Promoting the development of Kickboxing Vietnam

Kickboxing was initiated in Japan but is more famous for its combination of Thai martial arts and Boxing. The World Kickboxing Association (WKA) was founded in 1976, now known as WAKO. Since its establishment, 116 countries have become official members of WAKO, most of which are European and Asian countries.

At the last two consecutive SEA Games, Vietnamese Kickboxing has achieved proud achievements.

Kickboxing has been widely developed around the world, across continents and regions, and is an official sport at World Games (World Martial Arts Games), continental/regional sports events such as AIMAG (Asian Indoor Games and Martial Arts Games) and SEA Games (Southeast Asian Games), with a system of annual world, continental and regional championships that have attracted a large number of athletes and fans to participate.

Kickboxing was introduced to Vietnam in 2009 when it was included in the official competition system of the Asian Indoor Games. At this Games, although Vietnamese Kickboxing had just begun to take shape, it managed to win 2 gold medals and 2 silver medals. From this impressive milestone, it laid the foundation for the strong development of Vietnamese Kickboxing. Since 2010, Kickboxing has organized 3 official national competitions: National Kickboxing Championship, National Boxing Club Championship, National Youth Kickboxing Championship.

Since then, the Kickboxing training and competition movement has grown strongly in both quantity and quality, the number of Kickboxing clubs, the number of people participating in Kickboxing training has increased rapidly in nearly 40 provinces, cities and industries. Many localities have focused on investing in building a professional Kickboxing athlete training roadmap and achieved many achievements. Currently, Hanoi , Binh Dinh, and Ho Chi Minh City are the three leading units in developing Kickboxing.

Although it was born later than other sports, Kickboxing has gradually become a sport that is loved and practiced by many people. Not only is it a self-defense martial art with high fighting ability and improved physical strength, Kickboxing is also a sport that many people choose to practice as a way to lose weight, strengthen muscles, train thinking ability, and flexible reflexes. The benefits that Kickboxing brings are proven by the fact that more and more people in the world practice this sport.

After 15 years of formation and development, Vietnamese Kickboxing has left a big echo in international arenas. At the 30th SEA Games, in its first participation, the Vietnamese Kickboxing team competed impressively, winning 4 gold medals and 2 bronze medals. Huynh Van Tuan in the 51kg category, Nguyen Xuan Phuong in the 57kg category, Pham Ba Hoi in the 54kg category and Nguyen Thi Hang Nga in the 48kg category for women were the first boxers to win gold for Vietnamese Kickboxing in the largest arena in Southeast Asia.

Hopefully with the establishment of the Federation, Kickboxing will have better development in the future.

At the 31st SEA Games at home, Kickboxing made the Bac Ninh Provincial Gymnasium explode and was one of the sports that created the greatest attraction. Our fighters entered the finals of 5 weight classes and won all 5 finals. Those were all overwhelming victories of Quang Huy, The Huong, Hang Nga, Van Tuan and Kim Vang to help Vietnamese Kickboxing convincingly win the number 1 position in the whole delegation.

At the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia, under the suffocating pressure of the home fans, Vietnamese boxers still stood firm and competed with great enthusiasm on the stage with 4 gold medals, 4 silver medals and 7 bronze medals. Notably, the victory of boxer Nguyen Hoang brought home the 136th gold medal, officially ending the 32nd SEA Games sweetly for Vietnamese Sports, when for the first time, they ranked first in the entire delegation when the SEA Games were held outside of Vietnam.

With steady progress, Vietnamese Kickboxing is expected to go further when the Vietnam Kickboxing Federation is established. From the above reality, along with the support of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, related ministries and branches; reputable individuals who volunteer, love and are passionate about Kickboxing have actively promoted, mobilized, and called for cooperation towards the establishment of the Vietnam Kickboxing Federation.

On January 31, 2023, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued Decision No. 130/QD-BVHTTDL on recognizing the Vietnam Kickboxing Federation's Steering Committee consisting of 14 members. Of which, Mr. Luu Canh Tuan, Director of Lung Lo Construction Design Consulting Joint Stock Company, is the Head of the Committee.

With the efforts of the members of the Organizing Committee, along with the close direction and support of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Department of Physical Training and Sports and local departments and branches, after more than 11 months of operation, we have initially mobilized over 140 organizations and individuals, including businesses and Kickboxing organizations from provinces, cities and branches across the country to voluntarily participate as qualified members to establish the Vietnam Kickboxing Federation.

On December 20, 2023, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued Decision No. 1039/QD-BNV on the establishment of the Vietnam Kickboxing Federation. This is considered an important milestone for Vietnamese Kickboxing, for those working to develop the movement and achievements of Kickboxing nationwide, officially recognizing the activities of Kickboxing in Vietnam and aiming to bring Vietnamese Kickboxing to the world.

The general goal of the Kickboxing Federation in its first term is to mobilize maximum resources from domestic and foreign organizations and individuals to promote the movement to develop more and more strongly, improve people's health and life, meet the training and entertainment needs of all classes of people in society; enhance the position and achievements of Vietnamese Kickboxing in general in regional, continental and world arenas, contributing to the implementation of political, economic, social, security, defense and foreign affairs tasks of the country.

THU SAM; photo: QUY LUONG

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