Martial arts master in the ancient capital of Hue

Having gone through many schools and mastered many martial arts from modern to traditional, martial artist Nguyen Van Anh found and became attached to "monkey martial arts" by chance.

One afternoon at the beginning of the new year, in his family's hermitage, martial artist Nguyen Van Anh (alias Ngoc Anh, 64 years old) enthusiastically flipped through documents introducing the art of Hou Quan Dao - a "monkey martial art" considered one of the unique martial arts schools in the treasure trove of traditional Vietnamese martial arts.

In the memory of the martial artist who has experienced and mastered many modern martial arts schools such as Taekwondo, Aikido, Judo, freestyle wrestling, and traditional martial arts in Van An Martial Arts, Northern Shaolin Vi Da, etc., one of the martial arts that is considered a "fate" that Mr. Ngoc Anh devoted much effort to learning and researching is "monkey martial arts".

Martial artist Ngoc Anh in a monkey martial art move. Photo: Dac Duc.

The Deputy Head of the Vietnamese Hou Quan Dao martial arts sect said that in 1979, by chance, when he was still an officer in charge of traditional martial arts work at the Hue City Youth Union, he was invited by the late martial arts master Truong Canh to visit his house and introduced to a younger martial arts master named Hoang Thanh.

With compatible personalities, the two later became sworn brothers, working together to build the martial arts movement of their hometown. Because they lived in the same house, during the training process, they discovered that their sworn brother had beautiful Monkey Fist forms and excellent fighting skills, so they expressed their desire to learn to further their knowledge of martial arts.

Taught by his younger brother, with his quick wit, within a short time, martial artist Ngoc Anh had mastered the basic moves and typical moves of the Monkey Fist. From there, the two brothers joined hands to compile 5 basic exercises on the power of the fist to form the foundation for the basic exercises to begin the Monkey Fist school.

"Many times, I asked my younger brother which master taught him the Monkey Fist martial art so that I could meet him, but he refused to answer," Mr. Anh recalled, adding that until now he himself does not know the origin of the Monkey Fist martial arts that his sworn brother taught him.

In 1980, the "Hong Sect - Vietnamese Monkey Fist" martial arts school, headed by Grand Master Hoang Thanh, with Grand Master Nguyen Van Anh holding the position of Deputy Grand Master, was officially established.In the early days, the dissemination of "monkey martial arts" which was quite new in our country encountered many difficulties because of the lack of acceptance from the people.

More than 35 years since he "fell in love" with and devoted his life to the martial art of Monkey Fist, martial artist Nguyen Van Anh is still enthusiastically promoting the national martial art to friends at home and abroad. Photo: Dac Duc.

But with the tireless research and study and always nurturing the idea of ​​​​spreading the martial arts quintessence of the predecessors to the public, the group of masters of the Monkey Martial Arts sect gradually spread their martial arts to all provinces from North to South, with thousands of students studying. Particularly in Hue, in his role as Head of the Vietnamese Monkey Martial Arts sect in Hue, master Nguyen Van Anh taught many famous disciples when they came to "monkey martial arts".

According to him, after entering the school, students will learn low to high level martial arts through 4 stages of practice from martial arts to martial arts. From the Hong That Quyen, Cuong Nhu Quyen, Bat Quai Di Anh Quyen, Thap Nhi Ma Vuong Hou... In addition, there are also exercises such as Truong Cot, Te Mi Cot, Thap Nhi Nhuan Khuc Cot, which are martial arts combined with staff techniques.

The martial artist who used to be a national coach and referee in Freestyle Wrestling said that in the "Ten Great Images" of martial arts, Monkey ranks 9th, and is one of the martial arts considered difficult to practice because of the constant changes in each move.

Monkey Fist is essentially a martial arts system that simulates the life, movements, and fighting style of monkeys in communities or with other animals. It specializes in jumping, tumbling, and catching movements. This martial artrequires the practitioner to coordinate hands and feet rhythmically and the body must be flexible and gentle.

"Regulating breathing during the performance of martial arts is one of the decisive factors, so practitioners of this martial art must practice breathing. In addition, the eyes must be flexible," said martial artist Ngoc Anh, adding that currently in Hue not many people know about the art of Monkey Fisting like before.

Master Ngoc Anh is the only Vietnamese person to be recognized with the title "International Martial Arts Master" by the World Federation of Vietnamese Traditional Martial Arts. Photo: Dac Duc.

As the President of the Thua Thien - Hue Traditional Martial Arts Association, Master Ngoc Anh regularly leads the local martial arts delegation to compete and wins many high titles in domestic and international tournaments. With his knowledge of martial arts of many different martial arts schools, in August 2015, Master Nguyen Van Anh was the only Vietnamese person to be recognized with the title "International Martial Arts Master" by the World Federation of Vietnamese Traditional Martial Arts.

"Currently, the number of disciples studying Monkey Fist is not as great as before, but I and other martial arts masters still want to pass on the best of our ancestors' martial arts to the younger generation," the eighth-degree Monkey Fist master confided.

According to VNE