holes very seriously. Here are his some of thoughts on sports bars in China's capital city:
China Sports Today: During your time in China, what were some of your most memorable sports watching experiences?
Jim Boyce: The past two Super Bowls--for both, I sat in the Goose & Duck. Both times had lots of people watching and last-minute heroics, plus beer. The (2006) World Cup also was very good. It seemed like everywhere, not just sports bars, had a screen up and both locals and expats were out watching.
And the Olympics, of course, especially the opening ceremonies. My friend and I went to I think 30 bars the night of the open ceremonies, and it was great to see people out and excited about it. There was a lot of negativity leading up to it, and people at this point were just thinking, "Here it is," and were really excited. It was a nice change of attitude.
CST: How do you feel about watching games over breakfast, instead of chicken wings and potato skins?
Boyce: I'd prefer to watch them at night, because I'm not much of a morning person. But I think a bigger issue than the time is accesibility. I can't udnerstand why there aren't more North American sports shown in Beijing. You can find rugby, Formula 1, soccer/football everywhere, but it's almost impossible to find the NFL, MLB and NHL.
As far as getting bigger crowds, I think it's more of a habitual thing; you need to build those things up. People go to bars to watch with other people, so if you don't know you can expect people to be there, you're less likely to go. I think it's also accessibility. Some things, like NHL hockey, you just can't get here unless you're getting it online. I think there's a market there for a place specializing in showing North American sports.
CST: Which Beijing sports bar has the best coffee?
Boyce: Nobody. No one wins.
CST: Who has the best breakfast?
Boyce: I like The Den's breakfast--the eggs benedict or the standard English breakfast, which comes on a cast iron skillet. I'm a huge fan of The Den for thier pub grub in general. If you ask me which sports bar I would choose if I had to eat at it every day, it would be The Den.
CST: Who has the most reliable coverage?
Boyce: The Den is pretty good. They'll not only show games, but make up giant score sheets, and have multiple sports showing at once. The Rickshaw did very well with the baseball playoffs, and they are the only bar in Beijing that I know had the NBA channel. And the Goose & Duck, because they're open 24 hours, is a good option for watching a game any time of day. Actually, The Den is 24 hours now, too.
CST: Where do you find the best company and atmosphere?
Boyce: For me it depends on the sport. During the World Cup, the deck at the Pavilion was amazing. For NBA and baseball, I like the Rickshaw because it's a nice place to get four or five people around a table to watch the game. And for the Super Bowl, it's the Goose & Duck.
We've seen quite a few additions to the sports bar options in Beijing lately. The Stumble Inn just opened. Glen Phelan, from Paddy O'Shea's, is taking over Stadium Sports and reopening it April 10. Luga's Villa is just a year old. Blue Frog is another place to watch sports. There's a lot of new places opening, mostly in the Sanlitun area.
CST: Why do think we see so few Chinese people out watching sports in Beijing's bars?
Boyce: It's not a big cultural thing here to gather at a Western sports bar. For one, Western bars are still pretty expensive for the average Chinese. There's also a language barrier. It was interesting at the Goose & Duck for the Super Bowl; it's a pretty big place, and they had one area with the English commentary and one with the Chinese commentary. But yeah, I'd lke to see many more Chinese coming out. The Chinese are crazy about sports--you know that there are some really big fans here.
For more on Beijing's eating and drinking scene, check out Jim's blog (Beijing Boyce).
Tags: basketball, Beijing, Final Four, March Madness, sports bars
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