Year of the Cat, discussing the martial art technique 'Cat Washes Face'

Meow meow meow wash face like a cat...It seems that songs about cats only exist in children's music, but few people know that in the flow of traditional Vietnamese martial arts, there is a famous martial art that fully possesses the fighting characteristics of this animal. In the year of the Cat, let's discuss the martial art "Mieu Tay Dien" (Cat Washes Its Face) to welcome a lucky and fulfilling new year.

Martial artist Chau Man performs "Cat Washing Face".

Beside the fragrant lotus tea of ​​the pristine morning, I met martial arts master Chau Man, a lecturer at the World Traditional Martial Arts Academy in Vietnam, a girl from the countryside of Binh Dinh, worthy of the song of whip dancing and boxing of the women of this sacred land of talented people. And the story of the martial arts form “Mieu Tay Dien” continued to be passionate…

According to female martial artist Chau Man, the "Cat Cleansing Face" form was created by old martial artist Ly Xuan Hy (Binh Dinh) based on the smooth and flexible fighting techniques of cats. The characteristic of this martial art is the graceful and agile body movements, the eye movements swaying with the body, gently but extremely effective.

Martial artist Chau Man performs "Cat Washing Face".

Cats are animals that have been domesticated since very early times, closely related to the working life of humans, so their hunting habits have been meticulously observed, refined and transformed into moves that are highly applicable in working life. Moves such as blocking, pouncing, catching, lunging, and counter-attacking require intelligence in combat, and are extremely useful in any narrow or wide space. Practicing "Cat Cleansing Face" requires attention to training the speed of the attack to be extremely fast and decisive, requiring the practitioner to have a solid martial arts foundation as well as grasp the soul of this animal.

Cat martial arts are still but dynamic, dynamic but static, at first glance quite gentle but when attacking, they are extremely powerful, not all four-legged animals have the same strengths as cats, just a light tiptoe, in a moment the cat will jump into the air or avoid the attack, or rely on the support of interactive objects such as tables, chairs, fences... to create pressure in response...; through that we see how intelligent cats are.

Martial artist Chau Man performs "Cat Washing Face".

Another characteristic of the cat is “the feet do not leave the ground” because even when flying in the air, the cat’s four legs still create a balance to land, the movements almost do not create any noise, the moves are quick and precise, and the closing position is neat. It is this style that creates a flexible stance for the practitioner.

“The cat that washes its face” is one of the mascots that converges the four elements of speed, strength, endurance, and dexterity. Compared to the five criteria of a martial artist that Bodhidharma put forth, which are the Snake, Tiger, Leopard, and Crane, meaning that a martial artist must have the spirit of steel, the flexibility of a snake, the strength of a tiger, the agility of a leopard, and the steadfastness of a crane, then the cat deserves to be the best martial artist among animals. With moves like Linh Luc Ty Tu (Cat playing with a mouse), Linh Luc Quyen Cong..., cat martial arts are increasingly included in the training system of their sects.

Saying goodbye to female martial artist Chau Man, I always remember her saying, the ultimate goal of martial arts is Truth, Goodness, and Beauty, the concept of modern martial arts is the convergence of humanitarian, self-defense, and artistic elements, especially: The ultimate of martial arts is literature.