Andrew Pi (nicknamed Andy; ; born 1973) is a Chinese
Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...
(BJJ) practitioner and businessman. He is best known as a founder of
Art of War Fighting Championship
The Art of War Fighting Championship (英雄榜/Art of War/AOW) was a Chinese professional mixed martial arts Promoter (entertainment), promotion based in Beijing, Beijing, China. The Chinese title "英雄榜" literally translated means "Gatheri ...
(AOW), the first professional
mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. In addition he opened the first BJJ academy in
Beijing in 1998.
In 2003, he defeated
Xu Xiaodong via submission in one of the earliest televised MMA bouts in China which helped popularize BJJ in the country.
He is considered the Godfather of MMA (alongside Zhao Xuejun) and BJJ in China due to his contribution in building the MMA and BJJ scenes there.
Early life and education
Pi was born in Taiwan but moved to California at an early age and was raised there.
His grandfather was a general in
Chiang Kai Shek's air force.
He grew up idolizing
Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that ...
and trained in
Karate
(; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...
and
Kung Fu.
He attended the
University of California, Riverside graduating in 1995 with a degree in Psychology.
In 1994, during his time in college, he saw a video of an
Ultimate Fighting Championship event.
He noticed how
Royce Gracie would win all the fights by taking down people bigger than him and forcing them to give up without hurting them.
This would inspire him to attend the Gracie University of Jiu-Jitsu in Torrance where he learnt BJJ.
Career
In 1997, Pi received his Blue belt in BJJ under Royce Gracie and in the same year moved to Beijing with his parents.
As no one in China knew what BJJ was, Pi saw an opportunity and in 1998 opened the first BJJ academy in
Beijing where he would introduce the art to students.
In 1999, Pi met a Brazilian-Arab in a business trip where they became good friends.
He then took some Chinese judo practitioners to compete at the
ADCC Submission Fighting World Championships.
Although they were not successful, it was Pi's first hand experience of BJJ at international competitive level.
In 2003, after his gym established its reputation, Pi was invited to attend what would be one of the earliest domestic MMA competitions in China which was also televised.
The competition was held at an
Akkido dojo. In the competition he was paired up against
Xu Xiaodong, a
Sanda fighter.
During the fight, Xu broke Pi's forearm early with a kick. However Pi managed to eventually get Xu to the ground where he won via
Armbar submission.
After the fight, Pi noted how the competition lacked any real formal supervision such as doctors, judges etc leading to concern MMA and BJJ might get banned in China due to insufficient fighter protection.
As a result he and his younger brother Konrad, an Investment Manager came up with an idea to create an MMA promotion in China.
They noted the difficulty in execution due to the restrictions formed by the Chinese government as well as the difficulty of raising money for a big promotion.
Using their father's business executive with ties to China as well as relentless sales approach, They successfully made contact with the Chinese government and obtained the proper permits for hosting a sporting event.
They eventually found a few potential sponsors, including football star
Rashaan Salaam
Rashaan Iman Salaam (October 8, 1974 – December 5, 2016) was an American college and professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons during the 1990s. Salaam played college football ...
.
The promotion was called
Art of War Fighting Championship
The Art of War Fighting Championship (英雄榜/Art of War/AOW) was a Chinese professional mixed martial arts Promoter (entertainment), promotion based in Beijing, Beijing, China. The Chinese title "英雄榜" literally translated means "Gatheri ...
and was owned by the Pi's privately-held sports management company, the Adoria Entertainment Group.
When setting up the promotion, Pi sought out grapplers to compete in it. He met Zhao Xuejun, a renowned
Sanda coach who convinced Pi that he didn't need to seek out pure grapplers and that Sanda fighters were just as capable of competing in MMA.
Since then Zhao has moved his focus from Sanda to MMA and has worked to develop fighters to compete in the sport at Xi'an Sports University.
On November 6, 2005, AOW conducted its first event at the
Beijing Sport University
Beijing Sport University (BSU) (), formerly known as "Central Institute of Physical Education" () and "Beijing Institute of Physical Education" (), is a nation-level public university located in Beijing, China. It is one of the National Key Univ ...
.
The event was so packed there were people lined up outside every window trying to get a look inside.
This made it the first regulated professional MMA event held in China.
To date, AOW has held 15 events in mainland China. Its largest event was Art of War 12 - Invincible, held at the
National Olympic Sports Center Auditorium in Beijing on May 23, 2009 to an audience of around 6,000 fans.
The event attracted many international guests, including former
UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia, renowned ring announcer
Michael Buffer, and experienced referee "Big"
John McCarthy.
In terms of the China MMA scene, AOW has produced
Zhang Tiequan
Zhang Tiequan, or Zhang Tie Quan (, born July 25, 1978), often anglicized to Tiequan Zhang, is a Chinese mixed martial artist, who last competed as a Lightweight in the UFC. A professional competitor since 2005, Tiequan spent most of the beginni ...
who fought on its inaugural event.
He would go on to be the first fighter from China to not only fight in the UFC but also win a fight in the promotion where he defeated
Jason Reinhardt at
UFC 127
''UFC 127: Penn vs. Fitch'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on Sunday, 27 February 2011 at Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia. Due to the time zone difference it aired live on Saturday, 26 February in Nort ...
via
guillotine choke.
Since then Zhang has founded China Top Team gym and acted as coach to ranked UFC fighters such as
Li Jingliang and
Yan Xiaonan
Yan Xiaonan (born June 16, 1989) is a Chinese mixed martial artist (MMA). She currently competes in the Strawweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of November 8, 2022, she is ranked #6 in the UFC women's strawweight ra ...
.
On 2015,
Vice Media did a documentary on the growth of MMA in China which featured Pi as well as former UFC fighter, Andy Wang.
Fight record
, - style="background:#cfc;"
, 2003 , , Win , , align=left,
Xu Xiaodong , ,
Beijing, China
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, , Submission (Armbar) , , , ,
, -
, colspan=7 , ''Legend'':
Personal
Pi currently lives in Beijing with his wife and three children. He still continues to run Beijing Jiujitsu Academy.
In addition he is also a coach in China's national jiu-jitsu team.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pi, Andrew
Living people
Chinese company founders
American company founders
Chinese sports executives and administrators
American sports executives and administrators
Chinese wushu practitioners
American wushu practitioners
Chinese male karateka
American male karateka
Chinese male mixed martial artists
American male mixed martial artists
Mixed martial artists utilizing wushu
Mixed martial artists utilizing karate
Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Mixed martial arts executives
Chinese practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu
American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu
1973 births