Dynasty Clothing has been making waves in the martial arts community — just ask fighters like Ben Nguyen, Albert Cheng, Kieran Kichuk, Lavell Marshall, and Steven Nguyen, who all proudly wear the brand wherever they can.

I’ve been friends with Dynasty Clothing‘s founder, Hoi Wah Ho, for a few years now — one of my besties and fellow martial arts practitioner swears by his Muay Thai gear — so I couldn’t help but request an interview with this martial artist/entrepreneur.

Ho was born in Hong Kong but grew up in Canada, spending his formative years training in many different martial arts styles, including Karate, Taekwondo, Wing Chun, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ), Muay Thai Kickboxing, and eventually MMA. Falling in love with martial arts was easy, and he eagerly practiced whenever he got a chance.

When he wasn’t at the gym, he could be found watching martial arts films featuring Bruce Lee, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, and others. Film-watching quickly turned into film-making, where Ho could join his two great loves together; soon, he was choreographing his own fight scenes with high school friends in his spare time.

It was when Ho took up MMA and BJJ that he got the inspiration to start Dynasty Clothing.

“When I started training MMA / BJJ, I noticed there weren’t many authentic Asian brands around that made gear authentic to Asian culture. I couldn’t find something cool that I would want to buy or wear,” Ho told NextShark.

“I wanted to bring something real to the market, but also mostly just because I wanted to wear it myself.”

Ho eased into the world of MMA gear, starting off with tee shirts and hoodies but eventually expanding to rash guards and grappling spats, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu kimono gis, MMA shorts — all kinds of training garments.

“Basically, Dynasty Clothing carries everything a modern martial artist could want.”

Of course, Ho isn’t just talking about kinds of gear, but style as well. His designs are inspired by films, media, or legends, like Monkey King, Gundam, Storm Riders, Dragonball Z, and other beloved icons and stories that are instant hits with fans.

He also has a men’s streetwear line that marries traditional garments with modern style, a women’s line of both fighting gear and street style, clothing for kids… even man’s best friend can wear Dynasty Clothing’s brand.

Ho believes that it’s the authenticity of the brand that sets Dynasty Clothing apart from the rest.

“We didn’t want to be just another company offering the same old products with another meaningless logo slapped on top of it — therefore we set out to create a real brand that offered the most unique products possible. Run of the mill designs, random kanji characters, and offensive Rising Sun motifs? Sorry, but you won’t find that here,” he says on his website.

In addition to offering MMA gear and Eastern-influenced clothing to the masses, Ho spends his time as a marketing consultant, sponsoring and supporting MMA/BJJ fighters, writing about martial arts, making films to promote a non-stereotypical images of Asians, and even hosts his own podcast to discuss social issues.

Although it’s a lot of work maintaining an entire fashion and training gear line, Ho wouldn’t give it up for anything:

“I’m living the dream with Dynasty – being able to fuse my passions for fashion, art, martial arts, appreciation for Asian culture and pride, altogether in the brand… just being able to share all that with the world.”

“I’m just happy to be spreading martial arts, Asian culture and clothing, and representing Asians in a positive way.”

Check out the Dynasty Clothing website here. You can follow Dynasty Clothing on Facebook and Instagram here.