By Caolite de Barra
Vietnam’s MMA Federation held an inaugural seminar on the 5th May, covering a broad range of topics including Amateur MMA Ruleset, IMMAF Committees and Commissions, weight management and National Federation Roles and Responsibilities. The seminar was held in a Military Academy in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam and delivered by IMMAF’s Data and Analytics’ Consultant Mikhail Mazur, a resident of Vietnam who believes the country is ready to embrace the sport.
Over 100 were in attendance, including a mix of coaches, representatives and athletes from across Southern Vietnam, thereby covering half of the country. A second seminar is scheduled to take place in the North of Vietnam in the city of Hanoi on the 25th of May. This seminar is subject to covid restrictions and could be delayed to a further date.
Mazur believed the large turn out for the seminar was a sign of success. The development of the sport in Vietnam is looking bright and with the help of VMMAF events, he expects the number of MMA gyms to grow significantly in the coming years.
“The event was held in a Military Academy and the room was packed with coaches and athletes so the interest for MMA is really present in the country. I enjoyed explaining the rules of MMA, with stress on safety and health in IMMAF’s amateur MMA in general and youth MMA in particular. This country has many MMA clubs and I have no doubt that their number will double in 2 years once VMMAF starts organising events on a regular basis, so thoughtful regulation is essential to guide the sport’s development in the right direction.”
“VMMAF plans to hold its second seminar in late May but the plans may change due to recent restrictions because of a new Covid wave in Vietnam.”
The VMMAF are actively working to grow the sport and help the sport develop across the country. For this reason, Mazur was more happy to host this session to share IMMAF’s vision of the sport and to guide the federation in its journey to full potential.
“We at IMMAF work diligently to help our beloved sport grow. We’ve had 2 technical seminars with multiple topics covering athletes and as federations development,” said Mazur. “I wanted to share not just IMMAF’s mission but disclose the vision, too – how to realize MMA Federation’s potential to the fullest. IMMAF is here to help any Federation irrespective of it being part of our family or not. Of course, we are looking forward to continuing the dialogue.”
