The story
The Art of War Fighting Championship was founded by Brazilian Jiu-jitsu instructor Andy Pi and his younger brother Konrad Pi, both Chinese Americans living in California at the time they conceived of the idea of creating an MMA promotion in China. After Andy Pi won a tough match against Xu Xiaodong with an armbar submission, he wanted to find a way to promote jiu-jitsu in China. Konrad Pi, an investment manager and private helicopter pilot living in San Diego thought it was a good idea, but the idea would be hard to execute due to the restrictions formed by the Chinese government as well as the difficulty of raising money for a big promotion.
Fortunately, their father Frank Pi is a business executive with ties to China. They successfully made contact with the Chinese government and obtained the proper permits for hosting a sporting event. The Pi family eventually found a few potential sponsors, including football star Rashaan Salaam.
When setting up the promotion, Andy sought out grapplers to compete in it. He met Zhao Xuejun, a renowned Sanda coach who convinced Pi that he didn't need to seek out pure grapplers and that Sanda fighters were just as capable of competing in MMA. Some of the earliest fighters who fought in the promotion would be Sanda fighters from Zhao's school which had now changed its focus to MMA.
On November 6, 2005, The Art of War Fighting Championship conducted its first event.
From Wikipedia’s article on Art of War Fighting Championship, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4