That thunderous jolt was yet another economic shift toward developing nations. Brazil and Rio de Janeiro's winning bid Friday for the 2016 Summer Olympics will bring billions of dollars into the country, and marks a moral victory of sorts over the much wealthier U.S.A. and Japan. It's also time to see more varied and even positive news on Latin America, beyond the relentless stories on drugs and gangs. No doubt Latin America has an image problem in the Western world, and other opportunistic countries from China to Russia have dashed in to befriend Brazil and nearby nations. We're playing catch up, and President Obama -- seeing the unstoppable currents of the global economy -- will have a better shot at linking with President Lula than our last administration.
But whether that overseas money and good news will uplift Brazil's development over the long haul is always the big question when cities, regions and nations put on mega-sports events. The tremendous hype and build-up towards a Super Bowl or a World Cup or an Olympics Games surely helps the host's image and marketing allure. After the event is over, though, inevitably there's a huge whooshing sound as the excitement dies and the economy deflates. Sports economists have often said that it's more important for the host city or country's economic policies and business climates to be strong and stable before the sporting event.
Even with its widespread poverty and crime, Brazil is a beautiful and growing country with natural resources, a rising middle class and a growing technology base for innovation (See VentureBeat's"Brazilian Startup Hoplon Infotainment Goes Global" and CoolGlobal Biz's"Technology and Innovation in Cross-Cultural Brazil"). There's also much room for growth and competition, as former JetBlue founder David Neeleman has proven with Azul, his new Brazil-based airline (See CoolGlobalBiz, "Global Entrepreneur: CEO & Founder David Neeleman of Azul"). Hope the Olympics will bring Brazil and Rio even more economic progress. It's their turn, their time.
BEIJING, China -- When jiu-jitsu instructor Andrew Pi was battling in a mixed martial arts (MMA) tournament here in 2003, a powerful kick from his foe struck Pi's forearm and snapped the bone in two. Not wanting to lose with his students watching, Pi fought through the searing pain and managed to beat his opponent with a tight arm-lock hold called an arm-bar. "I was young and proud and I couldn't quit," said Pi, who was born in China but grew up in the Silicon Valley suburbs in the U.S.A. "I was trying to promote jiu-jitsu in China, and I needed to show how effective it was as a martial art. There was no room for failure."
After surgery on his arm, unable to train for three months, Pi reflected over the long-run goals in his life. Trained by legendary martial artist Royce Gracie in Torrance, California, U.S.A., Pi was founder of the Beijing Jiu-Jitsu Academy, the first Brazilian jiu-jitsu school in China. But Pi also wanted to spread the sport of MMA to the masses in China. The country boasts a long and proud history of martial arts, but no world-class Chinese athletes competed in the best MMA competitions. "I thought about it for awhile and said 'I want to do something that I'm passionate about,' " Pi said. " 'I want to promote MMA fights in China.' "(Photo of Royce Gracie by Esther Lin/ProElite, under Creative Commons license on flickr.com.)
So Pi called his younger brother, Konrad Pi, an investment manager and private helicopter pilot in San Diego who also had studied jiu-jitsu for many years. "Great idea," Konrad Pi said. "We can do it, but it'll be very, very difficult." Konrad Pi immediately saw the pros and cons. The upside: MMA is a fast-growing and reputable professional sport, shedding its earlier bloody reputation as "human cock-fighting." The martial arts are China's national pasttime -- what the Pi brothers call "the baseball of China." And China's hundreds of millions of middle-class consumers are hungry for world-class sports entertainment and a resurgence in national pride since the Beijing Summer Olympics have ended. The downside: Government bureaucracy and control. The logistical challenges of staging big events. Raising money for a new, risky venture in a country where many Western business moguls have been forced to tap out.
Potential investors were skeptical. But Konrad Pi, a relentless salesman and management science graduate of the University of California at San Diego, scrambled to find a few, such as football starRashaan Salaam, winner of the 1994 Heisman Trophy, the prestigious award that goes to the best college football player in the U.S.A. To launch their new Art of War events, the Pi brothers and their father, Frank Pi -- a former IBM, EDS and Ernst & Young executive -- furiously worked their family and business ties in China. Chinese government contacts helped them to land key permits and other requirements to stage sports events. Their knowledge of "unwritten laws" and business practices also sped up their plans. "You've got to do it the Chinese way," Andrew Pi said. "One wrong move can really mess you up." Examples of some of those "unwritten laws"? Sorry, Konrad Pi said, business rivals would pay millions of dollars for that competitive edge.
The Pi family's fluency in Mandarin and deep understanding of Chinese cultural values didn't hurt them, either. "If you can't even communicate with someone, how can you possibly understand their cultural traditions?" said Andrew Pi, a psychology graduate of the University of California at Riverside outside Los Angeles. "And if you don't understand their cultural traditions, how can you do business with them?" He said that arrogant Western business people fail terribly in China -- he was one of those arrogant foreigners himself, when he returned to Beijing a decade ago. But his father and mother straightened him out. "My parents taught me to be respectful to others, and that’s especially useful for doing business in China, where respect and face are important to your partners,” said Andrew Pi, 36. “You have to learn to give face, not tear off a person’s face.” They also were motivated by the fear of failing their family, and not rising to their parents' expectations. It's that old Asian thing, said Konrad Pi, 34. "My parents did very well for us, raising us in an upper-middle-class home in the U.S." he said. "We didn't want to let them down."
They haven't shamed the family yet. Their privately-held sports management company, the Adoria Entertainment Group (Adoria means "success" or "victory" in Latin), seems to be well-positioned. CEO Andrew Pi and company president Konrad Pi see revenue coming from broadcasting rights, pay-per-view shows, and merchandising of Art of War clothing and other products. Art of War fights are broadcast to potentially hundreds of millions of viewers across mainland China, Hong Kong and other Asian countries via CCTV-5, China's government-run sports channel, and Inner Mongolia Satellite TV. The fights also can be seen online on Sohu Sports and QQ.com, China's largest online chat community. Meanwhile, Adoria Entertainment is in talks with more potential corporate sponsors and broadcast partners in Asia and the U.S.A. Andrew Pi said that the Ultimate Fighting Championship MMA brand is the best in the industry now. But he and his brother ultimately hope to make Art of War the No. 1 brand in Asia -- and even the world.
Their most recent Art of War event, a glitzy affair in Beijing last Saturday, attracted Chinese celebrities, business tycoons and a nearly sold-out crowd. (See Part One of this post.) The Pi brothers and others believe that Chinese consumers and China's 65 million martial arts practitioners will quickly adopt the Art of War, as people here often embrace new products and technology much faster than in the U.S.A. "China is a highly sought-after market, and the broadcasting of MMA has much potential," said HDNet executive Jeff Cuban, in Beijing to watch the event. Plus, the Chinese take great pride in their warrior-athletes. The Art of War fights feature Chinese Olympic athletes and national and world champions in judo, karate, Greco-Roman wrestling and sanshou. But MMA experts at the Art of War 12 event said that Chinese athletes will need more time to evolve into more versatile, elite MMA athletes who can strike on their feet and grapple on the ground. Same with the Art of War's business operation. If the company grows at a steady pace, it should do well. But if the Pi brothers rush in hastily, they could stumble. "This show does a lot of things right -- it's laying the groundwork for bigger things to come," said Monte Cox, a famed MMA promoter who manages Tim Silva, Matt Hughes,and other top MMA athletes. "It just needs time to develop."
Andrew and Konrad Pi agree. They welcome critical feedback and look forward to growing in the sports management field. As a business journalist, I've interviewed hundreds of executives and entrepreneurs over the years, and the Pi brothers are refreshingly polite, respectful and down-to-earth. Fighters and other MMA industry insiders clasp their hands and hug them throughout the weekend, showing genuine appreciation -- not kowtowing -- for their hard work in making the Beijing event happen. As their mother put it, Andrew and Konrad are promoting a young man's sport in a very old and
traditional country. It's taken the fighting arts in China centuries to grow, so the Pi brothers can wait three or four years for the Art of War to catch on. "We have an intense burden on our shoulders to carry forward," Andrew Pi said. "China has a great tradition of martial arts, and it needs MMA badly. You don't see Chinese fighters at the highest-level MMA tournaments in the world. We have to change that."
BEIJING, China -- In the mashed-up global economy of the new century, it still jolts you like a jab to the jaw that the reigning mandarins of mixed martial arts (MMA) here are a couple of young Chinese American dudes with roots in Silicon Valley and San Diego, U.S.A. Andy Pi and younger brother Konrad Pi were born in China, but their father -- former IBM and EDS executive Frank Pi -- moved the family to the Silicon Valley suburb of Fremont when the boys were grade school kids. Little did Pop know that their entrepreneurial sons would flee safe office jobs to pursue their love of martial arts by launching the Art of War Fighting Championship(www.mmachina.com), a sports entertainment startup in China.
Modelled after the thriving Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) franchise in the U.S.A. and a defunct MMA empire in Japan called Pride, the four-year-old Art of War pits homegrown Chinese fighters
against foes from around the world. The Art of War's biggest show yet, a glitzy brawlfest last Saturday at the National Olympic Sports Center in Beijing, drew celebrities and a nearly sold-out crowd that wildly cheered the Chinese fighters. Their favorite: rising star Wu Hao Tian, a charismatic young warrior who pounded his Japanese opponent into the Floating World and let out a Bruce Lee-style yelp to celebrate. Sports announcer Michael ("Let's Get Ready to Rumble!") Buffer and referee Big John McCarthy added their star power to the night.
The Art of War brand also is drawing more attention from corporate types and MMA experts. China has never seen a MMA sports event of this magnitude, and businesses have dollar signs and yuan notes in their eyes. Venetian and MGM Mirage executives from Macau and Hong Kong eyed the fights with keen interest. HDNet executives Jeff Cuban and Andrew Simons were checking out the whole scene. Legendary MMA fighters Bas Rutten, Royce Gracie and the Gracie family, and 1994 Heisman Trophy winner and U.S.A. football star Rashaan Salaam -- a business partner of the Pi brothers -- enjoyed the action.
"The potential to put on big sports events and to showcase talent here is absolutely tremendous," said Monte Cox, a prominent MMA promoter and manager who represents many of the top fighters in the world. "I don't think any foreigner is going to walk into China and put on an MMA show, so you've got the Pi brothers paving the way." Donovan Craig, editor-in-chief of Bluff Media's Fight! Magazine, said: "The sport is really taking off globally, and Art of War is building a local talent base in a market that everyone is very excited about." Eddie Goldman, host and producer of the No Holds Barred Internet radio show, added: "If these guys do it right, Art of War has the potential to be the most successful MMA promotion in the world."
Phew, lavish hype and praise. But China is hot. Mixed martial arts are hot. And Andy Pi and Konrad Pi -- with the sage counsel of their parents and family -- have succeeded so far at cracking into the alluring market of their homeland, when so many others have been bloodied and beaten. Can they live up to the high expectations, or will they crumble to the mat like the losing fighters from Art of War 12? (To be continued.)
