The Facebook alternative: Hong Kong entrepreneur builds huge social media platform for martial arts fans, instructors and practitioners

In its first year Martial Tribes has attracted 100,000 members, who can check profiles, comment on posts, send messages, and seek services and information about the martial art of their choice. Its founder sees it as a chance for martial arts masters to share, and sell, their knowledge

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Martial Tribes founder Franck Benhamou (right) with four-time muay Thai world champion Alain Ngalani, the owner of Impakt Gym in Hong Kong and a supporter of the social network.

Published: 10:45am, 27 Jan 2016Updated: 1:53pm, 27 Jan 2016

A social networking website for martial arts enthusiasts set up by a Hong Kong-based entrepreneur has signed up 100,000 members worldwide in its first year. Now founder Franck Benhamou is aiming to make a it a million-strong community.

Martial Tribes is like a Facebook for martial arts enthusiasts, where dedicated instructors and practitioners can meet online to share their passion, says Benhamou.

He launched the social media website in February 2015 after talking with a martial arts friend about possibilities for boosting his income.

“I’ve always been around the martial arts community and I have a lot of friends who are instructors and I always found the community interesting. All these people are very dedicated, but they’re not very good businesspeople and most tend to struggle financially,” Benhamou says.

Martial Tribes films a video at Wan Kam Leung Practical Wing Chun in Yau Ma Tei.

With experience in building websites as a managing partner of Niche Networks, a Hong Kong start-up focused on connecting celebrities and their fans in selected niche sectors, he decided to give Martial Tribes a shot. Twelve months later, the site has 100,000 members, who follow a wide range of fighting styles. Apart from Hong Kong and the native-English-speaking world, the site has grown rapidly in South America, the Frenchman says.

After signing up, members can follow or befriend like-minded enthusiasts and communities, who they can find through searching by geographical area and discipline. Like other social networks, they can check profiles, comment on posts, send messages, and seek services and information about the martial art of their choice.

Among the sports most popular on the network, Benhamou says, is mixed martial arts (MMA) and its various component disciplines, such as Brazilian jiu-jitsu, tae kwon do and muay Thai.