Resounding two Vietnamese words

Kun Bokator team leads the fighting content at SEA Games 32

Smiling and speaking in a gentle voice, completely different from the fierce competition on the stage, Tuyet Mai shared: “In the semi-final match, I met a strong opponent from the host country Cambodia. Because of the opponent's attack, my eyes were swollen to the point that they almost blocked my vision, but at that moment, the two words "Vietnam" rang out in my mind and I tried to compete with 200% of my strength to win and enter the final. Right after the semi-final ended, I was taken care of by the doctors of the Vietnam Sports Delegation so that I could enter the final match with the best preparation. With that Vietnamese spirit and will, I tried my best to compete, overcoming my injury to win against my opponent Kun Rru from the Philippines with a score of 2-1”.

Studying traditional martial arts since 2003, Tuyet Mai said she was “attracted” to this martial art because right from the introductory lesson, the teachers focused on teaching “martial arts”, that is, the ethics of martial arts practitioners, to the students. “Traditional Vietnamese martial arts has helped me cultivate humility, when winning as well as when losing, we always keep a calm mind, not complacent, arrogant when winning and not depressed when losing. We have learned many things from each match to improve ourselves, live and compete better”, Tuyet Mai confided.

And perhaps because she is imbued with the philosophy of traditional Vietnamese martial arts, even though she is a veteran martial artist who has won many SEA Games gold medals in different martial arts and is 34 years old, when competing, Mai still hands over her phone to her teachers so as not to affect her rest and daily activities. Mai also confided that thanks to studying martial arts, she has a healthy, disciplined lifestyle, has cultivated humility and understands the principle of "respecting teachers and valuing education" to achieve achievements over the years. "On the competition floor, although it is very fierce, after the competition, we are all friends and can learn together about the beauty of each country's culture. Before competing, my teammates and I were carefully instructed by the teachers to demonstrate a noble and honest spirit when competing as well as in daily life and communication, we must demonstrate the beauty of Vietnamese culture," Tuyet Mai said.

In the early days of switching from traditional martial arts to Kun Bokator, Tuyet Mai and her teammates encountered many difficulties because they did not understand the rules and how to fight. However, the team later had experts from Cambodia come to train them and the Vietnamese athletes quickly approached them to achieve impressive results, winning 6 gold medals, 3 bronze medals, leading the combat event. Yesterday, after carefully cleaning the room, she and her teammates left the SEA Games 32 Athletes Village to return home. After a memorable Games, the An Giang girl will have warm moments with her family before entering new competitions...

Dr. Luu Trong Tuan, in charge of Traditional Martial Arts - General Department of Sports and Physical Training, analyzed that Kun Bokator is a long-standing traditional martial art of Cambodia, similar to traditional martial arts of Vietnam. This martial art also has 2 competition contents: fighting and fighting. The similarity between traditional Vietnamese martial arts and Cambodian Kun Bokator is that they both originate from the process of national construction and defense and are imbued with patriotism, self-reliance, self-reliance, and martial spirit. Therefore, when the competition program of SEA Games 32 included Kun Bokator, the leaders of the General Department of Sports and Physical Training and the Department of Mass Sports decided to choose Vietnamese traditional martial arts athletes to compete in Kun Bokator at this Congress.

Martial artist Tuyet Mai also said that because of the similarities, when practicing and competing, she can apply the punches, kicks, and flip elbows of Vietnamese traditional martial arts to Kun Bokator. “Although I am a traditional martial arts athlete, I have competed at the SEA Games as an athlete of many other martial arts. For example, at the 2009 SEA Games, Muay Thai was included in the competition program for the first time and I participated in the Vietnamese Muay Thai team. At that time, I was the first athlete of the delegation to win a gold medal at the Games. Two years later, I switched to kick boxing and won a bronze medal at the 2011 SEA Games. When competing at international sports events, when my friends saw my fighting style, they often asked: “Which martial art do you come from?” I was very proud and said: “I come from Vietnamese traditional martial arts and want to spread the beauty of traditional martial arts in particular and Vietnamese culture in general to international friends,” Tuyet Mai shared.

THU SAM

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