The boy of the Turkic ethnic group with the World Championship gold medal.

(Baonghean)Despite winning continental and world championships in Pencak Silat for many consecutive years, few people know that the "golden boy" of Vietnamese Silat was once a small, shy boy from the Tho ethnic group in the mountainous district of Quy Hop. That is athlete Truong Van Mao, the 2012 Pencak Silat World Champion in the 85kg weight category.

Meeting Truong Van Mao at his home in Nghia Xuan commune, Quy Hop district, during his rare days off after returning from the National Cup Championship with his teammates, we were warmly welcomed with the gentle smile of the 26-year-old man with the muscular physique of a true martial artist.

But when Mão shared photos from over 10 years ago, we were quite surprised because few people could recognize the small, dark-skinned boy in the pictures as the 1.83m tall young man he is now, if it weren't for his gentle smile and kind eyes. “Back then, Mão was very small. Even in 8th grade, he was only as tall as his friends' ears, and his skin was dark from spending all day herding cows on the hill. Mão was a gentle person; sometimes when his friends teased him, he would just laugh it off instead of fighting back. Many times, his older brother and sister had to step in to defend him,” recalled Mr. Truong Van Son, Mão's father.

Born into a family of four siblings, Mão was the third child, but due to his small stature, he was always prioritized for the heavy labor within the family. However, Mão never let his older siblings help him. Mão once told his siblings, "Let me work to train myself and build strength." Perhaps that's why, even while attending the training course at the former Department of Sports and Physical Education, Trương Văn Mão always maintained a constant commitment to training.

Martial arts master Nguyen Cong Manh, former coach of the Nghe An Pencak Silat team in the 2000s, who directly recruited Truong Van Mao into the Department's team in 2003, said: "Back then, among the students, there was a small, gentle, quiet boy from the Tho ethnic group who trained very diligently. We recognized a quality in Mao: his quick reflexes and striking ability, which is one of the first criteria for competitive combat. Physical fitness can be improved through training over time..." And indeed, that shy, teenage boy from the Tho ethnic group soon became a "golden athlete" of Nghe An sports in particular and Vietnamese Pencak Silat in general.



Truong Van Mao (left) throws a punch in the final match at the 2011 Southeast Asian Championships.

Under the guidance of two talented coaches, Tran Trong Cuong and Trinh Thi Mui, Truong Van Mao regularly competes in the 80-85kg weight category. In domestic competitions, Truong Van Mao has won gold medals for many consecutive years and is one of the key athletes of the Nghe An Pencak Silat team. Wearing the national team jersey, Truong Van Mao is one of the golden names of Vietnamese sports, having won the Asian Championships in 2009 and 2011; most recently, at the 2012 World Pencak Silat Championships held in Thailand, he excellently won the gold medal in the 85kg weight category, contributing to Vietnam's top ranking at the tournament.

After more than 10 years of training in Pencak Silat, Truong Van Mao vividly remembers the image of himself hiding behind his father on his first day of class. Mao recounted: “In the beginning, I felt strange because I was from an ethnic minority group in the mountains, and I was small, so I didn't dare say anything. Later, thanks to the encouragement of the teachers and daily training, I gradually grew taller and became as big as my classmates and began to dare to… challenge the martial artists in the class. Even now, I haven't forgotten the toe dislocation I suffered during a fight with a friend.” Gradually, as he trained more professionally, Mao realized the value of protecting his body in martial arts competition. “Hands, feet, shoulders, back… are all incredibly precious to martial arts athletes like us, because just one injury can ruin our entire training process and career,” Mao confided.

Currently, Truong Van Mao is in his fifth year at the University of Physical Education and Sports 1 in Bac Ninh and continues to train and hone his skills to become a Pencak Silat coach in the future. Mao also shared that his wish is to return to his hometown, the Nghe An Sports Training Center, to participate in coaching and, more importantly, to share his experience in training the next "golden" generation for Pencak Silat in Nghe An.

Thai Anh