The "beautiful women" in the wrestling ring

bong-hong(1).jpg — The women of Lam Dong village are actively practicing and preparing for their performance to celebrate International Women's Day on March 8th.

Women are on the rise.

These days, many women in Lam Dong village are enthusiastically practicing to prepare for the wrestling match commemorating International Women's Day on March 8th at the village's cultural center. While instructing the younger generation on the movements, Ms. Bui Thi Tuoi, one of the village's female wrestlers, said that when entering the wrestling ring, after greeting the audience and opponent, the movements of "running the ring" are very important. "This is a characteristic of wrestling. The 'running the ring' movement symbolizes the customs and activities of the community from ancient times, such as throwing nets, pulling nets, winding thread... Not only must the technique be correct, but wrestlers also need to perform beautifully, vigorously, and gracefully," Ms. Tuoi said. Next, during the match, they need to take advantage of openings, using single and double lifts, backhands, thrusts, and other moves to take down their opponent. However, women's wrestling differs from men's wrestling in that it is not as forceful but more flexible, spontaneous, and free.

Van To commune is renowned for its wrestling tradition, which has been established and maintained for decades. Male wrestlers from here have participated in numerous tournaments and major festivals at the district and provincial levels, achieving many successes. In recent years, female wrestlers have emerged as a breath of fresh air on the wrestling arena at village festivals and important events in the hamlets and communes.

Nguyen Van Thanh, a male wrestler from Van To commune, said that he had competed in wrestling in many places, but only when he became a spectator and watched the women compete did he realize the unique appeal of female wrestling. "The moves are simple, genuine, and have a certain subtlety and gentleness. Many unexpected moments make the audience laugh heartily and sway back and forth," Thanh said.

Perhaps that's why women's wrestling always attracts a large audience. "The moment of triumph in the wrestling ring is when women reign supreme. This is both a movement for physical fitness and an activity demonstrating gender equality, aiming towards true, good, and beautiful values, and elevating women in modern life," affirmed Mr. Do Trong Ha, Deputy Director of the Culture and Sports Center of Tu Ky District.

Preserving and promoting traditions

In 2019, on the occasion of Lam Dong village receiving its cultural village recognition certificate, the women in the village unanimously decided to try their hand at wrestling. "I remember that day, having just finished the task the village assigned us – preparing over a hundred feasts – still in our floral clothes and barefoot, my sisters and I went straight to the wrestling ring," recalled Mrs. Bui Thi Thuong.

Ms. Tuoi was Ms. Thuong's opponent in their first wrestling match that year. Ms. Tuoi recalled: "It felt so strange in the wrestling ring. Everyone cheered and shouted, which really excited me. I felt happy and proud that I had continued and contributed to preserving and promoting the traditions of my ancestors."

For the first time, the "female wrestlers" of Lam Dong village appeared in the wrestling arena (archive photo).

The women here say that wrestling has existed in their hometown for a very long time. Before 1975, Lam Dong village (formerly Dong Lam village) had a wrestling school founded by two elders, Nguyen Thanh Sen and Nguyen Van De. At one point, their school flourished, attracting hundreds of young people from the area to train.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Chin (daughter of Mr. Sen) is currently one of the active members participating in training and performing wrestling whenever there is an event in the village or commune. "Perhaps because I was born into a family with a tradition and a hometown with a thriving wrestling movement, the techniques and moves of wrestling have been ingrained in my blood since I was a child," Ms. Chin said. Growing up, interacting with, observing, and learning from previous generations, people like Ms. Chin have naturally mastered the techniques of wrestling.

All six hamlets of Van To commune have men who know how to wrestle, but only in Lam Dong hamlet are there any women. There are no specific statistics, but there are dozens of women in the hamlet who know how to wrestle, mostly between the ages of 51 and 61. When participating in festivals and important events of the hamlet and commune, they take turns practicing and selecting the most outstanding wrestlers to participate.

Mr. Do Trong Ha added that, given the positive values that traditional women's wrestling in Van To brings, the center will advise the People's Committee of Tu Ky district to further expand this movement to more communes in the future.

TUONG VY

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