Women "reign"
These days, many women in Lam Dong village are enthusiastically practicing to prepare for the wrestling match to celebrate International Women's Day on March 8 at the village cultural house. While instructing the young people to perform the movements, Ms. Bui Thi Tuoi, one of the female wrestlers in the village, said that when entering the wrestling ring, after greeting the audience and the opponent, the movements of the ring are very important. "This is a characteristic of wrestling. The movements of the ring symbolize the customs and activities of the community from ancient times such as throwing the net, pulling the net, winding the thread... Not only having the right technique, the wrestlers need to perform beautifully, healthily and leisurely", Ms. Tuoi said. Next, when entering the match, they need to take advantage of openings, using moves such as single pick, double pick, back swing, push, and push... to defeat the opponent. However, female wrestling is different from male wrestling in that it is not too strong but more flexible, spontaneous and free.
Van To commune is famous for its wrestling ring that has been formed and maintained for many decades. Male wrestlers here have participated in many tournaments and major festivals in the district and province and won many achievements. In recent years, female wrestlers have appeared as a breath of fresh air in the wrestling ring at village festivals and important events in the village and commune.
Nguyen Van Thanh, a male wrestler in Van To commune, said he had competed in wrestling in many places, but when he became a spectator and watched women compete, he realized that female wrestling had its own appeal. “The moves were simple and genuine, with something delicate and gentle. Many unexpected moves made the audience laugh heartily and sway,” Thanh said.
Perhaps that is why women's wrestling always attracts a large audience. "The moment of sublimation in the wrestling ring is the moment when women take the throne. This is both a movement to improve health and an activity to demonstrate gender equality, towards the values of truth, goodness and beauty, and to promote women in modern life," affirmed Mr. Do Trong Ha, Deputy Director of the Cultural and Sports Center of Tu Ky district.
Preserve and promote tradition
In 2019, on the occasion of Lam Dong village receiving the certificate of recognition as a cultural village, the women in the village agreed to try their hand at wrestling. “I remember that day, after finishing the village task of making more than a hundred feasts, still wearing floral clothes and barefoot, my sisters and I went straight to the wrestling ring,” Ms. Bui Thi Thuong recalled.
Mrs. Tuoi was Mrs. Thuong’s opponent in the first time she entered the wrestling ring that year. Mrs. Tuoi recalled: “It was a strange feeling in the wrestling ring. Everyone cheered and shouted, which made me excited. I felt happy and proud because I had continued, contributed to preserving and promoting the tradition of my ancestors.”
The women here say that wrestling has existed in their hometown for a long time. Before 1975, Lam Dong village (formerly Dong Lam village) had a wrestling camp founded by two men, Nguyen Thanh Sen and Nguyen Van De. There was a period when their wrestling camp developed, attracting hundreds of young people in the area to practice.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Chin (Mr. Sen's daughter) is currently one of the active members participating in wrestling training and performances whenever the village or commune has an event. "Perhaps being born into a family with a tradition and a hometown with a developing movement, since I was a child, the techniques and moves of wrestling have been in my blood without me knowing it," Ms. Chin said. Growing up, interacting, observing, and learning from previous generations, people like Ms. Chin have naturally mastered the moves of wrestling.
All 6 villages of Van To commune have men who know how to wrestle, but only Lam Dong village has women. There are no specific statistics, but there are dozens of women in the village who know how to wrestle, mostly between the ages of 51 and 61. When participating in festival activities and important events of the village or commune, they take turns practicing and choose the most outstanding wrestlers to participate.
Mr. Do Trong Ha added that with the good values that traditional female wrestling in Van To brings, in the coming time, the center will advise the People's Committee of Tu Ky district to further expand this movement to many communes.
TUONG VYSource
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