The July 6 release of the blockbuster film Never Say Never has drawn renewed attention to the real-life martial arts club on which it is based and to its controversies. However, a closer look at the club in question reveals a long history of helping young people escape poverty.

The Enbo club, a mixed martial arts (MMA) club, was forced into the spotlight in 2017 when a viral video showed two underage children from the club fighting in an octagon cage. The video sparked heated discussion of whether the club was placing children in commercial fights. But a probe into the club and its founder uncovered a different story.

A story of twists and tears is always a good one for a movie. Never Say Never grossed over 1 billion yuan ($139 million) within six days of its release. Director Wang Baoqiang worked on the movie for six years. The actor-turned filmmaker also played its protagonist.

A way out

The Enbo club was established in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, in the early 2000s. It first served as a "home away from home" for rural students attending a sports school in neighboring Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture.

The founder, identified by the name Enbo, is a retired paramilitary officer skilled in sanda, a Chinese form of freestyle combat. Born in Aba, he lost his father at 8 and grew up in poverty.

The club, funded entirely by Enbo, provides free meals and accommodation as well as training facilities. Gradually, it became known as a martial arts school for children from rural areas and began to attract a steady flow of students, especially from underdeveloped areas in Sichuan, including Aba and Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture.

Students are accepted by the club only on condition they are from low-income rural families, are willing to practice martial arts and have the permission of their parents or guardians.

Eighty percent of the children had already dropped out of school before joining the club, Enbo revealed to media in 2017. As these students could not be officially registered as residents of Chengdu, they were ineligible to attend public schools there. Consequently, Enbo employed four teachers to teach academic subjects in the students' spare time such as on nights and weekends.

Padma Dorje, better known as Banma Duoji (a spelling based on pinyin (the romanization system for Chinese characters), a student from the Tibetan ethnic group born in Aba in 1999, joined the club in 2009. Before that, he was in third grade at a local elementary school. His father passed away before he was born and the family had struggled financially ever since. He heard about the Enbo club from his headmaster and decided to go.

Starting from scratch, it took him two years to get ready to represent the club in sanda competitions. In 2015, Enbo introduced MMA to the club's offerings by hiring MMA coaches.

Banma Duoji switched from sanda to MMA in 2015 and won his first match at a competition run by Henan TV. "I was not sure whether I was suitable for martial arts when I first joined the club," he told Tencent Sport Channel in May 2021. "But when I raised my arms and shouted in happiness after winning the match, I knew immediately that MMA was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life."

When some of the students started to make a name for themselves in competitions, a five-minute video showing two of them bruised and fighting in an octagon cage went viral online in July 2017. The video sparked harsh accusations from viewers that the club was exploiting children for possible commercial use.

"These kinds of accusations are based on many people's limited knowledge of MMA," an MMA vlogger surnamed Xu told Beijing Review. "It was in 2017 when many people in China didn't have a clear idea of MMA and would equate it to brutal fighting, something illegal; not to mention the fact that the fighters were children."

The voices were so loud that the police and related departments began to investigate the club. It was then that Enbo began appearing in the media, telling the stories of the children and the club.

Li Zicongwu, one of the students in the viral video, was 14 at the time. He joined the club in 2014 when he was 11. His mother passed away when he was 10 and his father had left their hometown looking for work. When he heard about the Enbo club, Li had already dropped out of school and he and his elder brother made a living by growing potatoes and corn.

"I love martial arts, and it was in my blood," he told The Beijing News in 2017. He immediately went to join the club and found it was his dream environment. He no longer needed to worry about money and could have meat and eggs at every meal. All he needed to do was to practice martial arts.

Speaking of Enbo, Li said, "We all call him dad and he gives us everything. If I hadn't come here, I might have ended up struggling to make ends meet my whole life."

The investigation concluded the club had not done anything illegal. But authorities mandated the children be returned to their hometowns to complete their compulsory education, as the hours of academic study provided by the club were far less than what is legally required for students in grades one through nine.

Dreams coming true

Before the authorities had made their decision, Li called his father in advance to ensure he had his permission to stay at the club, but also prepared for the worst. "No one wanted to leave," he said.

Li was lucky as the club established a branch in Aba's local sports school, allowing students from Aba, like Li, to continue their training. But more than 10 of the club's students made tearful goodbyes.

"Even if I had been forced to leave, I knew I would come back. I was pretty sure MMA was the only thing that I wanted to do. Nothing could stop me from chasing my dream—to be a UFC fighter."

Based in Las Vegas, the UFC, or Ultimate Fighting Championship, is the world's leading MMA promoter. Li's dream seemed to grow a little closer when Su Mudaerji, a senior fighter from the Enbo club, made his debut at the UFC in November 2018 at 22.

It is on Su that the character Su Mu in the movie Never Say Never is based. Born in 1996, he used to herd cattle in his hometown in Aba before joining the club in 2010.

"MMA changed my fate," Su told media after joining the UFC. "It took me out of the mountains and made me see a bigger world. Now I have even created my own brand. I might have been satisfied by winning one UFC match before. Now I would say 'why not champion?'"

Now, three fighters from the Enbo club have joined UFC. Even some of the students that returned to their hometowns also made names for themselves at competitions. Jishi Agyal from Liangshan joined the local middle school's boxing team. From 2019 to 2022, he won three gold medals at the Sichuan Youth Boxing Competition and ranked as a first-grade athlete at the national level.

Now, the club is regarded as the cradle of MMA fighters. Enbo attended the movie release in Chengdu. "We might get confused and make mistakes in our life," he said. "But after we set our life goal, we will spare no efforts in fighting against all difficulties. This is the spirit of MMA."

(Print Edition Title: The Boxing Kids)

Copyedited by G.P. Wilson

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