Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Viet Nam Review, Issue 3-2003

Story: Duc Anh

Recently the Thien Mon Dao (lit. Heavenly-Gate Martial Arts School) sent shock waves into the sport when performing the marvels of the traditional Vietnamese martial arts. We went to the homeland of this martial arts school in Hoa Nam Village, Ung Hoa District, Ha Tay Province, to see with our own eyes the super might hidden in the human bodies.

Everyday, after class, Nguyen Thi Vi and her younger brother Nguyen Khac Long (from Dai Nghia Junior Secondary School) practise their kung-fu sessions. The verandahs, the kitchen floor or the back garden may all turn into their drilling grounds. 13-year-old Long has trained in Thien Mon Dao for four years, and at home he is the kung-fu master of his elder sister, taking great care to teach her the movements. Their mother said: "Long practised martial arts before his sister, who asked to join later after seeing its usefulness. Thanks to the kung-fu practice, they have grown much firmer and tougher. Formerly, they looked quite sick and ailing."
Their "firmness and toughness" here may startle people. On an afternoon, Nguyen Thi Vi successfully performed three kung-fu lessons: "Kung-fu Nhu Cot Cong" - breaking a block of concrete weighing 80 kilos (nearly double her own weight) on a bending human body; "Kung-fu Ngu Thiet Cong" - resisting and bending an f14 iron rod at such key nerve-points as the navel and the pharynx; and "Kung-fu Cuong Canh Cong - smashing a pile of bricks placed on one hand with the other hand. The girl's face looked only a bit hardened when focussing her vital inner force on mustering strength. Her usual shyness and timidness came back right after that, and in a twinkle, she was lost in the crowd surrounding her brother. Long was performing "Kung-fu Nhu Cong Thu Luc" – being lifted into the air by a rope tied to the bottom of an upturned plastic bowl that was held to his stomach by muscle power alone. With the same bowl and the same rope, he once pulled a car for a distance of more than 10 metres.
In addition, Thien Mon Dao has even more particularly original "tricks". The elder teenagers are real symbols of the power of this martial arts school. Do Dang Thu with "Kung-fu Luyen Thiet Cong" could curl round his neck an iron rod 8m long and as big as a rope. Hoang Van Duc with "Kung-fu Thach Dau Cong" could smash a rock on the head. Master Truong Tien Hop, after six years of perseverance, could walk with his bare feet on the surface of the Day River, by lightening the weight of his body, over a distance of 300 metres. Do Viet Khanh with "Kung-fu Khau Si Siet Ham Cong" could lift up one of his classmates with his teeth, and with "Kung-fu Xuyen Kim Noi Nhuc", he could strike nails into his muscles without bleeding. I still remember well the feelings of twice witnessing an 8-mm nail going gradually into his chest and his back. At first, I felt something cold creeping in me, sweating profusely, as he pulled a 2.5-tonne van by a rope tied to the nail. It was an entirely new performance and I was sitting precariously on the top of the van, sweeping the camera to and fro, unable to believe the vehicle was slowly moving with each of his steps. The crowd stood still and mute, and then roared with loud hand-clapping. Khanh only smiled, saying: "I don't feel hurt at all, only some scratches, which will heal up after a couple of days. Here you can see!" He pointed to his chest and back with dim scars of previous instances.
Nguyen Khac Phan, guru of the Thien Mon Dao, said: "There is nothing horrific; all pupils do the same things. Practising exactly the same exercises and in due course, they will attain the standard of performance with similar capabilities." Phan was a descendant belonging to the 5th generation of the "Nguyen Khac" family that had founded the Thien Mon Dao in the 18th century. He carried on the work of his father, Nguyen Khac Chi, to train pupils and develop this martial arts school. He was young and quick, medium-statured, wearing long hair, with an imposing carriage and outlook. Phan added: "Quite a few people have asked me what the secrets of this martial arts school are, and I answered: practising and drilling. All the pupils must stay up late and get up early, doing the practice and the drilling in the gymnasium and at home. Self-training and self-drilling is the main thing, to the extent that the disciple's physical condition can re-adjust and adapt itself to the impacts of the objective circumstances, popularly known as "tu khi" (lit. concentration of vitality) during his meditation, when some of his muscles are supposed to be awake for activity, while the others are temporarily dormant. Some people think the disciples ought to go through the training from the easy to the difficult, from the simple to the complex, for instance, first lifting a light weight, hitting small nails and then a heavier weight and bigger nails, but that's not the case. Like this instance, Khanh has never pulled a van before. These performances are only equal to the tests for promotion to a higher belt." Unintentionally, the guru tapped his forefinger on a gong by his side: it gave a high-pitch reverberating sound.
Like many other martial arts sects, the Thien Mon Dao consists of gradations into belts. The disciples must go through the order from initiation to graduation, from the yellow belt to green, pink, black, white and super white belt with five tassels. Each belt-grade has its own curriculum and syllabuses with particular manuals, but never limits the time period for the training for belt-promotion. Those disciples, who are endowed with stiffness and substance, gift and passion as well as industriousness and hard work, may stand for a test for promotion to a higher belt earlier. However, nothing is more important than the initiation lessons. To successfully go through this hurdle, the disciples have to learn by heart, and comply with, certain exceptionally strict admonitions and regulations of this martial arts. The Thien Mon Dao has a Recruitment Panel working under the guiding principle, i.e. "Recruiting is not meant to test a disciple, but for understanding him, whereby an appropriate method of training may be worked out." The guiding principle and the objective of the martial arts school, according to Nguyen Khac Tuan, Chief of the Sect, consists of nothing other than "spiritual self-cultivation and physical self-improvement", toward a life of "un esprit sain dans un corps sain" (that is, strictly abiding by the principles of morality, morals and ethics). Those who are more or less engaged in the Thien Mon Dao are always equipped with a noble humane code of conduct. Isn't it that sportsmanship is always found in traditional Vietnamese martial arts?
Talking to Do Xuan Hao, Chief of the Recruitment Panel at Hoa Nam, we came to know that the Thien Mon Dao has lured more and more people. As the sun was setting, on a chilly cold, late Winter afternoon, in the courtyard of Bach Linh Temple, scores of teenagers, half naked, were doing their martial movements, with great passion. The households in the village were carrying on their farm work, sending their young boys and girls to the martial arts courses. Some said it was the best place for the young children as it was free of all the pitfalls in society. Others even came a long way to practise. Thrice a week, Le Minh Luong came together with his son and two nephews, on his dusty motorbike, covering roughly 10 km. Another elderly man of 80 from Hanoi resolutely tried to convince his children to let him attend a course on aged people's aerobics. "The martial arts school always opens its door wide to all people," Hao said, adding that for the time being, the Thien Mon Dao has more than 2,000 regular disciples.

In Hoa Nam, for generations now, the Thien Mon Dao has existed amidst impoverishment. The school is not affluent enough to provide its disciples each with a green uniform. The most difficult thing for the school lies in the short supply of bricks and rocks, concrete and iron bars, for the martial training. The guru's earnest wish, to hold a large-scale performance to show all the quintessence of this martial arts school, is yet to be materialized. Poor, but peaceful! Peaceful, even when the blood of martial arts flows in the veins, year in and year out, because the Thien Mon Dao is not meant for combat. In the ultimate analysis, martial arts are also meant for an intensive and extensive study of human love.