The Asian Face of Tennis

The roadmap to creating a Vietnamese superstar When then 17-year old Michael Chang won the French Open in 1989, one of tennis’ four largest tournaments, the world was intrigued. Standing at only 1.75m, Chang used his incredible foot speed, stamina and defense to counter the pace and power of his much larger, stronger contemporaries. Still … Read more

Run, Feddy, Run

Don’t sit on the sidelines, come on out and start running Feddy Pham was getting weird looks on the canal. He was trying out something he’d picked up overseas, but his neighbors back home in Ho Chi Minh City didn’t know what to make of it – Feddy was just running. Always athletic, the simplicity … Read more

Switching the Play with Zorb Football

The game of football, including its name, is one of great contention throughout the world. So many different sports claim the name despite being almost nothing alike, save for the use of some sort of inflated leather ball. Most people associate the name with the world’s most beloved game that Americans call soccer. Americans have … Read more

Men of Muscle

Meet the two men who are trying to take bodybuilding in Vietnam to the next level. Meet Pham Van Mach, a three time world champion and a seven time Asian champion bodybuilder. He’s done the rounds both at home and on the international stages, but to become a member of the International Federation of Bodybuilding and … Read more

The Workout Couple

A husband and wife team combine love and fitness to open their own gym For most couples, living and working together is a bridge too far – blurring the boundaries between work and play, and bringing office stress home is something to be avoided at all costs. But for Sylvie and Joao, who have been working together since they met at … Read more

The Business of Tennis

The other color green that makes the sport so exciting When tennis aces , women’s #1 Serena Williams and men’s #2 Novak Djokovic, won their respective year-end championships recently to cap spectacular seasons, they pocketed handy winner’s checks of around USD2 million each. Djokovic ended the regular season with just over USD11 million in prize money and Williams shattered the previous female single-season … Read more

Rebel with a Cause

Johnny Tri Nguyen talks MMA in Vietnam, his banned movie Chinatown and why he’s always the bad guy Hearing Johnny Tri Nguyen talk about his grandfather, the “White Crane of Ca Mau,” so named for his long sleeved shirts to hide metal arm and shin guards, it’s hard to separate fact from fiction. The story sounds a lot like a Hong … Read more

Footloose

Find out how Linh Rateau’s journey from France to Vietnam resulted in the creation of one of the city’s most popular dance centers Looking at the current Dancenter in District 2 – the villa, the spacious dance studios, the well-lit rooms and clean white walls, the star-studded list of instructors and the whopping 600 students on its roll call – … Read more

Blazing Saddles

A crazy horse lady builds the city’s first equestrian center For a self-proclaimed equestrian center and farm, Bach Ma is as weird as it gets. One, it doesn’t accept passing guests. Two, it has been around for the last six years, but is only known to about a couple dozen people plus 200 Facebookers who may or may not count. … Read more

Martial Matters

A Brazilian form of Japanese Jiu-Jitsu comes to HCMC SAIGON LUTA LIVRE sits in the last place anyone would expect to find a foreignowned martial art studio, in a four-by-12 apartment on the third floor of a decades-old Vietnamese building. The path that leads to it is a tiny alleyway branching off Tran Quang Dieu Street, literally minutes away from the infamous … Read more