For The Silk Road Kung Fu Friendship Tour Part 23, click here.
Interview with Bui Dang Van, Master Instructor of Nam Hong Son Martial Art in Hanoi in Quan Thanh Temple and a trip to Luc Yen - a gem mining and trading town in the far north.
January 2nd, 2019 - It was a cool cloudy afternoon when we arrived for our interview with one of the masters of Nam Hong Son martial arts. But before describing this experience, a few words for travelers. When you travel you really should keep your eyes and mind open to everything local. To go to Vietnam and only look for Chinese Wushu might seem a little odd, perhaps even rude and stupid. Look for local martial arts to learn about the indigenous traditions, arts, philosophies, history and so on. So I did research before coming here and found several which I contacted on Facebook and it was Bui Dang Van Master Instructor of Nam Hong Son Martial Art that got back to me first, early one morning, so that’s the master I interviewed.
First, before anyone showed up at the appointed time and place we were fascinated by the beauty and power of the ancient temple where Master Bui Dang Van suggested we meet. According to legend the Quan Thanh Temple was built around 1018 during the reign of Emperor Ly Thai for the purpose of honoring Tran Vu, the Taoist deity of the North. Tran Vu’s symbols are the serpent and turtle [Editor’s note – if this myth sounds familiar, it is because Tran Vu is the Vietnamese translation of Zhen Wu]. It was one of four temples built to protect Hanoi, with the other three being the temples of the South, East and West. Though the temple has been rebuilt several times some of the stone artwork there is original, and yet the power shines through the 1,000 years of history like a beacon of light through the darkness of time. It’s an awesome place surrounded by tall wide tropical ancient trees in a fairly upscale but busy neighborhood in Hanoi.
There was no mistaking the master when he showed up at 4:00 pm - right on time - as he was dressed in the traditional Vietnamese martial art uniform and walked lightly with a distinct spring in his step, in spite of his obvious great strength.
He invited us to a tea and coffee house next to the temple and with the help of Google translator, we had a short interview. I found out his style teaches both traditional Vietnamese and Chinese Taolu; the traditional Vietnamese martial arts he practices use about 50/50 kicks and punches, specializes in counterattacks via quickly stepping around and into or under attacks, and uses throws, but rarely. They also train with a variety of weapons. I asked how many practitioners of Nam Hồng Sơn Martial Art they have in Vietnam and Master Bui Dang Van said “about a million.” It was developed in Hanoi by Master Nguyen Nguyen To and then continued by his son. They also have several schools in Germany.
After a short while another gentleman arrived at the tea shop, Master Pham Minh Tuan, a brother martial artist from the same school who speaks English quite well. I also learned their art trains with about 42 different Taolu, 60% of which are Chinese in origin with the others being traditional Vietnamese Taolu. In other words it appears they may mix styles in competition, but retain the traditional forms of both Vietnamese and Chinese styles at least in training.
Soon after this we went next door into the lovely Quan Thanh Temple and the two masters did demonstrations of their forms and several one-step sparring routines. It seemed to me Master Bui Dang Van often countered along the centerline into attacks, and either struck the attacking limb with an elbow, evaded or blocked leading into an instantaneous counterattack. Then came a demonstration with twin maces called Chui in Chinese [hammers]. Chui trace their ancestry back to very ancient China and are almost always used in pairs. Incidentally Vietnam was part of China for about a thousand years.
According to the most ancient histories the first ruler of Vietnam was Hung Vuong who founded the nation in 2879 BCE Back then Vietnam was called Nam Viet. It was part of China from 111 BCE till the 10th Century (The Mongolians invaded Vietnam a few times in the 13th Century, temporarily taking the capital but were quickly driven out again.)
After the demonstrations and taking many photos, we gave many thanks to Master Bui Dang Van, walked to a different tea shop located on the busy intersection with Master Pham Minh Tuan, who then gave me a ride on his motorcycle to buy some coffee beans from a specialty shop. It was quite exciting really, weaving back and forth through the flood of motorcycles during rush hour in the old city. Then we came back to the temple to pick up Miao who was having tea with a lovely older Vietnamese lady, and that was about it for the day.
On this trip to North Vietnam, we had one other great adventure and that was a journey to Luc Yen, a gem mining and trading village. Actually the trip to this gem of a village was before our meeting with the masters of Nam Hong Son Bac Ninh Martial Arts, and occurred over the (western) New Year holiday, which by the way isn’t much of a holiday in Asia as they have their own lunar New Year’s holiday which is a much bigger celebration. (Another note for travelers: When you travel get OUT of the big cities and explore the real country. This is not to suggest that those big cities aren’t “real” but rather the majority of people in most of the world live in villages and farms, and that’s where the traditional culture and real roots of the nation live on.)
One of Miao’s hobbies is gem trading and jewelry design and Luc Yen Village, 225 kilometers northwest of Hanoi is the place to go. Located in the Tien Phuoc District in the north central province of Quang Nam, Luc Yen is an idyllic village with some classically beautiful stone houses more than 200 years old, lovely mountains and forests, small streets with fantastic real traditional restaurants - not fancy or expensive, just plastic tables and incredible local garden fresh food - gardens checkered with rice paddies nearby and of course very friendly people reflecting the tranquility of the peaceful harmonious background.
Getting there involved a seven-hour bus ride from Hanoi on a large “sleeper” bed bus, which naturally enough had beds rather than bus seats (a bit like in Kazakhstan). Do make sure you get someone from your hotel to make reservations first or you might end up sitting on the floor, which was a bit crowded during our ride to Luc Yen. Getting over the people on the floor at the bus stop for refreshments was interesting. Fortunately I’m half monkey so I found it quite entertaining. We could’ve rented a private car to get to Lok Yen from Hanoi, but miss all that cool cultural experience? Ha! No way!
Our hotel room was large, comfortable and clean and had a view of the mountain across the one main street. We arrived at night and the mountain had some very bright lights on it and I thought maybe they were gem mines, but found out the next morning when the sun rose they were really marble mines. Locals in Vietnam by the way can all go out gem mining whenever and wherever they feel like it, and so many people in the town are in the gem business. Walking along any path in the mountains one may pick up a ruby or emerald. It’s a kind of dreamland by my standards.
But it was the market we were interested in. Luckily a lady at our hotel, the daughter of the owners named Lili, spoke English and we asked her to accompany us to the market the next day to show us the way and help with translations. We stopped at a few of the booths and after about 45 minutes of bargaining and testing some of the gems I noticed a tea shop across the street with quite a number of local gentlemen apparently sitting around quite enjoying themselves.
Before coming to Vietnam I’d done at least a little research and read that in rural areas often the women worked while the men sit around, smoke cigarettes and drink tea. And, on first glance, that’s what it looked like. However after ordering some tea and chatting a bit - sort of - with the guy who ran the place, another man came along with a rather big stone of some kind. It was interesting to see how the pulse of the place quickened as the discovery was passed around for appraisals. In some cases, most of the men would get up and form a circle out in the sunshine to evaluate a new stone.
One gentleman in particular appeared to be a leader of sorts in that he wore a fine suit, had a gold watch, seemed especially knowledgeable and people showed him quite a bit of respect. His pronouncements on the stones seemed to settle matters when it came to new gemstones fresh off the mountains. Later on I found he was the manager of the market. Pretty soon I learned it was the men that evaluated the big stones when they come in from the mines. The ladies across the road in the market take care of the small cut and polished stones, while the men evaluate the large rough stones. Indeed some of the larger stones are multi-million dollar gems, but it takes a keen eye and a great deal of experience to differentiate the great stones from the average especially in “rough” (uncut and polished) form. A little cloudiness, almost invisible fractures, etc. can be the difference between a fortune and failure.
Another interesting thing about the market is that the men sometimes passed around a bamboo bong. Yes, a bong. They offered me a “hit” and at first I waved it off, but pretty soon curiosity got the better of me and I tried it. OMG! The tobacco they put in it was pretty coarse and I did cough a bit… They laughed merrily and so did I, between coughs. Anyways before long drinking tea and chatting in my limited way I started to feel accepted and relaxed in the pleasant little shop with the local guys. The next day I tried the bong again after watching how they modulated their inhalation so I didn’t cough.
R to L: Master Bui Dang, Van Miao Hui and Master Pham Minh Tuan
Later on we started to run out of cash and had to get an ATM that would accept one of our cards, settled some deals quickly, packed quickly, gave a gift to Lily in the hotel who’d been so helpful translating, and waited on the main street for the bus back to Hanoi. Incidentally in Hanoi there is a gem certification laboratory where one can get certificates for gemstones in just a few hours.
Our flight back to Beijing was in the middle of the night of course so we only got a couple of hours sleep before heading to the airport, where I happily ate a last bowl of Pho, because… it was just that great.
Though after only 10 days away from home in Beijing I start to miss it, even before leaving I start to miss my newfound friends and lands, especially when I meet such great people as described above. The Wushu people here were personable, inclusive, welcoming, helpful and kind, the hotel staff most excellent, the people we met on streets and in restaurants wonderful, and basically, we had a great time.
Vietnam appeared to me to have a thriving economy, sincere, hardworking friendly people with great humor and joy of life, the food was delicious and healthy, the scenery lovely, and basically, I found it to be all good. True, some realities can and never should be forgotten, but on the other hand at some point we have to leave old stereotypes behind and recognize things as they are today, here and now in reality. Vietnam is a beautiful land with beautiful people. We’re both going to miss it, and hope to come back before long.
